Story by Rusty Ellis
The Livingston Academy Wildcats achieved one of their goals when they scored against Stone Memorial, but it didn’t end in a win for LA.
Instead, it was the Panthers who came away with a 49-12 victory, leaving the Wildcats with an 0-3 record. While the score was far from ideal, it didn’t sway head coach Dale Flatt’s belief that his players are showing improvement and consistent effort.
“I think we played as hard as we could,” Flatt said. “Our line blocked better than they ever have, and we got a lot of first downs. We just didn’t get into the end zone…our defense, for the most part, covered really well, but the long ball (hurt us).”
On film, the Panthers showed more of their short passing game and onside kicks, things they were known for. What caught Flatt off-guard was the amount of times they pushed the ball downfield in the passing game, as it forced his defense to adapt to a part of the game they hadn’t prepared for.
“You work on stuff and then they come out and do something else, and that’s hard,” Flatt said. “You have to go back and tell your kids that you have to go back and work on this…things like that happen, and during the week, it’s good to go over everything so you’re ready for the unexpected.”
This week presents an interesting challenge for the Wildcats, as they take on 2A opponent York Institute, a program known for running Wing-T style formations. While they’ve lined up in those same formations, they’ve managed to incorporate some passing into their attack. While they fell to Monterey 20-6 in week three, quarterback Myles Leffew impressed with his ability to improvise consistently on broken plays.
One thing Flatt says his team will have to do is match York’s physicality.
“That’s power football,” Flatt said. “They throw a lot, and I’ve noticed in the games I’ve seen that they throw quite a bit. It’s probably half and half.”
The biggest key to this game for Livingston could simply be getting off to a good start and setting the tone, physically. The Wildcats have started out behind the other team in all three of their games, and an fast start in this one could lead to their first win.
“I think for any team, that’s important,” Flatt said. “Football is a game of highs and lows, and if you can keep your kids up to a high level, they play better. If you score first, that sets the tempo and gets your team fired up…when we scored against Stone, our bunch was sky-high at that point. It was in the second half, and we played better in the second half. When you have high school kids out there, they need to play with that high level of intensity.”
The Wildcats and Dragons take the field at Tennessee Tech’s Tucker Stadium at 7 P.M. on Thursday. The game will be live-streamed on Upper Cumberland Reporter 2 on Facebook.