The Littlefield Wildcats’ varsity football team is coming off of a, 26-0, shutout over the Muleshoe Mules, as they get set to take on Denver City in the first round of the Class 3A Football Play-offs.
The Wildcats enter the play-offs with a mark of 3-6 overall.
“We felt like we had a good plan going in. We knew one thing going in, and that was that Muleshoe had a good defense as well,” Head Coach Brent Green said. “Ever since district play started, we’ve been getting better and better everyday in practice. Friday night was just the end result of that.” He added, “We are really proud of the kids. We really dominated both sides of the ball; offensively, we never punted, and they never slowed us down. In the second half, we slowed things down and played a little clock management. The defense was consistent all night long, I think they had only three or four first downs and Muleshoe’s biggest chunk of yards came on a fake punt, so hats off to the defense, they played outstanding.”
The Wildcats take on Denver City at Lubbock-Cooper on Friday in the first round of the play-offs.
Coach Green talked about the challenges the Mustang’s present, saying, “Their quarterback, Mario Sanchez and a skill guy, Uriel Rodriguez are their guys. But I think we are going to have to match them in the line of scrimmage, both offensively and defensively. We are going to have to up our level of play right there, because I feel like they have some guys up front who are pretty good also.”
He added, “We are going to have to try and neutralize the line of scrimmage and not give up the big play. We have to tackle well, not give up the big play and hold our own in the trenches and I think we will be alright.”
Coach Green talked about what they will have to do, saying, “Offensively, we’re going to have to build off of what we have been doing, which is keep spreading the ball around and getting yardage everywhere, whether it be from the slotback or the tailback, or Blake carrying it from the quarterback spot. We’ll have to mix in the timely pass here and there and just keep the chains moving.”
He added, “I feel like we missed some opportunities early in the game the last time we played them. When we get into striking distance, we need to make sure we finish with points on the board.”
Coach Green talked about being back in the post-season, saying, “We don’t want to just get there, we want to make some noise when we’re there. We want to have a good week of workout and go out to Lubbock-Cooper on Friday and put our best foot forward.”
Kick-off is slated for 7 p.m. on Friday at Lubbock-Cooper.