The bye week came at a good time for the Little Cypress-Mauriceville Bears. It gave the coaches and players time to work on fundamentals. The full week of practice helped the Bears make up some of the workout time lost earlier because of Harvey.
It is back to game preparation this week as LC-M gets ready for the start of district. Coach Randy Crouch analyzed the Silsbee Tigers on offense. The Tigers have an outstanding offense that uses multiple formations. They are a little bit more run oriented than throwing the ball.
Silsbee has an outstanding quarterback in Jacob Collins, a senior. Adonis Thomas another senior returns at running back. The Tigers are loaded with speed. When you talk speed you have to start with wide receiver Kalon Barnes who is the defending state champion in the 100-meter dash. The Bears will have their work cut out for themselves to contain the Tigers. “Don’t give up the big play, make them earn what they’ve got,” Crouch strategies.
If Silsbee is dangerous on offense, it is tenacious on defense according to Crouch. The Tigers base out of a four-man front with a 4-2-5 formation, but they move around a lot on defense. They are experienced with seven defensive starters back from last year.
Linebacker Adam Carroll is the leader of the defensive squad. Coach Crouch said the Tigers run to the ball carrier extremely well, and they keep the ball in front of them. Crouch stated, “They play very good sound defense.”
Keys to the game Little Cypress-Mauriceville include taking care of the football by avoiding turnovers. LC-M must keep the penalties to a minimum. Crouch believes the kicking game will be very important adding that the Bears must prevent the big play from Barnes and the other talented Tigers who have already returned several kicks for good yardage.
This is the opening game of District 10-4A for the LC-M Bears. Coach Crouch is emphasizing that it is important to play well, but this game does not make or break the whole season. This is just the first of five district games, and all of them are important. The coach is looking for another tight district race with the Bears in the middle of it. “I told our players one game doesn’t make the season, and one game in district doesn’t make it. It’s going to be a marathon,” Crouch concluded.
The Little Cypress-Mauriceville Bears and the Silsbee Tigers play Friday night at Battlin’ Bear Stadium and live on KOGT. The kickoff is at 7:00 PM with a replay of Friday night’s broadcast at 7:00 AM on Saturday.
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