Bobcats to face ‘athletic’ Panthers
Published 12:02 am Friday, October 4, 2013
Opp will be hosting its fifth home game of the season tonight as the Bobcats are playing Southside Selma at Channell-Lee Stadium.
The Bobcats are coming off a tough 43-26 loss to cross-county rival Andalusia last week. OHS held a 20-12 lead at halftime, but gave up two quick turnovers in the third quarter. The Bulldogs converted on both and took a lead they’d never give up.
Putting together two good halves is a must, OHS head football coach Jack Whigham said.
Whigham said the start of the week went well because the team spent a lot of time in the film room, where coaches taught the kids about what mistakes they made against AHS.
“The kids understood that they played a good football team,” he said. “We played good enough to beat them for one half. We’ve just got to put two good halves together.”
OHS will be facing a Panther team who beat Class 1A Keith last week. The Panthers are 2-3 overall, and 1-2 in Class 3A, Region 1.
Opp has the same overall and region record, but has faced tougher region opponents in the first half of the season.
Whigham said the team isn’t overlooking Southside.
“They’re a very athletic team,” he said. “They’ve struggled a little but, but they can be explosive at times. They’ve got tremendous team speed.”
All week long, the Bobcats have been making themselves better, the coach said.
“We’ve got to understand we’re not good enough to show up and win,” Whigham said. “We’ve got to execute and we can’t have stupid penalties and turnovers. When we do those things, we do very well.”
Last week, a bright spot for the Bobcats came in the form of Orlando Lacey, who went 9-of-13 for 102 yards and two touchdowns in the air, and added 147 yards on 16 carries and a score on the ground.
After tonight’s game, the Bobcats have Cottage Hill and WS. Neal for back-to-back home games, and then travels to Straughn for their final region contest of the regular season.
Kick off tonight is at 7.