PCS coach Joey Hawkins is a position he’s never been before. In nine seasons at PCS, and the many before his time there, he’s never played a team in the season finale then matched up with the same team in the first round of the playoffs.
The Bobcats lost to Madison-Ridgeland Academy 42-23 last Thursday, which was a game that decided what team would host the first-round of the playoffs between the two teams.
“I’ve never been in this situation,” Hawkins said. “The key is, can we get our confidence back and go up there with an attitude that we’re going to go up there and win this game?”
PCS led early in the contest, but eventually, the Patriots offense wore down the Bobcats with their physicality on offense, according to Hawkins. The big offensive line was just too many for PCS.
If PCS wants to win the rematch, the Bobcats will have to get their running game going better while slowing down the MRA ground game. The MRA offense likes to run behind the big offensive line.
MRA coach, Herbert Davis expects PCS to bring new things to the second game, too. He told PineBeltSPORTS contributor Brandon Shields after the game, “What scares me is PCS will come back with a different attitude and different formations.”
“It’s hard to stop a power running game with those big linemen and two great tight ends, but we think we can get them off the field some and we’re going to have to make some explosive plays,” Hawkins said. “We made some last week but not enough.”
Hawkins said his team had two or three critical mistakes Thursday night, and if those were eliminated, his team could have come out on top.
“They make it tough on you,” Hawkins said of the MRA defense. “On the other hand, when they get a little too frisky, we made a lot of plays. (Quarterback) Brandon (Thornton) had 150-something yards in the first quarter. We have to physically hang in there and we just want to slow them down and get them off the field some.”
One year ago, PCS was 11-0 and No. 1 seed in the playoffs, and now it finds itself as the fifth seed, playing on the road for the first game. However, Hawkins believes his team as just as good of a chance to advance this season as the Bobcats had in 2016.
“We’ve had a chance to win every game, there’s been an opportunity, but we have to play our very best,” Hawkins said. “We have to maximize every bit of talent we have and we have to get some kids who are really working hard, but haven’t been able to execute under pressure. They haven’t been able to make the plays we’ve needed on both sides of the ball, but we think we can get that this week.”
