Livingston football is still in search of its first success with half the season gone. It will need to be a dramatic turnaround, but hopes for the playoffs are still in front of the team despite the bad start.
There were improvements last week on defense and certain aspects of the offense.
Livingston head football coach Finis Vanover mentioned improved offensive line play and a better center-quarterback exchange last week versus Liberty.
“They fixed it,” he said. “On that kind of stuff, they are taking coaching and working at fixing it.”
This week, one of the district’s better teams over the past few seasons comes to Livingston. The Little Cypress-Mauriceville Bears are 3-2 overall in 2024 with a couple of wins in as many tries through district.
“Little Cypress has had some studs the last four years,” Vanover said. “They had a defensive end that went to Texas Tech and a quarterback that went to the Ivy League. They had the kid that did everything returning kicks, blocking kicks, intercepting passes, and scoring on long runs.”
The Bears’ two losses occurred playing strong squads in Hamshire-Fannett (13-7) and Silsbee (27-14). District games over Vidor (16-12) and Hardin-Jefferson (49-13) have the team tied for first place.
“Their defensive linemen and offensive linemen are really good,” Vanover said. “They are square and well-cut, with no fat boys.
“They play a straight-up 4-3 defense and will slide four defensive linemen. They will play east and west, and they will slant them one way or the other. It is hard to tell which way or why. They really do a good job on technique. They will play head up on the guards and on the tackles or tight end if you have one. Sometimes they will bring an outside linebacker on that shoulder of the tight end. It is just standard, textbook 4-3 stuff, but they are really good at it. They always have a good middle linebacker, and their outside linebackers are running back types.”
The defense has averaged 30 fewer yards per game than Livingston’s.
LC-M will align in a spread, but run the ball more than most in that formation. There is a lot of motion, and they get the ball to several different options via both run and pass. They average 338 yards per game, with twice as many on the ground than via the pass.
“Their offensive line and defensive line are kind of what they base everything around, so they are running the ball a lot more, because those guys are good.”
Vanover stressed that penalties – particularly personal fouls – will need to be a thing of the past in order to have success versus the Bears.
“The personal fouls are just a disruptive force. It is exactly the way it was when I first came here seven years ago. It was like a badge of honor of how many we get each game. We will start eliminating the guys that keep getting them. That is the way it has to be, because the rest of us are suffering for it. If we clean up our act, we will be competitive in every one of these games.
“Three or four wins is going to get you in the playoffs. We have to find out who is really a young man and who is really a competitive athlete.”
The future is bright, as the Lion junior varsity is currently undefeated. Vanover said the team consists mostly of freshmen and sophomores that are gaining valuable playing experience on that level. The freshmen are currently 3-2, with the two losses by a combined eight points. Both they and the varsity will try to turn in wins this week versus the school near Louisiana.
