Playoff teams in District 10-4A have been decided, but seeding and its champion could go a number of ways, based on Friday’s results. Bridge City, Little Cypress-Mauriceville, Lumberton and Hargrave will all advance, and each has a chance at the district title.
While Livingston is not included there, the Lions are focused on improving the program and getting final reps before the offseason sets in. That will come against a school in a similar situation.
Vidor and their Slot-T attack will welcome the Lions for the final game of 2025. They have just one win on the year, a 48-19 triumph at Liberty two weeks ago. Livingston coach Tucker Carter said preparing for a different offense in the last week will bring challenges.
“It is just so different from anything we’ve played, so we’ve got to do a good job of getting our J.V. kids to give us the best look possible,” he said. “Obviously, you can’t really simulate it to the extent they are able to run it. We at least want to get as many looks at it as we can throughout the week and your younger kids have to buy into that. We’ll have a plan and go out (Monday afternoon) and see what it looks like.”
Starting a bit slow, the Pirate offense has gathered steam as the season has progressed. They have averaged just over 28 points per game, but almost 33 points per district contest.
“It is a lot of misdirection in the backfield and the quarterback does a good job of ball handling,” Carter said. “He will have the ball and turn his back to the defense, doing a really good job of carrying out fakes, so it looks like the ball is essentially going three different directions every play. They have a wingback kid that is pretty explosive and has a bunch of yardage on the year.”
Defensively, Vidor has struggled. No one in 10-4A has surrendered more points (43 per game), but again, that has improved in league play.
“They are young on defense and have a bend-but-don’t-break mentality. There are some good offenses in the district that tried to spread them out and get them in space and make them tackle guys one-on-one. They’ve got an outside linebacker that is pretty good. We need to create some chunk plays like we did in the second half the other night and we’ll be fine.”
The last week gives Livingston the opportunity for a first-year coach and his system to create momentum in the offseason. There are also more than 20 seniors who would like to have a positive experience their final time on the gridiron.
“I want to see us find a way to win no matter how the game is going,” Carter said. “Whether we are up two scores or down two scores, I want to see us stay the course and compete at a high level for the entirety of the game. We have been in games late and found ways to lose instead of win. I want to get over the hump and finish the year on a strong note.”
The coach said he feels like it’s been since the Nacogdoches game in Week 3 when he got four productive quarters from his team. The Lions have played with plenty of effort, but Carter would like to see his team execute.
Offensively, Livingston collects yards at nearly the same rate as their opponent. However, points have been harder to come by. Third- and fourth-down conversions have been a struggle.
On defense, one- and two-play drives have been far too common. It’s no secret that the Lions have been prone to surrendering explosive plays throughout the year.
Injuries at the safety position have hurt, and the ability to rest players on the sidelines with depth has slowly deteriorated.
“We’ve got to put it together at some point and this is our only opportunity left. The kids have been positive. Any time you are playing the Slot-T, you’ve got to change a little stylistically, because it is such an eye-discipline defense.
“I told the kids this morning, this is a chance for our seniors to go out the right way. We can sit and dwell on how bad it’s been the last seven games, but the program had one win in two years, and this year we have two wins in one. The biggest thing is, I want to send all these kids that have given a lot of effort in the senior class to remember this last week of football as a positive. For our younger kids, they can get back on the right track. There are some kids that gave me a chance their senior year that hadn’t played. I want them to be able to reward themselves with a win.”
