By T. Scott Boatright
Lincoln Preparatory School football coach Glen Hall knows how to read the hand he’s been dealt for the 2023 season.
But that isn’t going to stop Hall from trying to read the cards and come up with a winning hand no matter what the odds might look like.
Lincoln Prep will play host to cross-parish and District 2-1A foe Cedar Creek starting at 7 p.m. today at Panthers Field, and for now Hall is strictly focused on that contest before facing even more daunting odds next week playing on the road against defending 1A Select School state champion Ouachita Christian School.
“It’s tough overcoming youth and inexperience, and that’s where we’re at,” Hall said. “I thought we could overcome it early, but the more we practice the more I see that those are very high expectations for this very, very young team.
“The main thing I have to do is to teach them how to be winners. And that’s not going to happen quickly. They just don’t know what that is yet. It’s a learning experience and we’re going to keep on teaching them and working on it, but first focus has to be on getting them to grow and learn to become competitive no matter who they’re going up against and not just active participants.”
Cedar Creek stands at 3-4 overall and 0-1 in district play while Lincoln Prep is 2-5 and 0-1. In the latest unofficial power rankings, the Cougars stand in 21st place while the Panthers are 24th.
While realizing his Panthers will be facing a talented Cedar Creek squad, he believes his team still might have a shot with the right focus on execution throughout the contest.
“We have to move the ball with our offense and defensively, we have to hold them to long, time-consuming drives and not let them break off long runs and score in a hurry,” Hall said. “If we can get started offensively, get stops defensively and drive and score, then it should be a good game between us.
“If we can keep it close by halftime, then it will be anyone’s game in the second half.”
Hall knows a low-scoring game would be the better option for his Panthers.
“We’re not ready (offensively) for a high-scoring game,” Hall said. “We make too many mental mistakes on that side of the ball right now. We’re still learning. So we’re not ready for a high-scoring game.”
Lincoln Prep starting quarterback Jordan Brown was injured two weeks ago in the second half of the last game the Panthers played — a home loss to St. Frederick — but Hall said Brown will be the primary Panther behind center against Cedar Creek.
“Jordan’s healthy and he’ll be the quarterback, he’s still the guy,” Hall said. “He’s healed and he’s ready.
“We’ll do some Wildcat (offensive set), too. We might even use a formation or two that nobody has seen yet.”
Hall doesn’t expect the Cougars to look any different than they have on the video he’s reviewed.
“They’re consistent — we know what will be coming,” Hall said. “The question is, will we stop, or even slow it? They’re gonna run the option with some reverses. They’ll run the counter and they’ll run all of it well. They’re not as deep as they used to be. They’re just like us. It’s going to be two teams with about 30 players each. So a lot of players will have to go both ways, and that could make the game interesting.”
And that means a key for Lincoln Prep will be slowing Cedar Creek quarterback Ladd Thompson and fullback Lawson Lillo.
“If we can’t stop the fullback and the quarterback, we’re going to be in trouble,” Hall said. “I think that’s where they’ll attack but they’ve seen the film and know we make a lot of mistakes up in the middle. And I think that’s what they’ll try to exploit.”
Hall is hoping for a solid crowd in the Panthers last home game of regular-season play.
“It’ll be Senior Night so I’m hoping everyone comes out and shows our veteran players the support they deserve after working to lead such a young team this season,” Hall said.
