By Brian Argabright
The 830 Times
Del Rio’s final dress rehearsal before the football season opener takes place Friday.
The Rams will host the Eagle Pass C.C. Winn Mavericks and the Ft. Stockton Panthers in a three-team scrimmage at Walter Levermann Ram Stadium.
Because the Rams held spring football, the team was limited to one intrasquad scrimmage and Friday’s scrimmage. It’s also the reason the Rams started fall practice a week behind the other fall programs at Del Rio High School.
Del Rio opens its 2021 season Thursday, Aug. 26 in San Antonio as they take on Veterans Memorial at D.W. Rutledge Stadium at 7 p.m.
Friday’s scrimmage will feature the freshman and junior varsity teams taking the field first around 5 p.m. Warm-ups begin roughly around 4:40 p.m.
Varsity will begin its scrimmage around 6 p.m. Their warm-ups will begin around 5:40 p.m. at the lower soccer field, where the Rams have held most of their practices thus far due to the replacement of the all-weather track at Walter Levermann Ram Stadium. The team returned to Ram Stadium this week.
While the schedule is fluid, players from the team’s first and second offensive and defensive units will take part in a specific number of plays for the first part of the scrimmage. They will also take part in two simulated quarters.
During the simulated quarters, Fort Stockton will take on Winn first followed by Fort Stockton versus Del Rio and then Del Rio versus Winn.
Thursday, Rams head coach Rod Taylor brought in a guest to speak to the players at the middle school and high school. Robert Armstrong, who was invited to training camp with the Dallas Cowboys and San Diego Chargers before joining the Texas Department of Public Safety and graduating from its academy in 2017 to become a trooper, spoke to the Rams and shared his life lessons and football wisdom. Taylor coached Armstrong while at Texas A&M-Kingsville where Armstrong earned four letters and was a three-time All-Lone Star Conference receiver including being named Conference Receiver of the Year in 2012.
Armstrong finished his collegiate career with more than 2,800 receiving yards and held the school record for career touchdown receptions with 33. In 2020, Armstrong was named to the Javelinas’ All-Decade Team for 2010-19.
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