The Little Cypress-Mauriceville Bears are going to the postseason. LC-M improved its seeding for the playoffs with a big win over Lumberton in the final game of the district schedule.
The victory has excited Coach Randy Crouch about the Bears going into the playoffs. He said the team prepared very well and played extremely well. It was a special win for the eleven Bears who are seniors playing in their final game at Battlin’ Bear Stadium. Crouch praised, “It was a really good team win.”
The opening game in the playoffs for Little Cypress-Mauriceville is against a former district opponent Navasota. Crouch analyzed the Rattlers on offense. He compared Navasota to Splendora from this year’s district. The Rattlers use one running back offset behind the quarterback and will move him around. They look to use the run to setup the pass which is a change from when Navasota was in the district previously with LC-M and used the Spread to throw the football predominately.
New Head Coach Casey Dacus inherits a rather young offense with only four returning starters. Although just a junior Jordan Jefferson in the offensive line is considered one of the best in the state. The Rattlers have played much better after the start of district just like the Bears. “It’ll be a challenge for us,” Crouch admitted.
Coach Crouch indicated Navasota will lineup in an even front defense as have many of the Bears’ district opponents. The Rattlers align in a 4-2-5 or 4-3 formation. They play zone and man-to-man coverage in the secondary. Unlike the offense, Navasota does have some experience on defense returning eight starters. The Rattlers run to the football pretty well. Crouch advised, “We are going to have to make sure we are blocking the right people, get our assignments done, and eliminate the mistakes as much as we possibly can.”
The defensive line is outstanding for Navasota. Returning Rattlers include Tyreke Houston who had over a hundred tackles last season with five sacks, and Tyrin Preston at defensive end added four sacks. Another leader is linebacker Ja’Vonzae Jones. He has speed and size. Jones was a leading tackler for the Rattlers and intercepted two passes last year.
Little Cypress-Mauriceville is the third seed in its district against the runner-up Navasota from its district. Crouch believes the Bears may be playing their best ball of the season. The coach pointed out all teams want to be peaking in November when the playoffs start, and he thinks LC-M has shown improvement every week during the district games which should carry over into the playoffs. “We’ve gained some depth through some young men who had to play early, so we’re excited about being in the playoffs, and we’ll see what happens,” Crouch concluded.
KOGT will broadcast the game live between Little Cypress-Mauriceville and Navasota. The kickoff will be Friday night at 7:30 PM from Huffman.
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