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Scrimmages often help players get in shape and give coaches a chance to get a final look at some key position battles.

The senior-heavy Memorial Titans are treating their Friday scrimmage against West Brook much like National Football League teams treat the preseason.

“It’s good to play against somebody else and see some different stuff on offense and defense,” head coach Brian Morgan said. “… I don’t know how long some of those starters will play. It is a good chance to see some of the other guys play. We get to see where they are at in their growth and where they will be long term.”

The Titans bring back the majority of the team that swept through the 2020 regular season 9-0. The Bruins, who are a 6A school compared to the 5A Titans, allow for Memorial to practice against good competition.

“On offense, they will see some different coverages and some different fronts,” Morgan said. “Defensively, you can see some different formations that we may not give them on a daily basis. That is the main part of it really.”

Memorial’s varsity team practiced without pads Wednesday. Morgan typically does not have the varsity team practice in pads once the season starts.

Morgan said the Titans might play some students projected to play on the JV team. The move could help Memorial on the back end of its season, which is a time when coaches pull up players for added depth during playoff runs.

“We want to see how they react,” Morgan said. “We feel like in a couple of years or next year, they could be really good players for us. We want to see where they are at, developmentally.”

West Brook is returning key pieces from last year’s team that went two rounds deep into the playoffs.

Bruins new coach Chuck Langston will have a bit of a reunion with his former staff. Langston was the offensive line coach for the Titans last year.

Langston told Port Arthur Newsmedia this summer that he enjoyed his time on the Titans staff and took a lot from Morgan about how to run a high school program.

The scrimmage will take place at Beaumont Memorial Stadium at 7 p.m. Friday.

Read here for what Nederland coaches are planning ahead of this week’s scrimmage.