Coming off of a tough loss last week at Jones to close the road slate of the regular season, the Bears are hoping to finish the 2024 campaign on a high note Thursday by getting a win over East Central.

"We're feeling good, we are preparing to go out there and we have an opportunity to give our crowd a second victory of the season," said Southwest head coach Cliff Collins. "I would have like to be coming off of a victory over Jones. We made too many mistakes and it cost us."

Limiting mistakes will be key for the Bears (1-4, 1-7 MACCC) as they face a tough Warrior (6-2, 4-1 MACCC) team that is looking to pick up a win and build momentum for the postseason.

The Warriors, who enter the contest on a four-game win streak, boast an offense that leans more on the pass as redshirt freshman Landon Sims has led the charge completing 57-percent of his passes for 1347 yards, 11 touchdowns and 4 interceptions.
Catching the majority of those passes is Eelijah Singleton who has 43 for 546 yards and 2 touchdowns. Another threat is freshman Josh Palmer who has 31 receptions for 373 yards and 1 touchdown.

When relied upon, the ground game has been led by sophomore Karl Ligon who has 431 yards and 3 touchdowns on 84 carries.  

"Coach (Jonathan) Webster has done a great job of recruiting," Collins said. "They do a great job of coaching and they are ranked 12^th in the country. They are ranked because they don't make mistakes, don't turn the ball over and don't give up the deep ball."

The Bears counter with an offense led by Quez Goss who has 1029 yards and 7 touchdowns on the year. Freshman Chris Hunter has shined in the rush game with 82 carries for 354 yards and 4 touchdowns. A trio of pass catchers lead the charge as
Damarcco Blanton (47 rec., 408 yards, 2 touchdowns), Marcellus Jackson (42 rec., 660 yards, 6 touchdowns) and Jordan Scott (20 rec., 358 yards, 4 touchdowns) have all stepped their game up as of late. In addition, freshman TJ Johnson has improved his play and enters the finale with 25 receptions for 274 yards and 2 scores.

Collins feels it is a bit of a 'pick your poison' for opposing defenses trying to defend against his multiple pass-catching threats.

"You have Damarcco that is first in the league in receptions, you have Marcellus who is second in the league in yards per game and yardage and first in the league in all-purpose (yards)," Collins said. "Offensively, we are good, we just have to make the plays when we get the opportunities."

The Bears and the Warriors kick off at 6:30 p.m. Thursday at John I. Hurst Stadium. In addition to being the season finale, it will also be Sophomore Night for the Bears.