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Preseason scrimmages are all about seeing how much a team improves week-by-week.

On Friday, Morristown West took a massive jump from scrimmage one to scrimmage two.

Taking on William Blount, West put up 23 points in the varsity half before adding 17 more in the JV/Freshmen half. More importantly, the Trojans held William Blount from scoring a single point in either half.

“I’m really excited,” Morristown West coach Alvin Sanders said. “I can’t wait to watch the video. We had a huge emphasis on paying attention to the small details, and we came out from the very beginning and set the tone in all phases. That carried over to the young guys. We made a few mistakes, new mistakes, which is great for the coaching staff because it means we’re learning. We’re getting closer and closer to being game ready.”

One of the big question marks heading into Friday’s scrimmage was at the quarterback position as Malakhi Isom made his return to the football field. Isom proved ready for the challenge as he threw two touchdown passes, didn’t turn the ball over and made smart decisions when put under pressure.

Sanders said he credits Isom’s success to the work he put in during the offseason and staying involved despite not being able to fully participate.

“This goes back to the offseason where we still kept him involved in everything,” Sanders said. “Once we were able to turn him loose some on the field, he did everything but the contact. He came out here tonight and it was no rush at all. He scared me a little bit when he took off running, but it was great for him and for us to see him out there and playing well.”

One of Isom’s touchdown passes was to Bereket Evans, who made a phenomenal grab shielding off his defender, going up for the ball and finding his way into the end zone following the catch.

The touchdown reception came just a couple series after Evans dropped a catchable pass, showing the maturity of Evans not getting down on himself and getting right back up to make another play.

“That kid is a gamer,” Sanders said. “He’s been in some big games since he was a freshman. Mistakes don’t bother him. He’s a next play guy, and it’s a reason he is one of our leaders. It’s why we look for him to make plays like that because we know he’s going to respond and not get too high or low. Extremely proud of the way he has responded this offseason.”

The final touchdown by the varsity offense came right before the half as Cam Richards took a handoff around the edge and bounced his way for a 20-yard touchdown run. It’s been a feeling out process for Richards, who played at Morristown East last season, but Friday night showed the wheels are beginning to turn.

“He’s been frustrated this offseason because everything is new so he’s been learning,” Sanders said. “He’s had some up days and down days, but you can see the talent when he’s able to use his natural athleticism. To see him break one off like that, it does the world for his confidence and shows him that the coaches are going to put him in the right position.”

Defensively for the varsity, Landon Howard proved why he was one of the best defenders on the team last season. On Friday, Howard had multiple tackles for loss and was in the backfield with ease.

“Landon is going to be a problem for a lot of people,” Sanders said. “He’s stronger and faster and is really starting to understand what we’re asking. We just need him to not rely on talent alone and to set the tempo. He’s a talented kid. When he puts work behind it, he’ll be even better.”

Along with Howard, Andrew Victory made plays on the defensive end. Early in the scrimmage with William Blount facing a fourth-down, Victory worked his way in the backfield and stuffed a quarterback run.

For Sanders, he’s excited to see what Victory can do on both sides of the ball this season.

“It’s hard to block 6-6, 330 and to move the way he can,” Sanders said. “Our challenge to him is to get in shape. We want to use him offensively and defensively, but he needs to be game ready. But man, it makes calling the offense and defense easier when he’s on the field.”

In the second half with the JV and freshmen in the game, TJ Walthall opened up the second half at quarterback. Walthall went 4-4 with a touchdown pass, showing the improvement he’s made just from scrimmage one to scrimmage two.

“Last week was the best thing to happen to him and his growth,” Sanders said. “He went out and made some mistakes but got better. When he stepped on the field tonight, his confidence was through the roof. That’s what we have been looking forward to for him. I really like our quarterback room from the seniors to the freshmen.”

West closed out the scrimmage with a touchdown pass by Jake Bunch on the final play. The defense also forced two safeties in the scrimmage, and Gavin Mitchell caught Isom’s first touchdown pass of the scrimmage.

Morristown West will have one more tune-up on Friday as they travel to Cocke County for their jamboree. The Trojans will take on Cherokee at 8 p.m. with the JV taking on Cocke County at 7:30 p.m.

“We just have to continue to get in game shape,” Sanders said. “We’re nowhere where we need to be as far as our conditioning. A half is what we’ve got right now so we need to work on that. Number two is that we need to lock in a little more on special teams. We had miscues and guys not lined up, so we need to clean that type of stuff up.”