Willis Looks to Build Off Their Thrilling Win As They Travel To Play Cleveland

WILLIS, TX -- Following their exciting victory last Friday, the Willis Wildkats aim to keep their winning streak alive as they travel to face the Cleveland Indians. Willis has been strong on offense in their recent two games, largely thanks to Jermaine Bishop Jr., who continues to show why he's one of the top athletes in Texas. Cleveland has had a rough start to the season, and that could continue against Willis since they’ve only scored 12 points on offense so far this season.

Willis Wildkats: A Well-Oiled Machine

Aside from their loss to Klein Collins, Willis has looked like a menace on offense this year. The star of the show is clearly Jermaine Bishop Jr., who was everywhere last game, rushing for over 250 yards and 4 touchdowns in a big win over The Woodlands (for a recap of all Bishop did, see here). Bishop played almost every snap, whether on offense, defense, or special teams, and he is expected to be on the field for most of this game as well. However, I suspect Bishop probably won't be used as heavily, especially in the run game and as a punter (although he did record the Wildkats' longest punt of the season last game), since Cleveland isn’t as tough an opponent as The Woodlands was. Besides Bishop, Jaivion Martin had a great game against The Woodlands, disrupting the offensive line on defense and catching a TD pass from Bishop at the end of the 2nd quarter. He has only improved within this system as the year progressed and will be a key player for them. QB Lincoln Frazier, on the other hand, is looking for a rebound; although Willis won, it was largely due to Bishop’s running, not Frazier’s passing. Frazier completed only 9 of his 23 pass attempts (the other completion is from Bishop) and threw an interception that was well off target. He still needs to refine his accuracy, as he often overthrows receivers or misses them entirely, which costs Willis big plays and prevents Bishop and his other receivers from accumulating higher stats. Frazier is still just a freshman, so he will improve over time as he adjusts to playing at this higher level. The defense for Willis looked much improved from last game, as they were able to effectively get to the QB and force him to throw passes out of bounds to avoid sacks. Their main weakness on defense still comes from some coverage plays, as corners were constantly being beaten by The Woodlands receivers or mixing up assignments. Still, the defense was able to completely shut down the Highlanders’ run game, which was a big reason why they were able to win last week. This week, Cleveland shouldn’t give them too much trouble, and they will hope to continue their string of district wins on Friday.

Cleveland Indians: Rough Waters

Last week, the Indians were thoroughly overwhelmed by Grand Oaks, giving up 58 points and failing to score any in a tough shutout loss. Their offense looked completely stuck, as almost every drive resulted in a three-and-out followed by a punt. The only drives where Cleveland gained a first down were due to penalties on Grand Oaks or against backups during garbage time. Overall, Cleveland punted the ball 10 times during the game. The only times they didn’t punt were a safety caused by the return man on kickoff failing to recover the kick on the one-yard line, an interception, and a dropped snap by the punter who had to run out of bounds. It was a total disaster to watch, and it's hard to find anything they did right that game. For this upcoming game, they have no one capable of matching Bishop, and they could get 70 points hung on them if they can’t stop him. It’s tough to see any scenario where Cleveland can win, but we won’t know until Friday. If Cleveland pulls this off, they will end a 30-game losing streak, with their last win coming against Caney Creek on September 23rd, 2022. Truly, Cleveland football doesn’t deserve this, and I wish they could be better, but they'll need a miracle this Friday against Willis. All I want is for them to get one score, as that will be at least a positive note from this game.

Final Thoughts:

Unfortunately, this shouldn’t even be a contest, as Willis will most likely dominate this game while looking ahead to College Park the following week. While I don’t think Bishop will carry the entire team this time, he certainly projects to have another outstanding game and will be fun to watch as always. As for Cleveland, they can only hope for mercy from the Wildkats, as there doesn’t seem to be any hope for them against such a strong team. To watch the game live on Woodlands Online, check it out here.