By Malcolm Butler
With quarterback Ladd Thompson back and starting center Brett Johnson close to returning, the Cedar Creek Cougars are close to being full strength for the first time since a scrimmage at Lakeside back in mid-August.
And just in time.
The Cougars host win-less Tensas tonight at 7 p.m. at Cougar Stadium for their homecoming game. It’s the next-to-last non-district game of the season until the postseason arrives.
Following tonight’s game, the Cougars will have a bye week before traveling to Lafayette Renaissance Charter the following week for the final non-district game. Creek jumps into District 1-2A play Oct. 20 against No. 1 ranked OCS.
Head coach William Parkerson and Co. picked up their first win of the season last week with its 22-12 victory over Delhi, and the Cougars coach said he could tell a difference in his team when they were finally able to play from ahead.
“We finally got a second half lead and once we did that the kids played with a lot of confidence and really relaxed,” said Parkerson. “We just had a much better flow.
“It’s the first time we have had a lead in the second half. We just played a lot more free. The lead went from 8-6 to 16-6 and then you could really see the difference. We were able to just play. The stress (they felt) was gone.”
Thompson returned to the field after missing the Winnfield game, and Parkerson said his senior signal caller is progressing with his recovery from an injury in the loss to Vidalia.
“He is doing alright,” said Parkerson. “He is still fighting through some pain but he is doing okay and getting a little better every day.”
Parkerson also said he hoped to have Johnson back in time for its game against Lafayette Renaissance Charter, something that should help the Cougars offense tremendously.
Tensas has been outscored in its four games this year 215-28 with losses to LaSalle (46-8), Beekman Charter (60-6), Ringgold (50-14) and OCS (59-0).
“They do a lot of empty,” said Parkerson talking about the Tensas offense. “A lot of what so many teams do today. A lot of spread stuff; two by two, three by one, three by two. They have some four by one formations. They are just like everybody else in football today.”
Tensas, a member of District 4-1A, hasn’t had much success slowing its opponents down this year, surrendering 53.8 points per game.
“They run some version of a 3-4,” said Parkerson. “I am assuming they will crowd the line of scrimmage like Winnfield and Vidalia and Delhi have all done. Hopefully we can make them pay for it.”
The 2023 Homecoming Court will be introduced pregame starting at 6:30 p.m.
Parkerson said that with so many homecoming activities surrounding the entire week that they have tried to keep the players focused while being mindful of the outside distraction.
“For us it has business as usual,” he said. “We have tried to shorten practice this week with all the other stuff going on. We want to keep them as fresh as possible and focused. We want them to be mentally prepared as well as physically fresh so we just haven’t been practicing quite as long this week.”
