COSBY-The two weeks came and went seemingly in the blink of an eye. The Cosby Eagles have been hard at it the past 14 days learning the defense, learning the offense, and getting back into a football mindset heading into the summer.

"We had a fairly decent spring practice," said head coach Tyler Shelton. "It's basically trying to get the guy's heads back into the game of football. With the loss of seven seniors, we've got guys that have to learn new positions, getting used to starting games, the list goes on. I was pretty pleased with the work ethic."

Despite the loss of seven seniors, the Eagles have plenty coming back, including starting quarterback Trenten Dunn, starting tailback Mitch Miller, tight end Spencer Grooms and wide receiver Robert Herzog. The Eagles will be quick, and have a bevy of runners with Matt Lane and Dustin Caro returning. The Eagles will be strong at wide receiver with Jordan Cates and speedster Michael Trent joining Herzog at wideout. Defensively, the Eagles will be fast as well with Grooms, Nick Baxter, Miller, Trent, and Herzog. The Eagles front men are skilled as well with Daniel Raines, Justin Rone, J.R. Proffitt, Casey Reed, Cody Butler and more bringing the beef.

Just as last year, the Eagles finished their spring practice Friday by taking the two-hour bus trip north to Cumberland Gap High School for a scrimmage.

The Class 2A Panthers had an excellent 2007 campaign and were ready to do battle with the Eagles.

The Panthers set the tone on the very first play from scrimmage with a 64-yard touchdown run around right end.

The Eagles, in the mean time, were slow to start on both sides of the ball, but managed to get things going offensively on their third possession. Dustin Caro took a handoff from quarterback Trenten Dunn, felt his way down the line of scrimmage, then blasted off down the sideline for a 32-yard TD run.

The Eagle defense was still trying to find its way, and gave up two more Panther scores before settling in. After four Panther possessions, the Eagles began to swarm, breaking the line of scrimmage and pressuring the Panther quarterback. Eagle defenders accounted for eight tackles behind the line of scrimmage and two quarterback sacks in the Panther's remaining possessions.

Meanwhile, the Eagle offense started to click. Eagle receiver Robert Herzog, perhaps with the play of the scrimmage, literally stole the ball away from behind a Panther defender, who, without a doubt, felt that he had an interception. Veteran running back Mitch Miller had a beautiful 27-yard run, switching direction twice, and getting away from at least four tacklers down to the three. Miller's run was followed by a three yard TD pass from Dunn to backup quarterback and now wide receiver Jordan Cates for the Eagles' final score of the scrimmage.

After both teams shook hands and gathered for a prayer, the Cosby coaches ushered their charges into a huddle for a few final spring practice words.

Defensive coordinator Johnny Yoakum was quick to address some concerns.

"I think we had three or four guys get off the bus and step onto the field ready to play," said Yoakum, "while the rest of you guys were off somewhere else. We can't have that on Friday nights. When you guys step onto the field, you have to be ready to play. Some of you aren't into the defensive schemes yet. So over the summer, you have to study, you have to memorize and you have to learn it. It's not that difficult."

Offensive coordinator Randy Hall echoed coach Yoakum's assessment.

"Just like on defense, you've got to be prepared and you've got to be focused," said coach Hall. "We made some silly mistakes, and we can't afford to do that on Friday nights."

Finally, coach Shelton finished things off.

"I think from the neck down we're ready to play some football," said coach Shelton. "We made too many silly mistakes, but I saw some good things too. What I want you to do is dedicate yourselves, tonight, to get in shape this summer. When you report in August, I want you ready to play 48 minutes. So, hit the weight room. Over the next few days, we'll be getting together with you individually to talk about your strengths and your weaknesses, and I want you to spend the summer working hard on improving those weaknesses, and on learning the system."

Now it's up to the Eagles to take their coaches advice. And, we'll check up on them when they report to camp in late August.