The Little Cypress-Mauriceville Bears lost a hard fought game to Huffman last week, but are still going to the playoffs. Coach Randy Crouch is proud of the effort shown by the Bears and hopes it continues this week.
After falling behind early, LC-M did not allow any points to Huffman in the second half and outscored the Falcons in the last two quarters. The coach thinks the Bears can build on that. Crouch said, “Hopefully, we can make some improvements that we need to get ready for Lumberton.”
Friday’s game with Lumberton will determine seeding in the playoffs. Crouch looked at the Raiders’ offense. They are a power running football team employing two tight ends. The Raiders like to run the football using counter and isolation plays.
Lumberton has a big offensive line. Champ Roach and Sean Burton are joined by tight end Gabe Sonnier as leaders in creating holes for Raider ball carriers to run through. “Stopping them we have a real challenge for us,” Crouch admitted.
The Raiders are big and tough on defense too. Coach Crouch analyzed the Lumberton defense which lines up with a four-man front like most of the teams in the district. Their defensive line is very active.
Leaders on defense for Lumberton are Mason Williams in the front line and linebacker Zameon Hooks. Weston Tinsley and Braden Carter are ball hawks in the Raiders’ secondary.
Crouch indicated the Raiders are well coached, and they line up correctly forcing the Bears to block them well and do their assignments correctly in order to have success moving the ball against them. Crouch stated, “We’ll have to be ready to go offensively.”
On offense Little Cypress-Mauriceville got a player back last week. Quarterback Ethan McCollum had been out with an injury since before the start of district. McCollum did see some playing time late in the game with Huffman.
A win by the Bears will put them in a tie for second place in the district. LC-M goes into the game with two losses in district. Lumberton has just one district loss which it suffered last week to Splendora which clinched the district title with the win. Huffman has two losses, but closes the regular season against winless Livingston on Friday.
If Little Cypress-Mauriceville beats Lumberton on Friday then both teams and Huffman would have two losses. Points differential in games between the three teams would determine seeding. Going into Friday’s action Lumberton and Huffman are both +7 and LC-M is -14. The Bears need to defeat the Raiders by 11 or more points to move ahead of Lumberton to be the third seed.
Coach Crouch reflected on the significance of this game which is also Senior Night for eleven of the Bears. “These young men pay a heck of a price as far as playing, and I’m grateful to them for what they’ve done,” Crouch concluded.
LCM vs. Lumberton will be the KOGT Game of the Week. Pregame at 6pm and Kickoff at 7pm. We’ll also replay the game Saturday at 7am.
-Dan Perrine, KOGT-
Social Media