Bearcats prepare for Friday season opener against Early Co.

Published 1:14 am Wednesday, August 27, 2014

A fast running game and a physical defense stands in front of the Bearcats Friday when the travel to Blakely to take on the Early County Bobcats.

Yet after an explosive 20-0 scrimmage win against Pelham last Friday, head coach Jeff Littleton believes the team has the means for a victory. The key will be matching their opponents’ intensity.

“They are very aggressive,” Littleton said. “They’ve got a lot of team speed, and they’ve got a lot of kids returning. They were a young team last year and they’re big up front with some speed in the backfield.”

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Littleton said they would playing a similar type Wing-T team as Pelham.

“They run it to, but they do it out of the shotgun. It’s based on their guards pulling, they’re leading out on our outside linebackers and leading up on our inside guys, so they’re aggressive,” he said.

Littleton noted the Bobcats’ quarterback, junior Miles Norman, would be a threat. Norman started all 10 games last season for Early County and led the team to a 5-5 record.

The Bearcats defeated them 20-0 last year in week three.

However, Littleton said it’s always a close game. Friday, the Bobcats defensive line and tough secondary will prove to be a threat against the Bearcats running game.

Passing-wise, Littleton said they plan to have quarterback Elijah Tyler continue to throw.

“We should have been 6-for-9 passing,” Littleton said. “We dropped two balls that were right to us. We are going to throw it 10 to 15 times a game. If we can complete 60 to 70 percent of them we’re in good shape.”

After two scrimmages and a camp this summer, Littleton said he believed the experience his team has gathered during the offseason has been beneficial.

“We just have to keep getting better at our fundamentals and techniques and we’ll be fine,” he said.