Jr. Gremlins Get First Taste of Live Competition

BALDWIN PARK — The El Monte/South El Monte Jets Jr. Gremlins quickly learned on Saturday that practice and live competition are two different worlds.

Playing in their first scrimmage, the Jets struggled with tackling, reading plays, and adjusting to the physicality of the game.

For many of the players, however, the afternoon marked their first opportunity to line up against an opposing team—Baldwin Park Road Runners.

The Jets coaching staff, amid emotions, spent their scrimmage correcting assignments, repositioning players, and exhorting them to play with confidence and aggression on the field.

The Jets and parents hoped for a different outcome, but preseason scrimmages aren’t necessarily about the results.

Saturday gave the coaching staff its first real opportunity to evaluate the teams response to live competition and to teach them what has to be addressed before the Jets first game.

Head Coach Flores acknowledged the difficult afternoon afterward but offered a simple message to parents, “This isn’t what we wanted to see, but I can assure you, we’ll get better.”

For the Jr. Gremlins, Saturday was less about the result and more about taking their first steps as a football team. The missed tackles, unfamiliar assignments and hesitation gave the Jets plenty to work on, but also a starting point from which to grow.