Absolutely. Frankly, practices aren't typically a heckuva lot of fun, and pre-season practices for freshmen can be overwhelming and draining, both physically and mentally.
A scrimmage against another team gives everyone a nice break in the monotony and drills and lets them get a taste of what a real game is like, and also lets them get rid of some of the jitters instead of making them wait to do that for the REAL first game.
Scrimmages are FUN for players and helpful to coaches. Why anyone would begrudge them that is beyond me. :loco: