Wildcats get playoff preview against Theodore

The Enterprise Wildcats (4-5) will get a little taste of what is in store for them in the playoffs as they travel to Mobile to face off against Class 7A’s No. 5-ranked Theodore Bobcats (8-1) on Friday, Nov. 1.

Theodore is the No. 2 seed in Class 2A, Region 1 right behind McGill-Toolen, who Enterprise will play in the opening round of the playoffs. Theodore’s only loss of the season was a 17-6 loss to McGill-Toolen.

The Bobcats boast one of the top defenses in the state – giving up just 8.8 points per game and allowing seven points or less in six of their nine games.

“They’re really good on defense,” Enterprise coach Rick Darlington said. “They and McGill-Toolen are the two best teams in that region. We have to play both of those teams the next two weeks.”

Darlington says that it feels like his Wildcats have been playing playoff games since the R.E. Lee matchup and that won’t change this week.

“It’s almost like we’ve been in the playoffs the last three weeks,” he said. “Even though this doesn’t affect our playoff standing, it’s still a playoff caliber team in a long road trip.

“If we have any thoughts of playing with McGill-Toolen then we need to be able to go down there and play well with (Theodore). We want to win the game, which will be a tough challenge.”

Darlington said the Wildcats want to win, so there have been and will be no thoughts of simply resting some banged up players for the playoffs.

“You play every game to win,” Darlington emphasized. “This time of year everyone is beat up. If you play and practice physically you’re going to be beat up this time of year. You just have to fight through it.

“We don’t have the ability to go in there and just rest our guys. This game matters until the next game. If we’re going to be a playoff team and advance deep into the playoffs then we have to be able to go in and beat teams like this.”

In the past two weeks, the Wildcat defense has made big strides in seeing the level of improvement the Wildcat coaching staff hoped for this season. After securing a win over R.E. Lee with a big defensive play, the Wildcats forced four turnovers and made another big play to secure the win over Jeff Davis.

“It’s a great feeling when you know the defense can make stops and big plays,” Darlington said. “They made more plays in the secondary and with the pass rush than we have all season, which was awesome.

“That’s how I want to win. Those are the games that don’t give me stress (as a coach). Our whole program is going to be built on great defense and putting our best (players) on defense. Having a defensive mentality. That’s why I hired guys like (defensive coordinator) Jed (Kennedy) and (defensive backs coach) Marcus (McCarty). I want our guys to play great defense.”

One of the Wildcats playing great defense right now is junior linebacker LZ Leonard. Since moving to inside linebacker against Auburn, the junior has recorded at least seven tackles in six of his seven games. For the season, Leonard leads the Wildcats with 60.5 total tackles, 11.5 tackles-for-loss, two sacks and six quarterback hurries. Leonard has also been explosive on special teams with 276 kick return yards.

“He’s progressed a bunch as a person as much as he has as a player,” Darlington said. “He’s grown up a lot and is a lot more mature. Moving him inside was a big move for us.

“I think he’ll be one of the building blocks for the future. He may not be big but the dude can run and make plays. That’s what football is. Most of the game is playing outside the box now and LZ is doing a great job for the team. We’re really proud of him and want him to continue to improve.”

The Enterprise offense has also improved with the return of injured players like Josh McCray, Mykel Johnson and Larry Magwood in recent weeks. While Enterprise didn’t put up big yardage like they have in some games this season, Darlington felt like his offense played its best game against Jeff Davis.

“I think our offensive line played a lot better and I think we had our best game offensively,” Darlington emphasized. “Even if the numbers didn’t say that, I thought execution-wise we had our best night.”

The Wildcat offense and defense will have to continue to improve and play at their best with two of their toughest opponents coming in back-to-back weeks.