Meyer Seeks Improvement As Bears Take On Midland

WOODLAWN - Woodlawn looks to build on its seasonopening win over the Prairie View Spartans last week when the Bears host the Midland Mustangs for their home opener at 7 p.m. Friday at the Carl Jones Sports Complex. The junior high teams are scheduled to play at 5 p.m. Woodlawn Coach Zach Meyer said he was pleased with the Bears' overall performance in their 32-14 win last Friday night at Bastrop, La., in what could be considered a mild upset. "It builds confidence," Meyer said. "That's good going into Week 2 against Midland." Midland comes in at 0-1 after dropping its season opener last week, 32-24, at Cedar Ridge. The Mustangs will be making the 137-mile trip to the same location where Midland played its first official football game when it started its football program in 2015. The Bears came out on top in that game, 22-6. Midland went 2-5 last year and earned a playoff berth, falling to Mountain Pine, 50-0, in the first round of the playoffs. Mustangs Coach Tim Pugh told Hooten's Arkansas Football that he is counting on a group of sophomores off last season's undefeated North Conference junior high championship team to contribute this year. Of the 17 players listed on the roster, eight are sophomores. Pugh said sophomore Chase Roscoe earned the starting quarterback job in the spring. Senior Richie Webster makes the move from tight end to fullback and the Mustangs will try to get junior slot Hunter May the ball out in space. Defensively, Midland does have some size up front with junior Landen Parks (5-9, 245 lbs.) and sophomore Alex Michael (6-3, 240 lbs.). While Woodlawn pulled off the win last week, Meyer said he will be looking to improve on some areas he saw against Prairie View. Offensively, he said the Bears need to do a better job on first down, noting that they were in too many second-and-long situations. He attributed some of that to dropped snaps that disrupted the play, another issue that nee...