Houser Expects A Physical Game Against York

With the Wildcats traveling to take on a program that is built around physicality, Livingston Head Coach Matthan Houser said it is imperative that players heal up.

Houser said Friday night’s game with York Institute will largely depend on the linemen.

“It’s definitely a physical game in the trenches,” Houser said. “They’ve got to play with good pad level, they’ve got to come off the line of scrimmage quick and they can’t wait on contact. It’s the little things that they’ve been working with their coaches on all year.”

For the first time since 2020, the Wildcats have a winning record midway through the regular season. Houser said last week’s 40-0 win over Pickett County provided a step forward.

“We’ve got to learn to play physical and play for four quarters,” Houser said. “It really is what you do in practice translates over to the game. And we’ve got to be able practice and go through everything we do in practice at full speed. We’ve got to play physical in practice and do the little things that give us a chance to be successful on Friday nights.”

Houser said that when you face the York Dragons is is important to stay fresh all four quarters. He said his assistant coaches, Tanner Lacy and Kaleb Qualls, are in charge of the weightlifting and  do a great job throughout the year of keeping players in great physical shape.

“When we’ve been able to win we’ve looked pretty decent in the fourth quarter and in our two losses we haven’t,” Houser said. “We preach a lot about not playing the scoreboard. Just playing each and every play. When you’re playing hard, the conditioning part, especially this time of year, when it starts to get cooler, it’s typically not that big of a deal.”

Livingston Academy versus York Institute this Friday in Jamestown. Kickoff at 7pm.