The Livingston Academy Wildcats are preparing to take on rival Cookeville, one day earlier than anticipated.
The 4A Wildcats are 1-0 after a season-opening 12-10 win over Westmoreland. They are facing a 6A Cavalier team coming off a 28-0 win over Upperman. LA head coach Bruce Lamb said the Cavs look big and strong.
“They’re… enormous,” said Lamb. “They’ve got kids there that are the size of college players. If you watch their offense, (CHS quarterback) Stockton Owen is an incredible athlete. He’s hard to stop.”
The matchup between the Cavs and Wildcats was moved to Thursday due to the threat of inclement weather caused by Hurricane Laura. Lamb said his team’s preparation has been good, despite losing a day.
“We had a great practice yesterday,” said Lamb. “We’re just one day short of what we usually get so we’ve had to speed things up. I think we’ve come back this week and worked really hard.”
The Cavs are led by senior quarterback Parker Coleman. In his first start at the varsity level, he led his team back from a 4-0 halftime deficit against Westmoreland with two drives to eventually give his team the win.
“That has given him a little confidence,” said Lamb. “I think that’s shown a little bit this week in practice.”
The LA defense was stout against the Eagles, holding them without a touchdown until late in the game, but this week face a stiff challenge in the Cavaliers led by Owen and senior running back Logan Sides.
Owen rushed for 152 yards and two touchdowns, while adding another through the air to lead the Cavs. Lamb said his linebackers, led by Nathan Carwile, need to tackle correctly to have a chance to slow down Owen.
“We better wrap up,” said Lamb. “Especially with that young man. He’s special. Not only is he elusive, but he’s also very strong, so we better wrap up. He puts a lot of pressure on us when it’s one on one. We’ve got to make that play.”
Sides enjoyed a dominant performance against Upperman, rushing for 159 yards and a touchdown. Lamb reiterated his team must tackle well to slow down the Cavs rushing attack.
“If we don’t tackle, or if we miss tackles, it’s going to be a long night,” said Lamb.
The game is being played at Tucker Stadium at Tennessee Tech University.
“I don’t know if (Livingston’s players) understand getting to go play in a big stadium like that,” said Lamb. “It’s something that we’ve never done before. We usually have a scrimmage there every year but we’ve not been able to do that this year. We’d always tell them this is where we want to end up. We want our last game to be here at Tucker Stadium in a state championship game. I think it’ll be interesting. I think they’ll be excited.”
Kickoff between the Wildcats and Cavs is set for 7 p.m.