Though the Tigers won last week, it wasn’t necessarily in any outstanding fashion. The offense was sloppy both on the ground and in the air. If they hope to have any success against the Liberty Eylau Leopards tonight at Grim, changes need to have been made.

The Leopards are 1-1 this season and are coming off a loss from Mt. Pleasant. Not only is this game a great in-city matchup, but it may give our guys an idea as to where they stand for when they play Mt. Pleasant later on in the season.

If the Tigers are going to win, the defense will have to play like they did last week. They pitched a shutout against a good Arkansas High quarterback and got a late interception to seal the deal. It all starts with the defensive line. Last week they got a great push up the middle from senior defensive lineman Justin Lewis (eight tackles), which disrupted an otherwise steady running game. If the defensive line can continue to keep the offensive line off of the linebackers and free them up to make plays, LE’s offense doesn’t have much of a chance.

The offense is a point of concern. The rushing attack was weak early on and the passing game was virtually nonexistent throughout. There were, however, some bright spots. Senior running back Treveon Walker was able to have some success on the ground, racking up 88 yards, and senior wide receiver Taylor Jackson was able to snag a touchdown catch in the corner of the endzone.

The offensive line is what should worry Tiger fans. Some of the younger players often looked confused and made mistakes. They didn’t get any forward push on run plays, and the pass blocking was atrocious from the beginning. It’s rumored that changes have been made on the line to address these issues, and fans better hope this is true. Without a good offensive line, it’s hard to win. That much has always been true.

But, all things considered, there’s a reason Coach Barry Norton has been doing this for so long–he’s good at it. I’m confident that, if improvements could be made, he’d make them.

My prediction: THS- 17; LE- 10