By Henry Luzzatto

Correspondent

Fans, friends and family got a chance to watch the Nansemond River High School football team show off their abilities in a pre-season scrimmage Thursday night.

The Warriors faced off against Hampton’s Phoebus High School. The game began with the first teams from each school competing. Nansemond River got off to a good start, ending the first team portion leading 7-6.

For the second half, the schools’ second teams played each other. Phoebus ended up taking the win with an extra touchdown.

Nansemond River head coach David Coccoli said the scrimmage showed positives for the team as well as things they need to work on.

“It was your typical scrimmage,” he said. “There were some good points and bad points.”

Coccoli said he was encouraged by the Warriors’ front seven, and by junior cornerback Quincy Gregg, who Coccoli said had a very solid game.

Despite the efforts of the team, they still had a difficult time against Phoebus, a team that Coccoli said is a class above much of the opposition Nansemond River will face this season.

“They’re a tough team,” Coccoli said, “but I thought we played hard and competitively.”

The Warriors are preparing for their first official game on Aug. 26.

The team is following up an incredibly successful 2015 season. Nansemond River had its first winning season since 2002, finishing the year with a 7-3 record in the regular season, which earned them second place in the conference behind 10-0 Hampton.

The season ended with Coccoli being named PenSouth Conference football coach of the year, as well as 16 Warriors making the all-conference team.

Last season’s successes aside, Coccoli said the team has a tough road ahead of them this season.

“We have a tough area,” Coccoli said. “5A is a difficult region. It’s one of the toughest — if not the toughest — in Virginia.”

Despite the difficult competition, Coccoli said Thursday’s scrimmage showed plenty of positives for the future of the season.

“We looked pretty good out there,” he said. “We just need to keep working to try to make it to that next level.”