The Orange Bowl was played last week as Little Cypress-Mauriceville played West Orange-Stark. The Bears’ Head Coach Randy Crouch said the team played better in the game. Other some bumps and bruises there were no serious injuries for the Bears.
Although the score may not have reflected it Crouch believes LC-M showed some improvement in several areas from the first week. Crouch is hopeful the Bears will continue to do that.
The second half against West Orange-Stark was better for Little Cypress-Mauriceville. The kicking game improved against the Mustangs. Blake Ferguson was praised by the coach as having an outstanding game on both sides of the ball especially defensively. D.J. Williams at wide receiver also played well.
The Jasper Bulldogs will be the opponents this week. Crouch analyzed the multiple Jasper offense. They base out of the Wing-T and also snap the ball out of the shotgun.
Jasper has a big offensive line including Trent Bryant and Shun’Marcus Adams. The Bulldogs will shift into a lot of formations to get the opponent’s defense misaligned. “That’s what they do on offense,” Crouch added. Montavien Hunt is the best of several good running backs and Charlie Burnett is a prime target as a wide receiver.
On defense the Bulldogs are big and physical according to Coach Crouch. Jasper is a 50 Defense with three downed linemen and four linebacker scheme. In the secondary they play man-to-man and some zone. The Bulldogs will apply pressure and run to the ball very well.
The defensive line is anchored by Brashaun Hubbard at tackle. Crouch points out the Bulldogs have some length with several tall youngsters on defense including linebacker William Bluitt. The defensive backs are led by Burnett and Camryn Adams. Crouch observed, “They’ve done a very good job.”
Continued improvement is needed by LC-M against another tough opponent on Friday. Crouch expounds on where the Bears are looking sharper and where they need to do better. Elimination of mistakes early in the game which has put the Bears in a hole is an important first step. Team tackling is another area that needs to improve.
Experience is hard earned for the Bears which only returned four players to the varsity at the start of the season. LC-M cutback on penalties in Week 2 and that needs to continue. To give themselves a chance the Bears will need to keep kicking the ball well to force the Bulldogs to play on a long field when they have the ball. “We’ll look for improvement again this week against Jasper,” Crouch concluded.
On Wednesday the game was moved to Jasper because of the weather forecast.
-Dan Perrine, KOGT-
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