The Livingston Academy Wildcats are preparing to begin their road towards defending their Region 3/4A championship Friday night against the Cumberland County Jets.
Cumberland County enters the game looking for their first win since 2018. LA head coach Bruce Lamb said the Jets are not the same Cumberland County of old under first-year head coach Noah Repasky.
“They’re doing much better of just lining up and playing football,” said Lamb. “Coach Repasky, you can just tell has really helped those guys and it’s going to pay off in the long run. They’re going to win a game this year, I just hope it isn’t this week.”
The Wildcats (1-1) are looking to bounce back after a 33-18 loss against Cookeville in week two.
The Wildcats will be playing the remainder of the season without senior quarterback Parker Coleman due to an injury. Raven Carpenter, who has spent some time at quarterback this season, will be asked to do more.
“Raven’s an exceptional athlete,” said Lamb. “He can play anywhere on the field. He’s an exceptional football player and we have all the confidence in the world in Raven.”
Nathan Cowgill will also see more time at quarterback. Cowgill went 4-5 for 53 yards and a touchdown against Cookeville.
As the Wildcats prepare to enter region play, senior running back Kaleb Robinson will have an opportunity to emerge. Robinson rushed for 64 yards on 10 carries against Cookeville.
“He’s going to be our offense, pretty much,” said Lamb. “We had Parker, but we lost him. Kaleb is a huge part of our offense and we don’t have that other dynamic we had with Parker. He’s going to get more carries and he’s going to be the athlete that carries the tote for us.”
The new-look Jets have shown the ability to throw the football through two weeks. Last week, in a loss against White County, they scored twice on deep passes. The young LA secondary is now missing one of its top corners in Coleman. Lamb had a simple answer for what his secondary needs to do Friday night.
“Don’t get beat,” said Lamb. “(Cumberland County) does a good job. Their kids catch the ball really well. The quarterback has put it on the money so far, so it’s going to be tough to stop. We need to put a little pressure on him.”
The Wildcats learned a lot about their football team in the first two weeks of the season, but with the first region contest of the season looming, Lamb said those first two contests are in the past.
“The first two games didn’t mean anything, really,” said Lamb. “(Region games) are what get you into the playoffs. This is one we’ve got to have. We need to line up and play football and hopefully come away with a win.”
Kickoff between the Jets and Wildcats is set for 7 p.m. Friday in Crossville.