Pineville took a short 10-minute trip up to Bell County on Thursday to take part in a four-team passing scrimmage. The Mountain Lions was the smallest school in the scrimmage as 5A South Laurel and 3A Bell and Jackson also participated.

For Mountain Lion coach Bart Elam, the four-team scrimmage was a chance for the coaching staff to see a glimpse of the product they will put on the field in a few weeks. The veteran coach also said he wanted to see his team compete.

“It’s kind of rapid fire, which isn’t really good for us because we’re playing everybody. It is good because it’s giving us good conditioning, some looks at some areas we’re not very good at and some areas that we may want to take advantage of in the future,” said Elam. “That’s what these things are for. We really want to come out and see our kids compete.

“Sometimes these passing scrimmages are difficult to tell because some teams are doing what they normally do, and some teams are drawing up stuff in the dirt. It’s a chance to compete and see how tough your guys are and things like that. We’re happy for the work.”

Usually one of the more balanced teams in the past, Pineville relied on the rushing attack for the majority of last season while trying to find a consistent signal-caller behind center.

During the passing scrimmage, both Garland Ellis and Reese Capps saw time at quarterback with Matt Golden acting as the feature back in most sets.

With Pineville continuing to be a young team, Elam said the passing scrimmage was also a chance for the coaching staff to find starters at several positions.

“We’re still trying to find a couple positions. We know which way we want to go, so there is definitely a lot of jobs on the line out there,” said Elam. “(We’re) not only competing against the other team but competing within ourselves here for some positions. That’s what we are looking to get out of (this scrimmages) — to ink in some spots going into next week.”

There were several freshmen who got the opportunity to shine during the scrimmage. Devon Morris took the majority of the snaps at cornerback with the first team. He saw some time at running back with the first team as well. Hayden Callebs got some snaps at wide receiver with the first team as well.

“I’m really proud of our freshmen. So far, they’re working hard. Freshmen are freshmen no matter how talented they are though, so there is going to be bumps in the road,” said Elam about the freshmen. “We know that, so we’re going to coach them hard and hopefully they respond to that and try to get better every week.”

Pineville will host a scrimmage at the practice field off KY 66 on Aug. 4.