By Malcolm Butler
It doesn’t get any easier for Cedar Creek tonight when the Cougars try to put a mark in the W column, traveling south to face Winnfield.
Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.
It’s a big of deja vu for the Cougars.
Last year Creek was 0-2 (with close losses to Glenbrook and Vidalia) when it pulled a 35-20 upset victory over Winnfield at home, a win that started a streak of six five wins over the final seven weeks of the regular season.
Head coach William Parkerson’s bunch has started 2023 by dropping a pair of tough games that came down to the closing minutes of the fourth quarter, falling 22-18 to Glenbrook in Week 1 and 14-12 to Vidalia.
Enter Week 3 and the Winnfield Tigers.
The Tigers are also looking for their first win of the young season after falling 20-14 to 5A Pineville and 46-19 to Caldwell Parish.
“They mix up some of what we do with true spread,” said Parkerson when asked about the Winnfield offensive unit. ‘The quarterback is the most dangerous player they have with the ball in his hands. The two guys they put in the slots when they go to their double slot package are their next two best players. It’s the guys they go to when they are in spread. We have to get a bunch of hats to the ball (carrier).”
Defensively, Creek has been stellar thus far. And the Cougars will need to continue that trend as the offense tries to find its groove.
“We have been good tacklers for the most part,” said Parkerson. “This game come downs to blocking and tackling. The team that blocks better and tackles better is going to win. We have done a great job tackling. We’ve had a lot of gang tackling.
“As good as the defensive line played last week, I still think we can be better up there. I think that group can be dominate if they get to clicking on all cylinders. They are big for a 3A school. We probably average 230 across the front. There are some 2A and 3A schools that would take that.”
Offensively is where Cedar Creek has really struggled through two games. Last week quarterback Ladd Thompson finished the game against Vidalia but wasn’t 100 percent after suffering an injury in the second half.
“He is good to go,” said Parkerson when asked about Thompson’s status for this week.
Regardless, the Cougars have to find a way to consistently move the football.
“I sound like a broken record,” said Parkerson. “Through two games no one has stopped us. We have stopped ourselves. We either get first downs and move down the field and score or it’s fourth down and 16 because we have either gotten a penalty or a bad snap or we fumble an exchange and we have to jump on it.
“If we can play clean football, then we can play offensively. Now we have to embrace that we are going to have to grind out 12- to 15-play drives which this offense is built to do. We have to quit shooting ourselves in the foot. We are supposed to go on 12-play drives with a bunch of three- and four-yard plays.”
Parkerson said the Tigers will provide plenty of challenges with their defensive unti.
“They are 4-3 man coverage,” said Parkerson. “There linebackers are really good. It’s the best unit on their defense in my opinion. They are going to load the line of scrimmage and see if they can overwhelm you with numbers.”
