Harvey has delayed the start of schools in Orangefield until next week. The Orangefield Bobcats though will open their 2017 football season tonight September 22 against the Little Cypress-Mauriceville Bears.
Bobcats’ Coach Josh Smalley has had two weeks of practices to get his players back in shape and ready for the Bears. Smalley indicated he and his staff are paying special attention on stopping the quality skill players used by the LC-M offense. They’ve got a bunch of weapons and are they dangerous on offense according to Smalley.
The Bears start with one of the best running backs in the area with Chris Winters, and they follow him up with J’Lon Douglas. Sophomore Ethan McCollum at quarterback showed he could run in the Newton scrimmage and can pass very well too against Woodville in the LC-M season opener which Coach Smalley attended.
Dameon Morris is a slot receiver that had a big game against Woodville. The Bears like to throw bubble routes to him or run reverses to Morris as well. Also at wide receiver is Katon Brown who is a deep threat for LC-M. “Offensively they are scary. They are athletic, they’re fast, so our defense has our work cut out for us Friday night to try to slow them down,” Smalley admits.
Opposing defenses seem to adopt the same formula when they play Orangefield’s Slot T offense. Coach Smalley believes the same will be true when the Bobcats play the Bears. The coach anticipates seeing seven, eight, or even nine Bears in the box on every play in an effort to stop the Bobcat running game.
The leader on the defensive side of the ball is middle linebacker J’Lon Douglas who was the district defensive MVP last season. Douglas is all over the field making tackles. LC-M’s two defensive tackles are big, huge and hard to move inside. Smalley stated, “We’ve got a challenge up front.”
It has been a long, wet road for the Orangefield Bobcats to get back on the football field this week. Nobody else is feeling sorry for the Bobcats or waiting for them to get ready according to Smalley. The kids playing hard has never been an issue the coach reflects, but conditioning could be a factor after missing two weeks because of the storm. “We can put all the distractions behind us, and we’ve got to go play and coach well and to try to win a football game.” Smalley concluded.
The season opener is Friday night at F. L. McClain Stadium for the Orangefield Bobcats against the Little Cypress-Mauriceville Bears. The game will be carried live on KOGT with the kickoff at 7:00 PM.
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