The Livingston Academy Wildcats are looking to bounce back as they prepare to take on the White County Warriors on Friday night in the High School Football Game of the Week.
The Wildcats (5-2, 2-1) dropped a road region contest 38-14 against Dekalb County in week seven, but LA coach Bruce Lamb said his team has had a good week of preparation.
“I think we’ve come out and had a really good week of practice,” said Lamb. “That loss probably woke us up a little bit. I think we’ve come out and practiced extremely hard. We’ve corrected a lot of things we did wrong. It’s been a good week.”
The Wildcats entered the Dekalb County game playing with confidence on a four-game winning streak. Lamb said his team has shown resiliency this week.
“It’s still the same football team,” said Lamb. “They’re very resilient. They’re ready to go. I think they’re anxious to get on the field and redeem themselves after what they did last week.”
The Wildcats topped the Warriors (3-3) 27-12 in 2019. Lamb said Sparta is an improved football team.
“They’re better,” said Lamb. “Over the years you could think ‘we’re going to win this one,’ not with this bunch. Coach (Mark) Frasier’s done a great job with those guys. He’s got the guys to come out and it’s going to make them so much better over the next few years. We’ve got our hands full.”
The Warriors starting quarterback is freshman Owen Adams. Adams is making his second start for the injured Malaki Dowell.
Lamb said he is sure there are things WCHS will do that LA has not seen on tape yet.
“I’m sure there’s some unknowns,” said Lamb. “He’s a totally different kid than Malaki. There’s some unknowns but you go out there and play football and see what happens.”
The Livingston vs White County rivalry dates back decades. Both Frasier and Lamb have shared they are close friends and there are several connections to the school, but the rivalry is important.
“Mark’s a good friend of mine,” said Lamb. “Yes, there’s always a rivalry between White County and Livingston. Myself and Coach (Matthan) Houser were both the head coach at White County for some time. It brings a little bit back of wanting to win that game for bragging rights.”
After a game filled with mistakes on both sides of the football, Lamb said the most important thing his team did this week was work on themselves.
“That’s what we’ve done this week, work on ourselves,” said Lamb. “I think we have. The guys up front have really improved this week. Our running backs and receivers have done good. Our defensive backs are thoroughly prepared after what happened last week.”
Kickoff between the Wildcats and the Warriors is set for 7 p.m. in Sparta. It is the High School Football Game of the Week and will be broadcast live on the UCR Facebook page and on Newstalk 107.7 and 1400 the HUB. Pregame coverage starts at 6:45.