Little Cypress-Mauriceville played cross-county rival the Vidor Pirates last week. The Bears kept the contest close until halftime trailing by only seven points, but lost their second district game.
Coach Randy Crouch analyzed the loss for LC-M (0-5, 0-2). He congratulated Coach Jeff Mathews and his Pirates for playing a strong game. Crouch conceded Vidor made more big plays than the Bears.
A turning point could have been a Vidor (3-2, 1-1) fumble which the Bears had a chance to scoop and return it for a touchdown, but the referees blew the play dead. Crouch said, “All and all we did not play well enough to win the football game.”
This Friday is another district game for the Bears against Lumberton (1-5, 0-2). Crouch reviewed the Raiders on offense who use multiple formations. They like to primarily throw the football. A key for the Bears defensively will be lining up correctly to the different formations shown by Lumberton and make the correct assignments and adjustments.
Quarterback Drake Boykin is the returning starter for the Raiders and is very good. Boykin has Hunter Fesco back as his primary receiver. Joining Fesco are a number of younger Raider wide receivers who are big and very talented according to Crouch.
Lumberton throws and the catches the football very well, but the Raiders are not a one-dimensional offense. “They give you the allusion that they throw it every down, but they make a lot yards rushing the football, also.” Crouch pointed out. Carson Stinnett and Cade Danna are two of the running backs to watch for Little Cypress-Mauriceville defenders.
The Raiders are big and disciplined on defense positioning themselves good. Coach Crouch looked at the Lumberton defense which he has always thought has played extremely hard against Little Cypress-Mauriceville. The Raiders line up in an even front with four downed linemen which can cause a lot of problems for opposing offenses.
The defensive line pursues extremely well. The leader is Bo Stucker who had three sacks last season. Danna is a starter at linebacker and another key player on the Raiders’ defense.
There have been some lapses early in the season for Lumberton playing defense, but the Raiders have given the Bears trouble in previous years. Crouch stated, “We’ve got to prepare for multiply defensive looks, they make it very difficult on your receivers, you have to be able to recognize the different techniques that they play, and be able to perform offensively.”
The Bears are looking for their first win. Crouch pointed out the keys for Little Cypress-Mauriceville capture its initial victory of the year is cutting down on the mental mistakes offensively. The Bears have had some really key mistakes at inopportune times in their first five games.
That said, Coach Crouch has seen his football team respond. Crouch believes in the Bears and thinks he has some players that want to perform right in the games. He and the coaches need to make sure they do the best they possibly can to prepare the players to do it correctly and focus on what they can do.
In the end winning comes down to blocking and tackling according to the coach. “We’ve got to maintain and finish the blocks better offensively, defensively we can’t have lapses where we lose our techniques where we give up a cheap score, you can’t do that, you’ve got to make the opponents earn what they get,” Crouch concluded.
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