Battlin' Bears finding their niche

[Guest happyhour4]

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[KFDM COOP]

Battlin' Bears finding their niche

Van Wade

The Orange Leader

LITTLE CYPRESS — Everyone is upbeat in Battlin’ Bear Country after the first week of practice.

First-year Little Cypress-Mauriceville head coach Randy Crouch and staff have been putting the Bears through a grind since Monday.

The Bears are looking to erase a 15-game losing streak going into the 2009 campaign.

“The kids are really working hard and responding to a lot of new things really well early on,†said Crouch.

“They’re adjusting to a new staff well and have been soaking everything in.â€

The Bears really responded well Friday morning, which was the first day with pads and full contact drills.

LC-M very seldom had any contact in practice last year in a season that they went 0-8 and winless in District 20-4A.

“It went really well,†said Crouch. “They were all going at it pretty good and we know that a lot of contact is an adjustment for them. The first few days of practice are okay but it turns into such a full football atmosphere on Friday when you get to lace those pads up and get physical.â€

The turnout in Bear Country was nice as well as 115 Bears are currently in the entire football program.

“That’s really a good number,†said Crouch. “We’re glad that we have that many kids wanting to be part of the program.â€

Of course, with a relative new staff and a young roster, everyone is still getting a feel for one another.

“It’s a long process, and I can’t really tell you much about who started last year and where every kid is going to be at what spot this year,†said Crouch. “We’ll be in that evaluating process for the next several weeks and see who fits in best on offense and defense and we’re also hoping to have some nice depth. Until you get into that full football atmosphere and go up against somebody else in a different uniform, you just don’t know. We’ve got three good scrimmages that will help determine that.â€

The Bears will travel to Crosby High School Aug. 15 to meet Texas City in their first scrimmage with the freshmen starting at 5 p.m. followed by the JR (6 p.m.) and varsity (7 p.m.).

LC-M will host the Silsbee Tigers Aug. 21 with the freshmen starting at 5 p.m. followed by the JV (6 p.m.) and varsity. The Bears will also scrimmage at Baytown Lee Aug. 27 before opening the regular season at home Sept. 4 against West Orange-Stark.

“Those scrimmages will be a great opportunity for the kids, going up against three top-notch programs like that before the season starts,†said Crouch. “We’ll get to see two big teams with a lot of depth and size in Texas City and Lee and then a lot of speed when Silsbee comes here. That will give us a good gauge on where we’re at and what we need to work on. We’re looking at all the kids getting some work and going from there to see where everyone settles in at.â€

Vidor will scrimmage at Orangefield Aug. 15 with the freshmen and JR starting at 9 a.m. followed by the varsity at 10 a.m. The Pirates will host WO-S in a scrimmage Aug. 21 with the freshmen starting at 5 p.m. followed by the JR (6 p.m.) and the varsity (7 p.m.).

The Mustangs will scrimmage Dayton at home Aug. 15 starting with the freshmen at 5 p.m. followed by the JR (6 p.m.) and the varsity (7 p.m.).

Bridge City will scrimmage at Lumberton Aug. 15 starting at 6 p.m. and will also scrimmage at Shepherd Aug. 20 with a time yet to be determined.

Deweyville will visit Kirbyville Aug. 15 for their first scrimmage and will travel to Hull-Daisetta in their second one Aug. 20.

[77]

Thats a good tuff preseason schedule.

[GUNHO]

How can you have a 15 game losing streak if you went 1-9?Guess he means district losing streak.And no contact at practice...What the...

[badndn]

"LC-M very seldom had any contact in practice last year in a season that they went 1-9 and winless in District 20-4A."

Who did they beat? I thought they went O'fer.

[Gabe]

It was an overlook, been corrected here and on our site.

[liltex]

Should and could get interesting as the Bears hope to at least be the spoiler.They will be better.

[bojofootball]

Bears will be fine

[HoopInsider_Cooper]

That job is like starting a program over. Apparently is was worse off than what appeared.

[bojofootball]

yes indeed but coach C and staff will get the job done.

[speveto]

to be a winner the bears need a good "catch phrase" like  "lets win the bear way" or "lets be a real bear on friday night".  

[bojofootball]

like bojo?? noo they can go without ;D

[shovel]

to be a winner the bears need a good "catch phrase" like  "lets win the bear way" or "lets be a real bear on friday night".  

NOOOOOOOO! No more "Bojo" No more "Bear Family" No more "Bear Fever" Let 'em be the "Battlin Bears" and get on with it!

[LTrain]

Good luck this year Bears 8)

[speveto]

i like "BATTLIN BEARS". im not kidding this time.