by Rusty Ellis
The Livingston Academy Wildcats are heading into the regular season with some positive feelings after shutting out Jackson County 21-0 in the varsity portion of Friday’s jamboree.
Jake Hughes took the snaps at quarterback for Livingston, and was impressive on the ground with two rushing touchdowns for the Wildcats to lead the way in the scoring department. Daniel Bilbrey accounted for the other score, as he picked off a Waylon Kennedy pass and took back to the end-zone for the touchdown.
First-year head coach Matthan Houser and his staff are heading into the first week of the regular season with a lot of positive vibes after Friday’s performance.
“I thought they played hard and that’s what we wanted from them,” Houser said. “We told them to go out and play hard and not get caught up on any particular play, and that’s exactly what they did. We’re excited about that.”
Hughes stepped into a position that he hadn’t seen much live-action in, and when you combined both his play and the play of the offensive line in front of him, it made for an impressive performance.
“Jake’s just a natural athlete, he got thrown into a tough spot and he made the most of it,” Houser said. “There’s a lot of guys that played well and factored into his success, and we’re proud of all of them.”
Bilbrey was another standout with his play on both defense and special teams, as those two spots allowed him to showcase his speed that Houser is excited for.
“It doesn’t really matter where you put him, he finds a way to impact the game,” Houser said. “I don’t care if it’s punt-return, receiver or defensive back, he finds the ball and makes things happen, and a lot of that comes from competition in practice. These guys all compete, and that’s all you can ask for as a coach.”
Next week against Trousdale County is when the games begin to count and mean a little more, and Houser knows his players will have to come ready to go on Monday.
“There’s a lot of things you can’t control, but you can control your effort,” Houser said. “We know at some point we’re going to face adversity, and at that point it’ll be all about how you handle. They came out tonight and handled business, so now we go from there.”
