Raiders open playoffs with tough task in Tigers

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October 31, 2012

Raiders open playoffs with tough task in Tigers

By Jamie Wachter / Sports Editor The Meridian Star The Meridian Star Wed Oct 31, 2012, 10:58 PM CDT

MERIDIAN — The Lamar Raiders knew the challenge that face them last week.

    Win the regular season finale – and the MAIS Division 4-AA championship with it – at Simpson County Academy, or make a road trip to Centreville Academy, ranked No. 3 overall in the MAIS, to open the state playoffs.

    So as the Raiders (8-3) try to rebound from the 28-15 setback against Simpson, the road doesn't get any easier as they travel to face the undefeated Tigers in the first round of the Class AA postseason Friday night.

    “We knew going to Simpson what the outcome was going to be for whoever lost,” Lamar coach Mac Barnes said. “Now we have to go down to Centreville and my thought on that is, with their record, that if you want to get to a state championship you're going to have to beat Centreville at some point anyway at Centreville.”

    But the Raiders take positives with them to 11-0 Centreville as well. For most of three quarters, Lamar led Simpson before some breakdowns late allowed the defending state champion Cougars to escape with the division title. However, those first three quarters also reaffirmed that Lamar is good enough to play with anybody in the class.

    “We played well and into the third quarter were in pretty good shape,” Barnes said. “If you could get rid of about four plays, we win by two touchdowns. But you can't do that. You don't get to do it over again.

    “We feel that if we can play well, we can do that. The key is going to be trying to keep everybody healthy and fresh because we're pretty banged up after that game last week.

    “Hopefully, we'll be able to go down there and play well. Now it's do or die. Last week at Simpson was an important game, but we were already in the playoffs and we knew that. Now we have to go down there and play for 48 minutes and try to eliminate those penalties and the mistakes and the big plays. If we do that, we've got a shot.”

    Playing well against the Tigers will mean trying to slow a pair of tough running backs in Randy Bell and Colton Terrell. Bell has churned out 1,358 yards and 21 touchdowns, while Terrell isn't far behind with 1,038 yards and 14 touchdowns. They fit well in Centreville's unusual attack.

    “They run a unique offense, with a double wing and two tight ends,” Barnes added. “Both of the running backs are really good. But it's not just an individual at Centreville, they are just always an extremely physical, tough team that is fixing to run it at you all night.

    “Then they will turn around and play hard defense. Which is pretty similar to what Simpson does, so we know what is in front of us. I feel like our personnel matches up well with theirs, but they are just so relentless in coming at you.”

    Also helping the Raiders slow that offense will be getting its rushing attack back on track after Simpson slowed it some last week. Senior running back Corey Skinner has rushed for 1,193 yards and 20 touchdowns but was held to only 53 yards last week by the Cougars. Quarterback Barrett Dudley led Lamar with 55 yards rushing. Dudley and Lee Martin each had scored 16 touchdowns this season.

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Raiders open playoffs with tough task in Tigers

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