At the end of the first quarter, the West Lincoln Bears were in their first home game of the year against the Sacred Heart Crusaders Friday. But, then came the second quarter.

In that fateful quarter, a combination of costly errors and a 28-point outburst doomed the Bears. They would only score once in the contest, and went on to lose 45-8.
Bears head coach Charlie Jackson said he felt his team was outplayed by a team that may not have necessarily been better than them.

“They are a team that I felt was beatable but they just outplayed us,” Jackson said. “Their kids were a lot more aggressive than ours and they wanted it more than we did.”
Jackson said he was left nearly speechless after the defeat.

“It was a tough situation because, again, I don’t think we were terribly outmatched by them, they just outplayed us.”
Some of the same issues Jackson had been stressing leading up to this contest reared their ugly heads again Friday night.

West Lincoln’s head coach said his team also had trouble making tackles on defense, yet another issue that carried over from last week’s loss to Mount Olive.

The Bears’ struggles on special teams continued. The unit allowed a touchdown for the second week in a row in their loss to the Crusaders.
The turnovers persisted as well, with interceptions and fumbles at pivotal moments in the Crusaders’ breakout second quarter, killing the Bears’ momentum while also providing Sacred Heart with prime field position. The offensive line was an issue in the defeat as well, Jackson said.

“The offensive line has to step up,” he said. “One play we would do well blocking, and the next, our line would let a blitz get through.”
“We had marched down the field one drive but blew blocking assignments from three yards out and were unable to score.”

The Bears’ head coach said he felt his team needed to develop more mental grit moving forward.

“A majority of our problems are mental. We need to become a mentally gritty team and get to the point that we decide we have had enough,” the head coach said.

Traditionally, West Lincoln has not been revered as a “football school” but Jackson said instilling that culture into the school and his team is necessary to get them on the path to success this season and in seasons yet to come.

“I don’t want them thinking that this is alright. We are trying to establish a winning culture here,” Jackson said.

While he acknowledged the going is tough for his team right now, he said he and his team may be down, but they are far from out.

“We are not giving up and I don’t plan to concede any games. Our team just has to mature and we, as a coaching staff, have to work on what we can control,” the head coach said.

One thing Jackson and his team have been unable to control through this point of the season is injury problems.
Much like last season, the Bears are being hit hard by the injury bug.

Julian Anderson suffered a shoulder injury in the Magee jamboree and is expected to sit out for Friday’s game. Starting quarterback Matthew Case is still recovering from an undisclosed injury and should be out for the next few weeks.

Also, Michael Brothern will be out for at least a few weeks as he battles an injury of his own.

The Bears’ next opponent will be the Sumrall Bobcats. Sumrall is coming off a thrilling 41-35 victory over the Wesson Cobras. Looking ahead to that contest, Jackson said he plans to simplify things on defense and continue to look for ways to improve on the offensive side of the ball.

“I think Sumrall is a much better team than they were last year and it will be a challenge,” he said.
“They like to spread it out so you will struggle against them if you don’t put pressure on the quarterback.”

The Bears will face the Bobcats at home. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.