BAY MINNETTE — First-year Baldwin County High School head football coach David Wofford put his troops through a half-game scrimmage under their home-field Simmons Field lights Friday night and said afterward that he was mostly pleased with what he could see from the sidelines, but saw much room for improvement.

“I still see a lot of work to do. We’re … a little bit sloppy, but what I did like, I saw the ball protected pretty well. There wasn’t a lot of turnovers. We had one or two, but the guys are learning. I don’t think the first bunch turned it over once, which is good” Wofford. said. “Not a lot of jumping offsides. There was some good hits. We saw some good hits, so that’s encouraging, so we’ll just see what happens .. from there.”

He sent his white-suited first team up against the black-jerseyed second team for the most part and the first-teamers posted a 27-0 win. getting touchdown runs of 6 yards by halfback Charleston Gandy, 26 yards by halfback Arthello Bush and 1 yard by quarterback Luther Sanders and a 14-yard fumble return for six points by linebacker Randall Williams.

Trace Zarr converted one of two extra-point kicks. A bad snap on the first PAT resulted in an interception. An unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for improper celebration by Bush on his touchdown resulted in a Zarr’s missed kick. Emmanuel Stevens ran for two points after Sanders sneaked in for the final touchdown.

The scrimmage, with game officials used to give them some practice, too, for the upcoming season, was a tune-up for Friday’s 6 p.m. preseason game on Simmons Field against Bay High School of Lynn Haven, Fla., a suburb of Panama City. Bay outscored BCHS 41-30 last year in Lynn Haven in the Tigers’ sixth game of a miserable 1-9 season. They posted their lone win the following week against Robertsdale.

Bay was unable to play Baldwin County in the regular season this year after Florida schools had their schedules moved back a week by the state’s athletic association, leaving BCHS with an October 5 open date. Bay’s officials agreed to play the Tigers in the preseason game so that Baldwin County, enabling Baldwin County have a fifth home game to pick up needed gate and concession stand funds.

While Friday’s game won’t count on the Tigers’ won-loss record, Wofford is treating it just like a regular-season game.

“It’s not a practice game to me. Any time we line up against another color, it’s all real,” Wofford said. “I don’t know how they’re gonna play it, but we’re playing it to win it.”

Ater looking at film of last year’s game, Wofford said Bay looks “like a good football team. They beat us last year. They look well-coached, from last year; of course, I don’t know what they’re doing now…

“They’ve got some good defensive linemen and good linebackers. They’re pretty good. They (have) a pretty good quarterback and their coach told me they had the 200- and 300-meter sprint champion in Florida.”

Baldwin County will host Pensacola High School in its first regular-season game August 31 at 7 p.m.