LITTLE CYPRESS — After absorbing a heart-breaking District 11-4A Division I loss at home to the Splendora Wildcats, the Little Cypress-Mauriceville Battlin’ Bears will look to bounce back strong on the road this week as they will head to Livingston to face the struggling Lions.

The Bears (2-5, 1-1) fought so hard last week before falling to a red-hot Splendora (6-1, 2-0) team 38-34 in what was a tight game throughout.

Meanwhile, the Lions (0-7, 0-2) took their seventh beating in a row, falling to Lumberton 48-11 in a game that wasn’t even that close.

The Lions have not won a game since the 2016 season after going 0-9 last season. They have been outscored 398-64 in their losses this season, allowing 56.9 points a game.

The Bears racked up 387 yards of total offense despite the loss against the Wildcats last week.

LC-M has certainly found its niche on offense though behind the red-hot arm of senior quarterback Adam Pope. Pope has shredded opposing secondaries the last three weeks, tossing for nine touchdowns.

Against Splendora, he completed 27-of-37 passes for 302 yards and three TDs. He has dangerous receivers that can turn up the field in the forms of James Williams and Darien Williams. Brendon Pollock had nine catches for 98 yards against the Wildcats while Seth Carpenter had seven grabs for 97 yards as Pope has four reliable receivers to go get it.

Tailback Kristian Ickes, who ran for over 100 yards in the Bears’ 30-18 non-district win over Hardin-Jefferson, added a pair of hard-nosed seven-yard touchdown runs against the Wildcats.

The Bears will look to shore up on defense against the struggling Lions’ offense as LC-M is allowing 396 yards a game after giving up 444 to Splendora.

Livingston is going through a makeover after last season’s 0-9 campaign as they hired long-time successful Texas high school coach Finis Vanover. The Lions returned 12 starters, including eight on offense but have struggled mightily. Jared Seagraves will likely guide the offense against the Bears as he will look to get the ball to speedsters Chris Washington and Joe Lewis.

The Lions lost their 11-4A opener to Splendora by a whopping 87-21 margin. Their closest game thus far was a 28-15 road loss at Huntington.

The Bears will look to snag two big road wins in a row as they will visit Huffman Nov. 2.

In other 11-4A action this Friday, Bridge City (1-6, 0-2) welcomes in Lumberton (4-3, 2-0) and Splendora (6-1, 2-0) hosts Huffman (3-4, 1-1).