SOCIAL CIRCLE, Ga. — For the first time since the end of spring practice, Social Circle and Walnut Grove got to play, almost, real football.

The two teams are part of a four-team field taking part in a two-day padded camp at Redskins Stadium in Social Circle. The Redskins and Warriors were joined by Greene County and Eastside High School from Covington.

Both SC’s Rob Patton and Walnut Grove’s Robert Andrews saw the huge benefits in being able to see at least some hitting at this stage of summer workouts in late June.

“You can tell we haven't been doing a lot of 7-on-7,” Andrews said. “There were a lot of busts. We have not blocked anybody live, in any form, since spring practice. We struggled to put hats on people. That’s what you expect in June. This is why we do this in June.”

The four teams were able to dress in shoulder pads and helmets. Eastside players wore a padded covering over their helmets. Everyone else played in regular headgear. All the teams were in shorts and cleats on the bottom half. Blocking and tackling were allowed, but none were below the waist and quick whistles generally stopped the action when a play’s progress stalled.

Patton liked the chance to put his 11 Redskins against someone else.

“We had some guys step up,” Patton said. “We had some guys we are counting on defense to make some plays in space. That was very encouraging.”

Patton had his regular starting quarterback, Logan Cross, running the first team. Cross wore a black jersey and was not to be touched. The Redskins’ offensive line had a good day opening up lanes for their backs. SC offensive coordinator Johnny Jarrett was able to call counters and traps.

“I was impressed with our offensive line,” Patton said. “They have already started to play together as a unit. Kam Durden had a really good day and it was good to go against teams that showed us some different.

“Eastside ran a stack on defense and we haven’t seen that all summer or spring. It was good to get that look. Greene County ran a version of the stack that used a tight front with their down linemen. On defense we were able to look at our gap scheme. They ran a lot of power and counters, so that’s been good for our defense.”

The fourth week of June is a big one for Social Circle. The two-day padded camp will be the only one of the summer until the real hitting practices start back in August. The Redskins were to host the third Walton County Passing League games Wednesday and then on Friday, will head to Collins Hill.

“We have a tournament there on Friday. A lot of schools, so this a big week for us, with this padded camp, the passing league and then Collins Hill,” Patton said.

Andrews was appreciative of his team’s efforts on a hot day and on an artificial surface.

“I was pleased with the effort of our kids,” Andrews said. “We showed improvement from session to session. We’ve got to work on blocking and getting off blocks. I’d like to see how we improve on the second day of this. Even from our (Walton Passing League) we showed some growth from the first set of games to the next.”