The first game of the season was a difficult one for the Little Cypress-Mauriceville Bears. The 40-8 loss to Woodville did have a bright spot in that no Bears were injured in it. Some other good news is that the Eagle’s Tyler Greer who was injured on the final play of the game was released from the hospital early Saturday morning after it appeared he might be seriously injured attempting to make a tackle.
This Friday night is the Orange Bowl as LC-M plays crosstown rival West Orange-Stark. Bears’ Coach Randy Crouch reflects on the Mustangs’ offense. He points to the history of WO-S going to four straight state championship games as proof of the superb quality of their offense. The Mustangs are a formidable opponent with their Spread Offense. They have a lot of quickness and a lot of speed at all their skill positions.
Defending them is a real problem because the Mustangs usually run the ball as effectively as they throw it. Preparation will be important for the very young Bears’ defense. Crouch is hoping the Bears will minimize their mistakes on defense and play a solid defensive game against the explosive West Orange-Stark offense. “They cause you a lot of problems,” Crouch advised.
West Orange-Stark has built its reputation on defense and Crouch analyzes it. The Mustangs use an odd man front 50 Defense. In the secondary they play both zone and man-to-man. They have a good defensive front and linebackers.
The Mustangs attack the line of scrimmage with their linebackers and defensive linemen. They tackle well and there really are no weaknesses in the WO-S defense. Crouch knows the West Orange-Stark coaching staff well, and they do a great job teaching the Mustangs.
The coach said LC-M has got to block well, execute well, and take what the Mustangs are willing to give the Bears which hopefully will help them move the ball forward. Crouch added, “Sometimes it’s not necessarily what you do alignment wise you’ve just got to keep blocking, try to improve on that, and you’ve got to just keep competing.”
LC-M will enter Friday’s game as a definite underdog to the Mustangs. The Bears will continue to rotate Ethan McCollum and Adam Pope at quarterback as they did against Woodville and in the two scrimmages.
Coach Crouch tells what he and his staff are looking for from the Bears. Improvement in the fundamentals blocking and tackling is the most important. Minimizing mistakes and eliminating the first game jitters from last week is also important. LC-M only returned four players with varsity experience.
As a football team Crouch is looking for improvement on both sides of the ball. As their coach he is wanting to make sure the Bears have the right people in the right place and they are using the best scheme to bring them success. “This week we’ll see if we can make some of those improvements,” Crouch summarized.
This weeks games
WOS at LCM on KOGT. Pregame at 6pm and kickoff at 7pm.
OF at Livingston
BC at Jasper
Vidor is Off
Deweyville at Colmesneil
Silsbee at Newton
United at Nederland
West Brook at Strake Jesuit
Manvel at Crosby
Barbers Hill at Montgomery
Huntsville at PNG
Liberty at Cleveland
Kirbyville at Lumberton
Diboll at Huntington
East Chambers at Hardin-Jefferson
Kountze at Hamshire-Fannett
Shepherd at Coldsrping
Buna at Hemphill
Anahuac vs Edna
New Waverly at Hardin
Woodville at Madisonville
Warren at Evadale
West Hardin at Hull Daisetta
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