The (6-1) Pilot Point Bearcats football team comes off their bye and into what could be their biggest game of the season in a road matchup against the (7-1) Pottsboro Cardinals.
The Cardinals are riding a fivegame winning streak, with their most recent victory coming in a 57-6 home win over the Dallas A+ Academy Knights on Oct. 17.
“They’re really good,” said Chad Worrell, Pilot Point athletic director and head football coach. “Coach [Matt] Poe does a great job. They’re well coached, and they have a lot of tradition. It all centers around their quarterback. He’s a player and is going to be a big challenge to stop.”
Signal caller Cayden Humphrey, who has tallied over 2,500 yards of total offense and 34 touchdowns, helms the Cardinals offense, along with his top targets Zavier Brady and Trace Olsen, who have combined for 1,300 yards receiving and 15 TDs.
“We played some good people this year, but [Humphrey] brings something that no one else has,” Worrell said. “He’s athletic, and he makes great decisions, so obviously, we’re going to have to tackle well. I know it sounds like coach speak, but we’re going to have to work on our tackling this week. We’re going to have to be physical, and we’re going to have to wrap up.”
Coming off of their midseason bye week, Pilot Point has had two weeks to prepare for their matchup against Pottsboro, and Worrell said execution will be key for the Bearcats’ chances to win.
“They’re going to get their points,” Worrell said. “We’re going to have to get stops when we can, but we’re going to have to keep the pressure on offensively, so that means when it comes down to penalties and turnovers, we have to play smart and stay penalty- and turnover-free to have a chance.”
A win over the Cardinals would move Pilot Point into first place in their district, but Worrell said his team won’t let the moment get the best of them.
“We have to treat it like any other game,” he said. “We don’t want to put too much pressure on. We want to go out and play relaxed and play loose, and hopefully that’s what we’ll do. We had a good week of practice during our bye last week, and I expect, with the cooler weather this week, we’ll have another good week of practice, and that’s going to be important to have that time to prepare for them and to bring our A game.”
Pilot Point and Pottsboro’s game was rescheduled to Thursday at 7 p.m. due to adverse weather conditions.
The results were not available by press time.
