By NEAL WAGNER / City Editor

Pelham High School head football coach Brett Burnett said he saw plenty to be excited about following the Panthers’ spring football scrimmage on May 16, despite his team’s relative inexperience.

“We played a lot of young kids in a lot of different positions. It’s definitely going to be a good film to teach off of,” Burnett said after his squad took the field against the visiting Russellville Golden Tigers. “It’s not August or September yet. We know where we are, and we know where we’ve got to go from here.

“We’ll go to work this summer and get better,” Burnett added.

The scrimmage marked rising senior Devon Mines’ first as starting quarterback. Mines finished the night with 111 rushing yards on 12 carries, often gaining positive yardage after contact in the pocket.

Mines’ backup, Logan Burnett, proved himself a pass threat, connecting on four of four passes for 60 yards and a touchdown.

Other offensive leaders included rising senior Tyler Brasfield, who finished the night with 44 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 11 carries, and rising junior R.J. McCall, who reeled in three passes for 57 yards and a touchdown.

“Devon had some nice plays, and Brasfield had two or three good runs,” Burnett said. “I’ll have a better idea once we watch the film from tonight.”

Russellville outscored Pelham 27-20 in the scrimmage, and did not relinquish their lead after pulling ahead of the Panthers 7-6 with less than a minute left in the first quarter.

Pelham’s only lead came when Brasfield ran the ball into the endzone from 1 yard out midway through the first quarter. After rising senior placekicker Christian Martinez’ PAT attempt sailed wide right, the Panthers took a 6-0 lead.

After two Russellville touchdowns and a PAT, Pelham tied the game at 13-all when Brasfield scored on an 8-yard run and Martinez’ extra point split the uprights.

The Golden Tigers added two more touchdowns before Logan Burnett connected with McCall on a 43-yard touchdown pass with less than a minute left in the scrimmage.