LITTLE CYPRESS – The Little Cypress-Mauriceville Battlin’ Bears look to make a quick recovery Friday night in District 10-4A Division I play when they take a road trip to face the Splendora Wildcats.

Both squads are coming off tough opening 10-4A losses last week.

The Bears (1-4, 0-1) absorbed a 38-21 defeat at the hands of the Silsbee Tigers while the Wildcats fell on the road at Jasper 42-21.

LC-M fought Silsbee hard last week and controlled the clock with their balanced running attack but the Tigers were able to hold on due to cashing in on drives while stopping the Bears several times deep in Silsbee territory.

The Bears are starting to find a groove with their new running game the last couple weeks. They rushed for 279 yards against Silsbee.

Fullback J’Lon Douglas powers the Battlin’ Bear ground arsenal with 424 yards. Sam King has darted for 322 yards while Chris Winters has zipped for 308 yards.

Bear quarterback Beau Bickham has passed for 398 yards.

The Wildcats had a hot non-district start, going 3-1, before last week’s tough road loss in Jasper.

The Wildcats have wins over Tarkington (7-0), San Augustine (27-26) and Houston Kashmere (22-18) and a big loss to Shepherd (56-0).

Splendora was in the battle with Jasper last week with the two squads tied at 21-21 at halftime. However, Jasper piled up 21 unanswered points in the second half to pull away.

The Wildcats returned eight starters on both sides of the ball off last year’s 1-9 team that went 0-6 in district.

Quarterback Noah Dain has passed for over 400 yards and four touchdowns.

Running back John Lee has been a workhorse early on and has rushed for 446 yards and five scores.

The Bears zapped the Wildcats 37-0 last season, piling up 371 total yards while limiting Splendora to 82. Bear running back Sam King rushed for 219 yards and four TDs.

The Bears will return home next week and will host the Cleveland Indians.