WATCH: Wall Head Coach Houston Guy on Wall's First Scrimmage

“I was really pleased with the way our scrimmage went,” Guy said. “We had to drive to Monahans, and that’s a long drive to get out there. Our kids did a really good job. I was really pleased with the speed of our team.”

Speed is a great sign for the Hawks this year after falling last season in the State Quarterfinals against Canadian. Wall was a young team a year ago, but they still accomplished incredible feats in a year that they were supposed to be rebuilding. 

“We were the faster team, and I thought we were the more physical team. Monahans has a great football team, but I felt like overall, our team speed was better,” Guy continued. “We ended up winning the scrimmage 2-1.”

Wall possesses more speed in the backfield this season than it did a year ago. Briggs Jones and Hagyn Barbee can burn up the turf with their speed and should be dangerous in the open field against any opponent the Hawks face this season. “Those two, they really showed their speed when they get the ball in space,” Guy said of two of his running backs. “It’s been a while since we’ve had some really fast kids in our backfield.”  

Of course, this early in the season, the Hawks did not play to perfection. Guy said that “There were some things that we can improve on.” A need for improvement is typical during the preseason every year, but the way the Hawks played on Friday should be encouraging for Wall fans back at home. “Our offensive line still has to gel a little bit better,” Guy said. “We still have to secure our perimeter blocking, but overall, I thought we ran the ball really well.”

A new wrinkle that Guy brings to his offense this year is the passing game. While Wall passes the ball on occasion, one facet of their game that needs work has always been the passing game. Junior Quarterback Gunnar Dillard played well as a sophomore but now should progress into a more capable quarterback this season.

“Gunnar Dillard running the option back there did a really good job of getting his reads right,” Guy said of his quarterback. “He did a really good job of running the show back there.”

Wall’s defense is the biggest strength the Hawks bring to the table in 2023. That was evident on Friday. Guy had nothing but the best to say about his defense. Other than one mistake after Wall had already scored twice, Guy said that the defense played lights out. “Overall, I think our defense was flying to the football,” Guy said. “We created a lot of turnovers. [Monahans] didn’t have many drives that went more than three or four plays.”

Wall’s head coach named a few guys on defense that impressed him last Friday. “Ethan Michalewicz in the middle and Logan Thomas at defensive end. [Thomas] was a force defensively for us,” Guy said. “Bryan White, on the other side, those guys were just hard to handle.”

The Hawks next gear up for their second scrimmage this Friday, August 18, against Midland Christian in Wall. The JV and Freshman teams begin at 6 p.m., and the Varsity will play at 7:30 p.m. Coach Guy says fans will not be disappointed, so come out and support the Hawks.