The fortunes for Little Cypress-Mauriceville have reversed during the last two games. The Bears who lost their first four games of the season are now riding a two-game winning streak.
Coach Randy Crouch is proud of his team’s performance with the start of district games. Last week’s win at Bridge City was doubly difficult being on the road and being the first game of district. It was a big win for LC-M the coach admits. “I thought we played extremely hard against a very good team so we’re excited about that,” Crouch exclaimed.
A real test for the rejuvenated LC-M will be this Friday against Splendora. Crouch evaluated the potent Wildcat offense. This will be the first time in four weeks that the Bears will not face a Slot-T or Wing-T offense. Splendora is a Spread team and a very good one. The Wildcats deploy three wide receivers and two backs most of the time. They are a big physical team.
The Wildcats have scored a tremendous number of points including 80 in the district opener against Livingston. Their big running back Kyle Weber is large enough to be a lineman on defense. Weber teams with Dylan Matthews in the backfield. Splendora spreads the field, but will then run the football downhill. Crouch advised, “We are going to have to be ready for that.”
Splendora bases out of a different front on defense than what the Bears have faced in recent weeks, and Coach Crouch indicated that will take extra preparation for LC-M. The Wildcats line up in a four-man defensive front which is very active and aggressive according to Crouch, “We’ll have to prepare for the problems they present as far as pass protection.” They have some size in the front line. The Splendora secondary flies around pretty well too.
Weber is a key cog in the middle of the Wildcats’ defense at tackle. Justice Mosley is the free safety for Splendora and is a hard-hitting tackler who is the leader in the secondary.
A win in the first district game was great. Winning a second district game this week will be tougher. Splendora will come into the game sporting a strong record (5-1, 1-0) and an outstanding offense.
Crouch analyzed what is needed for the Bears to beat Splendora and extend the winning streak to three straight. It still comes down to the Bears knowing their assignments especially on the Wildcats’ zone read running plays. LC-M will need to kick the ball well, limit penalties, limit turnovers, and take advantage of opportunities when they occur. “We have to have a good week of practice, and we’ve got to prepare ourselves for a really hard football game,” Crouch predicted.
Social Media