WOODLAWN - Woodlawn won't have much offensive experience on the field when it opens the 2023 football season this Friday night as the Bears travel to Bastrop, La., to face the 1-1 Prairie View Academy Spartans. Kickoff is at 7 p.m.
Coach Zach Meyer will be breaking in an all-new offensive backfield against a Spartan team that already has two games and a scrimmage under its belt. Prairie View opened the season on Aug. 18 with a 56-6 thrashing of Tensas Academy on the road before suffering a 34-14 home loss to unbeaten Brairfield Academy this past Friday night.
Friday night's game will be the first of two back-to-back games Prairie View will play against eight-man South Conference teams from Arkansas. The Spartans are scheduled to make a road trip next week to face the Strong Bulldogs. Meyer said he literally sees a "big" challenge for his Bears this Friday night. "They have very good size up front. They're probably the biggest team we will see all year," he said. "It will be a challenge." He compared their size upfront to what you would usually see at a Class 4A or larger school in Arkansas, estimating they may average about 280 lbs. across the front. "And that's not fat," he noted.
Prairie View runs a multiple offense to operate a power run game. Meyer said the Spartans came out in a Pro I to start against Brairfield before switching to the spread in their next series.
Meyer described the Spartans as being a physical team that is very aggressive defensively and tackles well in space. "They come off the ball hard," he said.
One player the Bears will have to keep an eye on both offensively and defensively is 6-0, 190-pound junior Will Waggoner, who plays fullback on offense and end on defense. He said Waggoner is a load to bring down on offense, and does an exceptional job of getting penetration on defense. Meyer said the Spartans brought a lot of defensive pressure on Briarfield but the Rebels were able to get the ...
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