Scores were kept during last week’s preseason jamboree football games, but coaches said the experience gained was more important.

Every local high school team played in jamborees, which serve as practice games before the start of the regular season this week.

Jemison coach Merritt Bowden said he and his staff were able to answer many questions they had about which players might be capable of filling reserve roles.

“We had a lot of positives, but we had some negatives, too,” Bowden said. “That’s why we play these games.”

JHS and Tallassee played the first half of the jamboree on Aug. 24 with their regular starters, and Tallassee had a 14-6 edge after two quarters.

Reserves played in the second half. The final score was 22-14 Tallassee.

Kortlin Zeigler scored for the Panthers on a pass from Jacob Hatch, and Tyler Henderson ran for a score. Corbin Bice ran in a 2-point conversion.

Class 1A Maplesville was impressive against Class 3A Leeds on Aug. 24. The Red Devils led 12-7 after three quarters of play with starters in the game, and the final score was 19-14.

“It was a physical ballgame,” MHS coach Brent Hubbert said of a game in which the two teams combined for just 55 passing yards. “It was good to get out there and play a quality opponent.”

The Devils rushed for 230 yards. Demtrius Parker (25 yards), Damian Mitchell (15) and Trevor Wallace (12) all had rushing scores. Also, Anthony Moore rushed twice for 60 yards.

Verbena played at Coosa-Central on Aug. 24 and trailed 21-0 after a half of play with starters. With the reserves in the game, Verbena outscored their hosts 13-8.

“We found out a lot about our team,” Verbena coach Mike Harris said. “We weren’t physical enough, but we hope we corrected that [Monday].”

Jeronskie Williams rushed 13 times for 125 yards and both of his team’s touchdowns. Alex Franklin and Fred Wright each had 11 tackles for the VHS defense.

On Aug. 23, Chilton County topped both West Blocton (20-8) and Thorsby (14-8) as the teams played a round-robin style jamboree.

Regular season play begins at 7 p.m. Thursday with the CCHS-Jemison rivalry game at Tiger Stadium in Clanton.

On Friday, Billingsley will play at Prattville Christian, Isabella will play at Central-Coosa, Maplesville will play at Winterboro and Verbena will play at Thorsby. All games begin at 7 p.m.