Livingston football will go for their first three-game winning streak in four years when they kick off Friday in Lion Stadium. Head coach Tucker Carter said his group gained some confidence over the past week, but needs to clean up a few items going forward.
“I would like for it to look a lot sharper in the second half, just going back and watching it,” the coach said of game film. “I thought our execution level dropped tremendously, so that was frustrating. When we get tired, we cannot have execution errors as far as wrong blocking assignment or we're not lined up correctly on defense. We've got to play better down the stretch, but any time we win is good.”
The defense seems to have turned a corner in the past few outings. The six points allowed Friday was the least by a Lion defense since a 58-6 win at Splendora in 2022.
“I feel like the end of the game against Anahuac, just digging deep and having some heart and soul to be able to get stops late and focused was big for us,” Carter said. “That's one thing that I feel like we've really struggled at here. When we get tired and it's a fourth-quarter battle, we have not played well down the stretch and that was good to see. Then just going into the next game, executing a game plan – that we felt like was good when we put it together – was very good.
“We have got to be super selfless communicators and get lined up correctly and basically play on a string. It’s 11 guys, whether it's in the run fits or whether it's in coverage. I thought we showed some glimpses of that on Friday. It's 11 independent jobs that are so dependent on each other. Half of defense is will, heart, desire, and getting to the ball. There are new challenges this week, obviously. They've got some fast kids, so we'll have to be sound again, because they've got some kids that can go the whole distance if you let them go.”
That next challenge will be from Houston Austin High. The Mustangs are 1-2 after dropping their first two games of the year to Milby and Northbrook, then defeating Kashmere Friday, 32-28.
On offense, Austin has averaged nearly 29 points per game.
“They're a true wide-open spread offense. They've played two kids at quarterback. The kid that played last week at quarterback (James Brown) is a really, really good athlete. I mean, he is dynamic. Some of the big plays they made in their win last week were dropping back to pass. He gets flushed out of the pocket, and he's making people miss left and right, and we've got to do a good job of containing him. This is probably, overall, the best or tied for the best group of just pure skill kids that we've played as far as receivers and (defensive backs). They're explosive on offense. We've got to do a good job of mixing up our looks.”
Defensively, the Mustangs have struggled to keep teams away from the end zone, surrendering almost 40 points each game.
“It's really those same receivers at defensive back. They're a lot like us, as far as playing their kids both ways, and so they've got some speed on the back end. They do a really good job of mixing up their looks in the box. It's a 3-4 structure one play, it's bear structure the next play.
“They're bringing pressure. They definitely are not sitting back and letting you do what you want on offense, so we've got to be really sound up front on our blocking rules and make sure we know where we're going. I think defensively, the weakness, is in the box, and their strength is probably their back end kids. They do a good job of covering, but it's going to be a lot of looks.”
The Lions are still developing playmakers and key role players. The coach praised Andrew Preciado for his game Friday, and Robert Pullido also got a few opportunities with the football versus Kirbyville. On defense, Cade Randolph made several stops. The Lions may need to get some varsity snaps for a new backup quarterback, with Brax Smith injured. Look for Jamarion Carter to possibly move from the junior varsity.
“We're at the point in the season where we're going to let some guys touch the football and see what they can do, because the next time we play after this one, it really matters (in district). We want to execute at a much higher level than we did in the second half (versus Kirbyville). Coming out in this game, we want to start fast again. I feel like that just puts an immense amount of pressure on people when you start fast.”
