In preparation for the upcoming football season, the Fort Dale football team held a 7-on-7 camp Thursday night.

The Eagles faced off against Lowndes Academy, Macon East, Hooper Academy and Prattville Christian.

Because there were five teams present, Fort Dale split its team in half so that there would be six teams, and everyone could have an opponent all the time.

&uot;It went pretty good,&uot; said coach James &uot;Speed&uot; Sampley. &uot;We had to split the team, and any time you split the team, it’s going to weaken it some.&uot;

The scrimmage took place without pads, and for a player to be ruled down, he had to be touched with two hands.

&uot;The quarterbacks get the most work out of this,&uot; Sampley said. &uot;The defense knows that you’re not going to run the ball, so they don’t honor the play fake, and the defense just drops back.&uot;

Since the quarterbacks get the majority of the work, it is also beneficial for receivers.

&uot;The receivers get to catch some balls, and they get some conditioning out of it from all the running,&uot; Sampley said. &uot;Our defense gets to work on our man coverage.&uot;

The camp also allows the coaches to get a look at upcoming players, who have to fill gaps left by graduating seniors.

&uot;We lost some big-time players last year in Mika Jones and Ty Newton,&uot; Sampley said.

&uot;Daniel Nolen is doing a good job at corner, and Adam Vickery is too.&uot;

&uot;We’re still looking for a safety, but a couple of guys are getting better every day,&uot; he continued. &uot;We’re getting to see some playing time from guys coming off the JV team.&uot;

Although the offensive lines didn’t participate in the non-contact camp, the centers did get a workout by starting every play with a snap to the quarterback.

&uot;Aaron Callen and Cooper Lewis got to work on their snaps,&uot; Sampley said. &uot;Snapping to your quarterback a couple hundred times in an afternoon - that’s work you can’t get anywhere else.&uot;

The 7-on-7 camp won’t be the last for the Eagles this season.

The team will travel to Macon East next Thursday for another camp.