Coaching adages with hard work and effort are used so often in sports that many will tune out the words. Yet, Livingston’s success through two games can be traced to both.
Last week, Lion coach Tucker Carter praised Needville for their ability to cover mistakes by playing hard. Livingston was equally up to the challenge Friday, and can attribute a 2-0 record to plenty of effort and fighting through adversity. The coach said he is proud of what his team has put on the field.
“There are some things execution-wise that we have to clean up that we’re just not doing great yet. We talked about how effort is a skill, and your motor can make up for discrepancies. We’ve put a big emphasis on playing to the whistle and trying to cover up mistakes with effort.”
Livingston is by no means a finished product, but that is what should concern opponents. If the team can improve and maintain their hard work, the opportunity for a very successful season is possible. The Lions have defeated not only a school much larger, but also one that they could not outscore in four previous chances.
“The expectations were high, but it’s also a little surprising in the sense that you never really know what you’re going to be when you get out there for the first snap of the game,” Carter said. “Scrimmages are an eval tool. We’re trying to get better week to week and that was the message (Monday) morning when we brought the kids in for game film for last week. We’re leaving a lot of meat on the bone in a lot of areas, so we’ve got to clean some stuff up. That is exciting.
“I talked to Tyler (Soza), the quarterback, and said that it’s never really a finished product. You’re striving for perfection, but you’re never going to be perfect. That is part of the journey. You watch the film and think, ‘This could have been better or we could have done this, I didn’t need to make this read or this decision.’ QB1 is definitely the big one that is going to continue to get better; he is just so young in his quarterback experience, even though he’s a senior. He is going to grow week to week and get better and better.”
Previous Livingston coaching staffs have voiced frustration about how the Lions were able to execute in practice, but the work put in did not transfer to Friday nights. One of the current staff’s biggest accomplishments is getting a month of work to show in games.
“There is definitely some times in the game where I am like, ‘Did we just go completely clueless about what we are supposed to be coached to do?’ The biggest thing is bringing them over and talking them through it and staying calm and staying the course. When a kid comes over after making a mistake, we are not going to just undress them, because we have to get to the point of what’s got to get better and what needs corrected. That is the deal with our staff. We can coach them hard, but if you are just spending time yelling and screaming, they’re not receiving the information to address whatever they’re doing wrong.
“When it comes to scheme and details, we have to be detailed coaching it, using the same verbiage and speaking the same language. The only thing we will come unglued about is personal fouls and selfish penalties. Everything else is things that they need to be coached through. The 40 on the roster and 12 or 13 coaches is all we’ve got, so we can’t be in the business of killing them off every time they make a mistake.”
Mistakes will again need to be at a minimum, as Livingston faces another formidable opponent. Class 5A Nacogdoches has won at Palestine (35-14) and taken a home loss to Lufkin (42-14). The Dragons defeated Livingston 34-24 in 2024 and should have an improved defense this year.
“They bring 11 starters back on defense,” Carter said. “They played a lot of young kids last year and they are extremely athletic. They give you a lot of different looks. They’ve played two really athletic teams and just came off playing Lufkin, which is one of the most athletic teams in East Texas year after year. We know that we’re not going to just go out there and overwhelm them with speed and athleticism. We have to do some things to kind of neutralize them a little bit, as far as scheme stuff to get their eyes in the wrong place.”
Carter said the defensive line and linebackers stand out for the Dragons. They will run multiple fronts and try to confuse the offense with different looks.
“They’ve got a defensive tackle that’s a big, strong kid that is extremely physical. They play some Cover 3 (zone defense with three deep defenders) and some man-free (man defense with a free safety in deep zone) stuff and make you earn it. They are not going to sit there and let you run what you want. They are going to dictate some stuff with looks, as far as bringing pressure and expanding the coverage, trying to get your eyes in the right spot as far as the quarterback.”
The Dragons lost a talented starting quarterback to graduation last year, but still have plenty of athletes to be dangerous.
“Offensively, they are going to spread you out. They are playing a freshman quarterback right now who is doing a really good job and they’ve got two tall receivers on the outside that can change the game in one play. The back is a smaller kid, but he is really good. They will spread you out three wide and make you cover those guys. If not, they are going to throw it to them a million times.
“We’ve got to do a good job of lining up and keeping stuff in front of us on defense, and then offensively, possessing the ball in favorable down and distances. We have not done a great job of staying in front of the chains. You’re getting a lot of second- and third-and-longs, which have been drive killers for us. When we stay in front of the chains, we’ve had some success.”
As an offensive coordinator at Whitehouse, Carter studied Nacogdoches during District 7-5A play. Whitehouse defeated the Dragons 50-23 last season. Better than perhaps any other opponent on the schedule, the coach knows the types of challenges they will pose Friday.
“We are going to have our hands full, and we need to be the more disciplined team. We are expecting a lot out of them. I’ve got some familiarity with them, and they’ve been in my district the last four years. They are a good team every year that may beat someone that they shouldn’t or may lose to someone that they shouldn’t. They have the firepower to beat anybody. They are good, they are extremely fast, and they probably have the best group of skill players that we’ve played this year.”
