LASKER – Spectators at Northeast Academy’s Red and White game Friday night were in for a treat.

Gone was the team of the last several years that didn’t seem to be sure what play they should be executing.

The defense that often resorted to arm tackling was making good hits.

Gone were the tacklers that, upon missing their man, often stood around more like a spectator than a player.

Not to say teams on both sides of the ball were perfect, but it was a considerable improvement for a team that’s only win last season came from a forfeit.

&uot;The first team offense and defense looked really good.

They ran the ball hard,&uot; said head coach Collin Snead.

With one running back hurt, their other back ran 50 plays back-to-back, a factor that impressed Sneed.

&uot;I’m really proud of him for running 50 plays and playing as hard on the first as the fiftieth,&uot; the coach stressed.

The offense looked renewed and had an air of confidence that has been missing.

They ran reverses; the handoffs were sharp and passes were on-target to receivers.

With two weeks to go until their season-opener against Parrot Academy Snead felt the team made a good showing.

&uot;Simplifying the play book has helped,&uot; Sneed said. &uot;We got the chance to execute those plays on the field to see what we needed to do before the season starts.&uot;

&uot;We’ll continue to work on fundamentals and tackling,&uot; he added. &uot; I like that the defense came up and hit.

I was happy with the clean hits.

There was not as much arm tackling as last year.

&uot;We still have to work on filling the gap and reading the play to know where the ball is going to go,&uot; Sneed added.

One area Northeast doesn’t need to work on is discipline.

A penalty had the offensive line on the ground doing push ups.

Northeast will have an opportunity to see if their improvements will translate to wins when they face other teams in the Colonial Carolina 8-man Conference on August 19 during a scrimmage hosted by Lawrence Academy.

That event kicks off at 10 a.m.