Bears play Legacy on new field

The bye week for Little Cypress-Mauriceville is over, and the Bears resume game action on Friday. LCM plays the Legacy Titans on its new artificial turf field at Battlin' Bear Stadium.

Coach Eric Peevey believes the Bears had a great week working out on the new field for the first time. "We were able to get on the field. We had some very competitive practices last week which was a great thing. We needed that to get those competitive juices flowing again to get back to playing physical football. That's something we've got to make a statement in and that's who we are a physical football team. We've just got to get better at making that a point each game," Peevey emphasized.

Practicing on the artificial surface was special. Peevey recalled, "Getting out on the new field was an exciting point, and I think the kids are ready for the first home game of the year."

The Bears are looking to bounce back from their last game which was a loss to Houston Kinkaid two weeks ago. "It would be really nice to start off before we get into district with a win here against Legacy which is a very talented team so we know we'll have to bring our A-game. With the new field and homecoming I don't think I'll have to worry about firing the kids up this week," Peevey advised.

The Legacy School of Sports Sciences out of the Spring area will be the Bears' opponent on Friday. The Titans are very talented being able to recruit youngsters from around the greater Houston area, and they defeated the Orangefield Bobcats in Week 2 this season.

The Titans work out of the Spread on offense and will pass the football all over the gridiron. They like to throw deep passes multiple times during a game hoping to hit pay dirt whenever possible.

Heading up the passing game is senior quarterback Jacob Smith who may be the best quarterback Coach Peevey said he has seen in about three years. Peevey exclaimed, "He has the ability to throw and really be accurate with his downfield throws. Third and long for them doesn't seem to pressure Smith or the Titans to make a long throw downfield. And Smith can run the ball too."

A primary recipient of the long passes is freshman Keisean Henderson who already has about 500 yards in receptions. Other targets are senior Noah McClatchey and junior Stefan Reynolds.

The tailback Roric Hawkins according to Peevey looks like he is shot out of a cannon when he gets the ball. "The Titans have maybe the biggest offensive line I have ever seen in high school. When you mix all those together they are very dangerous on offense, they score a lot of points, and they keep you on your heels a lot. Defensively, we're definitely going to have to rally to make tackles and keep the quarterback contained as much as we can," Peevey analyzed.

There are some grown young men playing defense for Legacy. The Titans with their superior athletes use man coverage in the secondary and will blitz a lot in a kind of feast or famine mentality on defense.

Legacy's goal is to put the opponent's offense behind the sticks and to cause turnovers that will give the ball back to their offense. The consequence is the Titans take a lot of risks on defense that do result in some big plays by their opponents in games.

The personnel on the Legacy defense has switched out a lot from the film reviewed by Peevey and the other Bear coaches. Peevey indicated it appeared the Titans had new guys on defense every week in their 4-2-5 scheme.

One consistent performer for the Titans on defense is Donovan Leaks in the front line. Leaks is big and very aggressive causing a lot of pressure on opposing quarterbacks.

The bottom line is the Titans are very talented on defense. Peevey advised, "We're just going to have to play our style of football, not do any silly mistakes, not give them any easy turnovers, keep away from the holding penalties, and I think we'll be able to steadily keep moving the ball downfield. We're going to get physical and go right at them. In the passing game we have to make sure our throws are on the money."

This Friday is homecoming for the Bears, it will be the first truly home game of the season for LCM, it is the first game on the renovated Battlin' Bear football field, and this game is the final tune up before the district starts. Coach Peevey admitted, "They've got me running around like a chicken with my head cutoff right now getting everything ready from the scoreboard, getting all the advertising ready, the Hudl camera up, making sure all the electrical is working, and getting it all together. I don't think I'm going to have to worry about our kids this week. They came into this week focused already."

The Bears got their new green jerseys this week. They have been wearing their black or white jerseys in games this season. The team and Peevey are excited to wear the green for the first time in two seasons since they did not have those green jerseys at all last year.

With all of the other distractions this week the main focus will be on the Legacy Titans come Friday night. "There's a lot of things going on, but I think that the Bears understand that football is the main focus. I don't think I'm going to have to worry about them being focused on the Titans, and I'm not going to take a chance of that because we'll make sure that happens in practice," Peevey concluded.

A community pep rally was held Monday night at Battlin' Bear Stadium. A special ribbon cutting ceremony was conducted with Superintendent Stacey Brister, the Little Cypress-Mauriceville Consolidated Independent School District board of trustees, and other selected dignitaries in recognition of the new artificial turf field at the stadium.

The Little Cypress-Mauriceville Bears play the Legacy Titans on Friday night. The kickoff will be at 7:30 in Battlin' Bear Stadium.