Panthers play host to Cougars in 2-1A

Lincoln Prep (2-5, 0-1 district) and Cedar Creek (3-4, 0-1 district) are set to face off in a matchup spanning District 2-1A and Lincoln Parish lines, with both teams looking to bounce back from district losses.

The Panthers had a week off after St. Frederick defeated them 41-0 on Oct. 12, while the Cougars hit the road after falling 35-0 to No. 2 Ouachita Christian last Friday.

Both coaches feel their teams continue to work hard toward improvement and can use Thursday as another opportunity to respond as the young programs sit on or near the line of the Division IV Select playoff field of 24 teams.

With two weeks left in the regular season, Prep ranks No. 24 and Creek ranks No. 21 in the latest power ratings.

“We’re working on us and working on things we need to do better,” Lincoln Prep head coach Glen Hall said. “ I keep trying to get them to understand it’s not about what the other team does if we don’t execute what we need to do. We’re trying to get everybody on the same page with down and distance and how we want to play. Just gotta keep fighting hard.”

The Panthers had 76 total yards of offense against St. Frederick, using multiple quarterbacks in Cenario Wilson, Jordan Brown, and Michael Lewis behind center. The range of options came only after Brown sustained an injury, one that Hall said won’t keep the team’s regular starter out of the game.

“Jordan is the quar-terback,” Hall said “Cenario, we have some packages for him to come in, but he doesn’t know all the plays, and so Jordan is our quarterback. He was hurt against St. Fred, so that’s why we tried some different guys, but he’s still the guy. We’ll do some more wildcat stuff and try some stuff out.”

The Cougars may have been shut out against the defending state champions, but there was optimism coming out of the game from head coach William Parkerson.

Whether it be quarterback Ladd Thompson completing 6 of his 14 passes for 115 yards, including a 37-yard strike, or the defense shutting out the Eagles in the first quarter, including an interception from Thompson at defensive back, Parkerson was pleased with his team’s fight on both sides of the ball.

“I thought Ladd had his best game at quarterback on Friday, and he just continues to have a positive attitude, and he plays hard,” Parkerson said.

Every in-state quarterback that’s completed a pass against OCS has thrown at least one interception, except for Thompson.

As for the defense continuing its seasonlong streak of at least one takeaway per game, Parkerson said, “When you’ve got 11 guys flying to the ball and playing hard and aggressive, it’s easy to force turnovers, and they’ve been doing a good job all year with that.”

When it comes to the specific matchup Thursday, both coaches said each team’s small numbers don’t reflect the talent that comes through on tape.

“They’ve got big kids and good team speed,” Parkerson said of Prep. “Defensively, I’ve seen them play 4-2-5 and a 3-3 stack so we’ll need to be ready for both.”

Hall said the Cougars’ defensive line will present challenges to run against and is filled with strong athletes, but he said the Panthers have to be the more aggressive unit if they want to win.

“If we can penetrate behind the line of scrimmage, that can kill their option,” Hall said. “If we can get up field on them and have them bounce outside to our strong safeties and have them go sideline to sideline besides north to south.”

Creek ( 3-4, 0-1 district) faces Lincoln Prep (2-5, 0-1 district) Thursday at 7 p.m. at Panther Field in Grambling.