by Malcolm Butler
Just over a week before the start of the regular season, Cedar Creek head coach Matt Middleton confirmed Monday afternoon that the Cougars opener against Glenbrook has been moved.
The two schools were slated to open Saturday, Sept. 3 at 3 p.m. at Independence Stadium as part of the Battle of the Border. However, now the two teams will play Thursday, Sept. 1 at 7 p.m. at Glenbrook.
“Glenbrook never signed the contract for the Battle of the Border,” said Middleton. “That is who we were scheduled to actually play. So when they didn’t sign it, I wasn’t going to play Parkview Little Rock or whoever because that is not who we agreed to play.”
Middleton said the contract between Cedar Creek and Glenbrook was originally a home-and-home where the Cougars would travel to Glenbrook in 2022 and then would host the school in Ruston in 2023.
“The bottom line is before I left (for Southern Arkansas in January), I signed a contract to play Glenbrook,” said Middleton. “We would play a home-and-home at each other’s stadiums. After I left, Coach (Stephen) Ensminger worked this deal out (with Battle of the Border). But it never worked out because Glenbrook never signed their contract. Therefore we would have been without an opponent.”
Middleton said he found out last week about the situation. Ultimately, the two schools will revert back to the original contract.
“The city of Shreveport was gracious enough to let us out of our contract since we didn’t have an opponent,” said Middleton.
The Cougars will face Evangel Christian Saturday at 5 p.m. at Joe Aillet Stadium as part of Bayou Jamb.
