He said the Wildcats’ plan was to be very basic on offense and defense, which might be why Temple neither threw the ball effectively nor did a good job of defending the deep pass.

The top priority, Monsen said, was getting a good look at all of the players on the field and on film, then working in practice to correct any issues before today’s 7:30 p.m. scrimmage at Pflugerville Connally.

And even though tonight’s test is Temple’s last before its regular-season opener next Friday night at Cedar Park, Monsen says this scrimmage will resemble last week’s more than it will a real game. That’s how the Wildcats are approaching it, at least.

“It’s just a great opportunity to get better in a scrimmage format,” Monsen said. “We’ve had a good week of work and we’re excited to see our kids play again. It’s a scrimmage, so we’re not going to show a lot. We just want to watch our kids on film against someone else.”

The format for tonight’s scrimmage essentially will match last week’s. Temple’s first-team offense will face Connally’s first-team defense for 12 plays before their respective second-team units take the field. Then the Cougars’ top offense will battle the Wildcats’ No. 1 defense for 12 plays, followed by the second-team groups.

Monsen said both he and Connally coach Howard McMahan - a former Copperas Cove defensive coordinator - want to limit their starters to 30-35 plays apiece.

“We want to look at a lot of kids,” Monsen said, “but probably the most important thing is that we both get out of this healthy.”

Connally is entering its first season as a Class 5A program. The Cougars, whose top returning player is linebacker Thomas Curry (104 tackles), were 7-4 last year and reached the playoffs before losing to New Braunfels.

In 2005, Monsen’s first year as Temple’s head coach, Connally defeated the visiting Wildcats 28-7.

“I don’t know a lot about them and we don’t game plan against the other team in a scrimmage, but I know they usually have a lot of talent and lots of speed,” Monsen said. “They won a lot of games and district titles in 4A. They’ll be very good.”

Although running back Lache Seastrunk scored three touchdowns and receiver Tevin Reese and fullback Marcus Jones each scored a long TD against Vista Ridge, Temple’s secondary allowed four long touchdown passes.

“As a defensive back you’re out there where everyone can see you, but you have to have a short memory,” Monsen said. “We’ve been working on proper technique and alignment. It was a good opportunity to show the kids what they need to work on and they’ve been very receptive about everything."

gwille@temple-telegram.com