Bears to host Pearl River

The Southwest Bears go for their second win of the season Thursday night as they host the Wildcats of Pearl River in an MACJC South Division matchup.

The Bears (1-2, 1-1 South) enter the contest following a 45-35 win over arch-rival Co-Lin, then ranked #9 in the NJCAA. Pearl River (2-2, 0-2) dropped a tough 21-14 home game to 6^th-ranked Jones County last week.

Pearl River started the season 2-0 and was ranked in the NJCAA's Top 20 two weeks ago. But, losses to Hinds and Jones County have them struggling to regain their footing.

Because of their struggles, Bears' head coach Tucker Peavey thinks the Wildcats are very dangerous. "I think (losing two straight) creates a hunger-factor on their part," he said. "I think it's a tribute to how difficult this South Division is and I certainly know they'll come in here hungry and ready to play and looking for a win."

Bears' offensive coordinator Jamie Everett said the Wildcats' defense is "big and physical. When they get off the bus, they're going to look like the Green Bay Packers," he said. "They've got a bunch of tall, 6' 5", 6' 6", 280 pound athletic defensive linemen. They've got six out-of-state linemen so that's where they're strong at."

"Linebacker-wise," Everett said, "they're very athletic, good-sized kids, 220-230 pound range (and) can run and hit. Their secondary is full of sophomores. So they've been through some battles and they're very good football players."

In their past two games, versus Hinds and Jones County, the Wildcats have allowed 751 total yards (414 rush/337 pass) and 49 first downs. Everett said this would not have any real bearing on his plan of attack. "We're going to do what our kids are best suited for," he said. They've played two really good teams back to back and were (at one time) ranked in the Top 20. So, they've a very good football team."

Bears' defensive coordinator Kelby Bowman said the Wildcats "have a really good offense this year. They've run multiple personnel (and) are all athletic. They're very explosive at the quarterback and running back positions and they have some receivers who are very talented. So, I think they are a balanced run-pass team. They do a lot of motion, a lot of shifts to try to confuse you and I can tell those kids are well-coached because they do it very well."

Bowman said he had no special plans for the Wildcats based on their recent struggles because "sometimes your struggles don't come from your opponents, but from yourself. So, we can't depend on them to struggle. We've just got to make sure we do what we're supposed to do and hopefully that'll cause them to do something they don't normally do."

Bears' special teams coach Cameron Achord said the Wildcats are "an NFL-style punt team. They're going to kick slide back, have gunners on the outside. They do a good job. They've got a really good punter (Cody Mikell) and kicker (Jovon Detto)."

"The kicker," Achord said, "can kick it in the end zone, about five yards deep. He's pretty good at what he does, likes to pin you over by the numbers, kind of similar to what we do. They do a lot on the coverage team with changing guys and moving guys around to try to mess up your count and get you off."

"They've got two pretty good and dangerous guys on (their) kickoff return unit who can take it to the house," Achord continued. "We've got to do a good job covering the kicks and getting down the field and hopefully we can get another one like we did last week. (Our) guys are starting to get excited about special teams and that's really good to see. We've just got to keep improving each week."

Kickoff for the Bears and Wildcats at John I. Hurst Stadium is set for 7:00. The game can be heard on the radio on WAKH 105.7FM (K106). It will also be available on the internet at southwestbearathletics.com and k106.net as well as on smart phones and tablets (by downloading the k106 app).

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Bears to host Pearl River