Lion football needs a win.
The reasons are numerous, and the time is Friday. After a bye week, district play begins with Hardin-Jefferson. Beyond that, the team needs positive momentum after an 0-3 run through non-district.
Coach Finis Vanover said his team didn’t have much fun during the off week.
“Not a lot, it was sheer misery and the heat was incredible. It tested us daily,” he said. “We prepared them for it mentally and physically. We had a good plan with some good guidelines on how we were going to handle it time wise with breaks, so we could get the maximum intensity out of them. We went full pads the entire week with full contact and got after it. “We think we found some players that want to make plays when the game is on the line. We focused intensely on correcting mistakes and errors and penalties at the worst possible times. We know we have cost ourselves over 700 yards of offense in three games on penalties, with three scores. We would be a powerful 2-1 team right now (if not for) that.
“We had some great lectures and film breakdowns to make them understand and see what we were talking about. I think we have got a group of 40 young men that get it now. They understand, they know who we are, and they know who we have played compared to others.”
The rotation of players at each position has been slimmed for district. Vanover believes he has six offensive and defensive linemen that will allow coaches to cut down on the big guys playing both ways. For two weeks now, the Hawks of Hardin-Jefferson (2-1) have been the focal point for Livingston. The positive energy generated from a win could pay off large rolling into the final six weeks of 10-4A.
Like many in the area, the Hawks will run a spread offense. That group struggled a bit in two games, but turned in its best performance with 35 points over Buna.
“They’ve got a good quarterback that is a big kid,” Vanover said. “They have always had a stable full of fine running backs. There is one that is a bowling ball fullback, and the other looks about like Jerren (James).
“There are some good basketball- type receivers and secondary kids, who are athletic and can run and jump. Most of them are around six feet or 6-foot-1. They have a lot of spread route theory with crossing routes and 7-on-7 type stuff.”
The Hawk defense has been good to this point, Holding teams to seven, 26 and 12 points through three contests.
“They have a big, wide nose tackle in an odd-man front. They will bring their linebackers like crazy from different positions, starting five yards deep. Their linebackers and secondary are the most impressive athletes on that side of the ball.”
The coach feels confident in the team’s preparation for district, and said eliminating most mistakes will be the difference in wins and losses.
“I think folks are going to be proud as heck of the group that shows up Friday night. We’ve got three good practices scheduled this week for final preparation. We’ve always done a good job on our open dates, being prepared and ready to go. We think we have found some answers at some key spots that are going to help us. We think we are going to be able to do some good things for a change and stop – not shooting ourselves but – blowing our foot completely off our legs.”
