By T. Scott Boatright
It will be a Lincoln Parish showdown with playoff aspirations and seeding on the line as Lincoln Preparatory School and Cedar Creek meet at 7 p.m. tonight at Cougars Stadium.
The game has been moved up from Friday because of an increasing chance of potential severe weather on Friday into the weekend.
Lincoln Prep (3-5) currently stands at No. 23 in the GeauxPreps.com Division IV select school power rankings while Cedar Creek (5-3) is at No. 16.
“I think we’re ranked No. 23 or something like that right now,” Hall said. “We want to get that win and move up and get a favorable first-round playoff spot to give us a chance to steal that first (playoff) game.
“And if we can do that anything can happen after that,”
Hall said his team has had a strong week of practice coming off of last week’s 34-8 win over River Oaks.
“We’ve had some pretty good practices — very enthusiastic,” Hall said. “A win makes you practice harder and hopefully it will translate into something against Cedar Creek.”
Lincoln Prep was healthier as it has been for weeks for last week’s win in a game that was also played at Cedar Creek’s stadium.
And until Tuesday, Hall expected his squad to be just as healthy heading into a second straight week playing on the same field.
“We were pretty healthy under Tuesday, and then my left tackle hurt his knee again,” Hall said. “But at this point of the game and the season we just have to have guys step up and play. It’s just a next man up kind of thing where we’ll need what was our young back-up to step up into that starting role and keep things going.”
Left tackles are crucial in conventional passing attacks, but Lincoln Prep’s aerial assaults come largely via screens, wheel routes and quick slants, meaning the quarterback gets rid of the ball quickly.
But Hall said the injury is costly for his Panthers from another aspect.
“It hurts us a lot on our run plays, because we do a lot of counters and that kind of stuff, and that involves the tackle pulling,” Hall said. “And the young guy we’re going to have to play is not as athletic as the starter.”
Hall said he has no doubt Cedar Creek will key on senior “athlete” Brandon Heard, who last week against River Oaks played a key role for the Panthers playing multiple positions.
“I know they’re going to key on him,” Hall said. “I’m hoping they do. Because once they key on him I’m going to do something else. I’m still going to put the ball in his hands.
“And I’m going to put the ball in his hands at quarterback. I’m going to put the ball in his hands at running back. I’m going to put the ball in his hands at receiver and as a kick returner and punt returner. I’m going to put the ball in his hands any way I can.”
Likewise, Hall will have his Panthers key on Cedar Creek standout running back Lane Thomas.
“It all starts with him,” Hall said, “He’s a good running back. He’s a slasher who can get around the edge on you or take it outside and then bounce it off of you. If we can slow him down and make them throw the ball, that will help.
“But they throw the ball pretty well, too. Hopefully we’ll be able to put some pressure on him and force some errant throws and maybe get a fumble or two to help keep us in the game and that will keep us in the game the way we’ve allowed that to keep our opponents in some of our games this year.”
Hall said the close proximity of the schools doesn’t add to a rivalry factor the way it did back when the Panthers and Cougars were district foes, as they are again now in District 2-1A.
“This team has never encountered Cedar Creek,” Hall said. “Because we got moved into different districts until they put us back together this season. So this team doesn’t know anything about a rivalry or anything.
“What I’m telling them is that if they can go in and steal a win heading into the last game, if we can win tomorrow we’ll be going into that final regular season game (at Ouachita Christian) looking for a share of the district championship. At that point anything can happen. We just have to take care of business (tonight).”
Hall is hoping that proximity to home will pay dividends for Grambling-based Lincoln Prep.
“The crowd we had last week was a big plus,” Hall said. “Cedar Creek’s going to come out with a good crowd, and we always travel with a good crowd. So we’re banking on that support to be an extra man for us.”
