The Orange Bowl was played this last week between Little Cypress-Mauriceville and West Orange-Stark. The contest was close for a half before West Orange-Stark pulled away defeating the Bears 36-14.
Coach Randy Crouch of the Bears was disappointed in the loss, but pleased with the effort made by his players. Little Cypress-Mauriceville played to the very end on both sides of the ball according to their coach.
Mistakes were made that need cleaning up Crouch conceded. As it always is the game was very physical. Crouch reported, “We have maybe a couple of guys that are questionable for this week which we may have to see day-to-day, but all in all we came out of it okay.”
The Bears play another very good team this Friday night. The Jasper Bulldogs come to town. Crouch acknowledged Jasper has a very dangerous offense.
The Bulldogs use multiple sets from a Wing-T Formation. They are based out of the Wing-T, but will show one back, sometimes two backs, and the Shotgun every now and then. Jasper will use unbalanced lines to confuse opposing defenses.
They are very explosive with a lot of weapons on offense. Two breakaway running backs are MonTavien Hunt and Carl Limbrick. Hunt ran for 1500 yards last year and 20 touchdowns. He had limited carries in the Bulldogs’ opener and still went over 100 yards. Limbrick also went over 100 yards on the ground and scored six touchdowns in the opener.
Opening holes for Hunt and Limbrick to run through is a big experienced offensive line for the Bulldogs. Myles Moye and ShunMarkus Adams are the leaders of the blockers.
At quarterback is Trashawn Adams. He does not run the ball much, but is a dangerous passer. Primary receivers are split receiver Bryce Barbay, wing back Reggie Shaw, and tight end Nolan Smith. “They have an outstanding offensive unit,” Crouch stated.
The Bulldogs are good on defense too. Coach Crouch analyzed the Jasper defense. The Bulldogs have always been athletic on both sides of the ball and the defense is the same again this year with a lot of quickness and speed getting them to the football.
Jasper bases out of the 50 front on defense with three downed linemen and four linebackers. The Bulldogs will show some different looks out of that. They put a lot of pressure on opposing offenses by crowding the line of scrimmage.
Crouch pointed out the Bulldogs have good edge players at defensive end and linebackers like Avion Bennett and Trenton Cooper who run well to the ball. The secondary is filled with fast players who can cover pass attempts and provide support against the run.
The Bears will have to be really sharp as far as executing their offense against the talented Jasper defense. Blockers will need to take the right steps and the proper angles to make their blocks count. This is no different than it is most years when facing the Bulldogs. Crouch evaluated, “It will be a real challenge for us.”
The focus of non-district games is to get ready for the district season later. A consistent problem for the Bears is penalties which needs to be cut back for LC-M to be successful especially against a team like Jasper. Crouch is pleased with the limited number of turnovers made by the Bears and they will need to continue to be avoided.
Crouch believes Little Cypress-Mauriceville will give Jasper a good game. The kicking game needs to continue to be strong. DJ Spears returned a kickoff for a touchdown against the Mustangs, and the Bears are covering their kicks well.
Playing tough opponents like West Orange-Stark and Jasper will be beneficial to LC-M come district time. “I think having these contests against good ball clubs under our belt early in the preseason will help us,” Crouch concluded.
Little Cypress-Mauriceville will play Jasper at Battlin’ Bears Stadium. The kickoff will be 7:00 PM on Friday.
-Dan Perrine, KOGT-
Social Media