Presbyterian Christian continues to roll past the opposition as the Bobcats won its sixth game in a row last week.
As the team continues to find success, so does running back Marquis Crosby, who continues to post eye-popping numbers as he rushed for 328 yards and four touchdowns in PCS’ 35-14 win over Oak Forrest. That performance brings his season total to 1,793, which puts him on pace to break the single-season school record.
However, PCS’ main concentration this week is its upcoming opponent Simpson Academy (3-4).
“This is a big game for us,” PCS coach Derek White said. “I tell them every week that once you win, the next game is the biggest of the year. The more you win, the more that happens. These guys beat us last year. Our goal is to go to Jackson and have something to play for, and this is another step to getting our team better. We need to take care of this week, and then next, we start district play again and face the big three. That will be tough, but this week will be equally as tough.”
Overall, Simpson Academy has been inconsistent on both sides of the ball, but last week came away with a 47-7 win over Winston Academy. According to White, the reason for the inconsistency is that the Cougars have been plagued with the injury bug for most of the season. In last week’s win, Simpson Academy regained many of its players from injury.
“Don’t look at the record or the score,” White said. “Last week they blew somebody out, but they have had a lot of injuries and a little bit of COVID going on. I think they are back to full strength now. Last week is the first week they had everyone back, and it showed what they were capable of doing. We have to make sure that we do a good job of showing our kids how to prepare because you haven’t seen them in full strength since the preseason. We are going to have to do well at adapting to what they are doing in the game because we’re not 100% on what they are doing because everyone is back, and they have changed things.”
Offensively, Simpson Academy has averaged 24.7 points per game. The Cougars have changed from their traditional I-formation and played mostly as a spread offense. According to White, the Cougars returned several key offensive linemen, which allowed Simpson Academy to play more in its traditional offensive formation last week.
“They throw the football, and they have some good receivers,” White said. “They do a good job of distributing the football. What worries me is that they normally show power run and they haven’t shown that much, but they showed it a little bit last week. That’s a big concern because it can eat the clock up and limit your possessions. It’s tough on your defense.
“I know they had a bunch of linemen out. They got one or two of them back last week. I look at the game, and you see different personnel and bigger bodies and doing a better job. Your offensive line is where your football team starts.”
Much like the offense, Simpson Academy has had to change throughout the season due to injuries. For White, the constant changes make it difficult for his team to prepare for the Cougars. Despite the issue, White says Simpson Academy has a talented linebacker group.
“Their scheme has changed every week,” White said. “They will be big, and their linebackers are tough downhill. They like to play a lot of man coverage so that they can get extra run support. They are going to be physical. They have a lot of guys that go both ways. They’ll change from an odd front to an even front.
“Their linebackers do a really good job of containing and turning things back inside. They make everything go and keep things bottled up.”
