For the second straight week, Excelsior Springs varsity football coach Jake Danneman saw improvements in the Tigers between the first and second day of limited- contact scrimmaging with visiting schools.

As The Standard reported July 31, Danneman noticed the Tigers played faster, were more focused and showed more confidence when scrimmaging July 23 against Truman, Lathrop and Oak Grove than they had July 22 against Oak Park, Marshall and Raytown. And according to Danneman, they made a turnaround during their scrimmages with Richmond and Lawson July 29 and 30.

The first day, the Tigers had a slow start on offense, Danneman said. That was evident to him by the issues his team had with blocking assignments.

“Our kids are having a hard time understanding that it just takes one person when you’re on offense to mess up,” he commented minutes after the scrimmages had ended.

On a first-down play, one missed block can make the difference between facing second-and-short – or even being in another fi…