The Little Cypress-Mauriceville Bears rebounded from their loss to Huffman two weeks ago with a complete team victory on the road this past Friday at Cleveland. This week the Bears play for the district championship against the Navasota Rattlers.
Coach Randy Crouch said the Bears will be preparing for the Rattlers’ wide-open attack. Navasota runs a multiple Spread Offense that will use as many as five receivers and spread the ball around to them. The Rattlers also have the ability to run the football effectively. Their offense has been very good this season. Navasota attempts to get good matchups for their talented receivers and throw them the ball. Crouch stated, “We’ll have to be really prepared to cover the whole field this week.”
Guiding the Rattlers on offense is returning quarterback Jeb Malek who is one of the passing leaders in the district. Ronnie Jackson and Tyrin Preston lead the receiving corps which is very deep in talent. Navasota has a good kicker in Luis Baeza.
Navasota has been led by its offense, but many of the key players on offense are also starters on the Rattlers’ defense. Crouch evaluated the Navasota defense. The Rattlers are sound on defense and are especially talented in the defensive line and in the secondary. They run usually an odd man front, but will also show multiple coverages in the secondary, both zone and man-to-man.
The Rattlers lead in many defensive categories statistically in the district. Tyrek Houston and Jordan Jefferson in the defensive line are the leaders on a solid Navasota defensive unit. “The preparation this week is going to be so important,” Crouch reminded.
LC-M, Navasota, and Silsbee are in a three-way tie for first place going into this final Friday of the regular season. Coach Crouch hopes to have his Bears motivated and prepared for this key district ball game with Navasota which should decide the district championship. The Bears have not won a district championship in 23 years, the last title was 1994.
The keys to the game include intense preparation in practice for the Navasota offense and defense. The coach points out penalties need to be kept to a minimum, the Bears cannot turn the ball over, and the kicking game must be sound. “All of those are needed to come out on the long end of this thing. We’ll prepare ourselves to that, work to that means, and get ready for Friday night.” Crouch concluded.
The Little Cypress-Mauriceville Bears and the Navasota Rattlers play Friday night at 7:00 in Battlin’ Bear Stadium and live on KOGT. A rebroadcast of the game will be carried Saturday morning beginning at 7:00 AM.
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