LINDEN &8212; It appears the spring and summer work put in by the Marengo Academy Longhorns has paid off for the group. In the jamboree hosted by the school on Thursday evening, the group put up one of the strongest showings of the four teams in attendance, including themselves, Patrician Academy, Sumter Academy and Wilcox Academy.

Little&8217;s group was matched up against Sumter Academy in the four team scrimmage. Making the Longhorn stats even more impressive is the fact that during the game, which consisted of 12-minute quarters, Marengo Academy and Wilcox Academy rotated offensive and defensive duties against Patrician and Sumter, with each unit taking the field every other possession.

Little said an unexpected surprise was the performance of junior Josh Montee, who serves as the backup fullback on the team. He also said the entire running game ran well and ran hard during the jamboree, with each player exhibiting positive production.

One of the dark spots for the jamboree for the team came on the first defensive play for the Longhorns when Sumter busted a 22-yard gain off a play action pass dump seven yards off the line of scrimmage. The play proved the largest gain against the defense, which adjusted and locked down the offense, and Little attributes the gain to a defense overzealous to get out and make plays after a summer full of work.

Little said there were few other problems, but added the team can always learn from any situation good or bad. He said he might look at working on sticking blocks longer and avoiding penalties, several of which occurred on crucial downs in the match up.

Little said his team&8217;s positive performance should carry momentum into the season games.