Thorsby held an intrasquad scrimmage on May 17 with the maroon team defeating the white team 16-12.

According to head coach Daryl Davis, the Rebels found out a lot about themselves during the game.

“They practiced hard for 10 days and played that way tonight,” Davis said. “That’s all you can ask for.”

Thorsby’s running game looked dynamic and featured several runs that made it to the second level of the defense.

Jacob Lockhart and Chase Birchfield shared the load of the carries on the night.

“We’ve got two or three running backs that are jockeying back and forth for playing time,” Davis said.

When Birchfield was not running through holes on offense, he was helping fill them as a linebacker on the defensive side of the ball.

The maroon team capped the opening drive of the game with a rushing touchdown from starting quarterback Christian Fortner.

Defensively, maroon shutout white in the first half, which was highlighted on that side of the ball by a safety after Chris Arledge penetrated the backfield and tackled a ball carrier in the end zone.

“The defense didn’t have many days [together] because of baseball going so deep in the playoffs, but they stepped up tonight,” Davis said.

Brody Barnett played quarterback for the white team. He orchestrated a drive to begin the second half that resulted in a touchdown pass on a jump ball that was snagged out of the air by Tucker Patterson.

However, Fortner responded by hitting Tyler Jackson in stride down the middle of the field for a 72-yard scoring strike.

Fortner ran in a quarterback keeper for a successful two-point conversion that extended the maroon team’s lead to 16-6.

Caleb Davis, Chance Elrod and Brody Conway each had an interception in the game.

Several younger players received valuable playing time, and A.J. Smith was one that took advantage of the opportunity with a long touchdown run to end the game.

“Anytime you have to split your team up, you’re looking to see what you’ve got depth wise,” Davis said.

One of the biggest takeaways from the scrimmage was the fact that the Rebels got through the night injury-free for the most part.

“We’ve got a good group of seniors that are leading us both in the weight room and on the field,” Davis said. “If we stay healthy, we should be pretty good.”