ScoutSouth.com: Wicksburg vs. Lanett

Coach Ronnie Sikes was in the stands for the Tuscaloosa County-Opelika game two weeks ago. The radio broadcasters for Opelika mentioned his presence in the crowd highlighting it by saying, "Sikes is just a winner." That is exactly what Sikes has brought to the Panthers is a winning tradition.

ScoutSouth.com talked with Coach Sikes about Lanett's 29-7 win over a good Flomaton (7-4) team last week.

"We played pretty well after the first quarter," Sikes said. "We pretty much took control of the game. We scored 22 points in the second quarter."

Flomaton took their first drive to the house for seven. It wasn't until the second quarter before the Panthers got on the board, but then scored in three successive drives for those 22 points.

Juwann Booker caught a 39-yard touchdown pass from LeMarcus Wright in the game. Kordelrus Morgan scored on two runs of eight and 10 yards. Anthony Evans scored after LaManski Ware blocked a punt in the second quarter.

Look for those players to make their presence felt tonight as Coach Sikes reports the Panthers are in real good shape injury wise. In fact Ware may even have a better game after suffering from a bug last week.

"LaManski is doing great," Sikes said. "He blocked a punt last week, caught a pass, made two big fourth down plays, and I think 10-12 tackles altogether."

Asked about Ware's recruiting Sikes said, "It's about the same ones that have been in contact with him. I think Middle Tennessee is about ready to offer him."

"Juwan Booker is being recruited about the same as LaManski. He's a wide receiver and defensive back. He's a senior."

Asked about Wicksburg Sikes said, "They are 10-1. They are a good ball club. They've got a good quarterback and running back. We really have to play great defense and keep them off the field."

"We"re going to have to keep the ball away from them. We've got to win the turnover battle and not make any mistakes in our kicking game. We've had a good kicking game this year."

Josue Aldana is Lanett's kicker.

It's amazing Wicksburg is still standing, another year and another sad tale of injuries that didn't end last week. Leading tackler, Jon Unterkofler went down with a season ending knee injury.

Leading 12-8 in the fourth quarter last week Hale County looked like they might be stopped on the Panthers' 14-yard line and would not extend their lead. It was fourth and four when Wicksburg got an offsides penalty, giving the Wildcats a first and goal. They fumbled the ball, and the momentum shifted.

The Panthers took over, and with a third and 19 staring at them quarterback Blake Wallace ran for 22 yards. They scored with 5:00 left in the game to take the lead 15-12. They went on to block a Hale County punt. Wallace connected with Nick Burgan for a touchdown on fourth down, and they won the game 22-12.

We asked Coach Sikes if he thought the depth issues at Wicksburg would play a big part in this game.

"It could be," he said. "We don't play our lineman both ways. We're in pretty good shape there. Our backfield doesn't play both ways. We're in good shape there too."

Coach Danny Whiddon's Panthers will try to outcat Lanett, but it's just hard to see Lanett losing this one.



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