Mamou hoping to bounce back after tough loss

The Mamou Green Demons came into the 2014 season with one goal in mind; to improve every time they play. Friday night against the Pickering Red Devils, the Demons may not have picked up a win but they did take a step toward their goal. Mamou fought hard throughout the entire game, but fell on the short side of a 48-13 loss. “We really played hard, especially in the first couple of quarters,” said Mamou Head Coach Brian Brumfield. “I don’t know if we lost confidence in the second half or if we were tired. We just need to regroup and adjust some things for us to keep improving.”
The Demons did have some positive moments in the game on offense. But according to Brumfield there is still room for improvement. “We made a few big plays on offense against Pickering. Our offensive unit struggled at times, but overall I think we played okay. We need to work on the running game a little more and the receivers are still missing some passes. We lost one of our starting offensive linemen during the game and had to shuffle some players around. Hopefully we will be able to correct those mistakes at practice this week.”
On the defensive side of the ball, the Demons showed they can handle themselves early in the ball game. The Red Devils’ running game was just able to wear down the Mamou defensive unit in the second half. “We need to work on our defensive effort,” commented Brumfield. “Our alignments are not where they need to be. We made mistakes on both sides of the ball and on special teams that cost us some touchdowns. When our offensive lineman went down, so did our defensive end because that person goes both ways for us. We had to put in an eighth grader on the defensive line.”
The South Cameron Tarpons come to town Friday for week two action. The Tarpons are 1-0 in the young season after having defeated Gueydan 19-12 in a week one contest. Coach Brumfield knows it is important for his team to get off to a good start against the Tarpons. “It is important that we come out on Friday and establish ourselves early in the ball game,” said Brumfield. “They are a well coached football team. Offensively, they use the Spread Wing-T to move the football. They have a big running back who is a hard-nosed runner. Their quarterback is a very good athlete. Defensively, they are very sound and tackle well. They really do not have a ton of speed, but play extremely disciplined football.”
For an inexperienced Demon squad, a victory against South Cameron would go a long way in building the confidence needed for a successful season. Putting a whole game together is one step in the right direction for the improvement Coach Brumfield and his staff is looking for. It will definitely take a team effort to make that happen, especially if injuries are a problem this season. As they say in the game of football, you need to have a short memory in order to be successful.