When Lawrence County coach Jesse Anderson looks at the Raleigh Lions — the opponent his Cougars will face Friday night at 7 p.m. in Monticello — he feels like he’s looking in a mirror in many ways.

“They line up in the Wing-T and play old school, smash-mouth ball,” said Anderson. “Don’t expect either one of us to throw the ball much. This game might be over in an hour.”

Raleigh beat Mize 18-8 in their season opener before losing 34-12 to 2A powerhouse Taylorsville last week.

For the Cougars — coming off a 33-6 loss to Brookhaven — practice this week has been about taking care of the ball and finishing defensive possessions. Turnovers hurt the Cougars against Brookhaven, as they fumbled on their first drive and never recovered. The Lawrence County defense also gave up too many third- and fourth-down conversions.

“The guys have responded well this week in practice, they know they didn’t play good enough last week and they’ve gotten back to it this week,” said Anderson.

Raleigh — a 3A school located in Smith County — only trailed Taylorsville 13-12 at halftime last week. Their quarterback, Margo Perkins, is one of their best ball-carriers, Anderson said.

“They’ve got a great athlete playing quarterback and they are going to run him in several different designed plays,” said Anderson. “They’re a good team and they do a lot of the same things we do. We’re going to have cut down on turnovers and play physical on our defensive line.”

Story by Cliff Furr