Fresh off their win over rival Whitesboro, the 7-2 Pilot Point Bearcats football team prepares to wrap the regular season against the 5-4 Dallas Life Oak Cliff Lions.
The Lions come into the matchup after a 55-0 win over the A+ Academy Knights on Halloween night, where they racked up over 550 yards of offense and 7 touchdowns.
“They’re super athletic and super talented,” said Chad Worrell, Pilot Point athletic director and head football coach. “… They have a lot of speed and a lot of explosiveness. We got into a track meet with them last year, and they’re just as explosive this year. They score points on everyone.”
The Lions lost starting quarterback Camren Phillips to injury in the second week of district play but haven’t missed a beat, averaging 37 points per game, with the team’s leading receiver, Sukora “Sip” Cooper, Jr., moving behind center.
“He's a freshman, [but] he's also one of the highest-ranked receiver recruits in the nation,” Worrell said. “He's got offers from Ohio State, Notre Dame, Texas A&M and Texas Tech.”
Worrell emphasized that playing disciplined football will be key for the Bearcats’ defense.
“Tackling them in space is the issue, especially with [Cooper, Jr.] moving to quarterback,” he said. “Their other quarterback was really good, but this one here has some wheels, and a lot of times, the first person to him doesn't get the tackle, so we're going to have to break down and make tackles in space.”
Pilot Point’s offense got back on track in their win over Whitesboro, where they generated almost 500 yards of offense, but Worrell said the team wants to clean up penalties and turnovers as they prepare for the playoffs.
“We want to continue to improve in those categories,” he said. “Not getting behind the chains; that killed the first drive the other night against Whitesboro, and then we had the two unforced turnovers, and we felt like that's the only thing that kept that game close as long as it was, so we want to make sure that we continue to try to stress the fundamentals and clean those up.”
With a 2-3 district record, Dallas Life Oak Cliff has already been eliminated from playoff contention, but Worrell said he and his team are expecting the Lions to put up a fight in their final game of the season.
“Their seniors are going to be playing their last high school football game, so they're going to come out ready to play and try to end their season on a high note, [but] we want that momentum going into the playoffs. … They've been behind in several games this year, and they came back and made it super close at the end, so we have a challenge in front of us, but our kids are focused, and they understand what we want to do.”
