Lanett makes statement with first win

While the 2008 season may still be in its early stages, Lanett made a big statement last week.

And that statement basically threw the word “rebuilding” right into the faces of its doubters.

“We proved some people wrong,” Lanett coach Ronnie Sikes said with a joking jab at the fact that all four Opelika-Auburn News writers picked his Panthers to lose in Week 1.

Lanett has certainly been a local team on the short end of receiving much preseason hype, despite going 12-1 last year and reaching the third round of the Class 2A playoffs.

The biggest reason some have not thought much of Lanett’s chances in 2008 center on the fact the Panthers lost their four big-time playmakers, quarterback Lemarcus Wright, wide receivers Jawann Booker and Meko Jones and tight end Lamanski Ware — all who are on college rosters this year.

But last Friday, Lanett proved it could succeed without those standouts on the field in a 34-0 win over Beulah.

“We are rebuilding, but we still have a lot of holdovers from last year,” Sikes said. “All of our passing game went to college, so we’re rebuilding there, but we have a strong line up front and a good group of running backs.”

And it was the running game that did the damage last week.

Scutt Morgan rushed for 164 yards on 13 carries, while Anthony Evans added 63 on the ground. Quarterback Deontrelle Silmon also was solid leading the offense, despite being just a sophomore and trying to fill the huge void left vacant by Wright.

But Sikes and the Panthers aren’t resting on their laurels.

Last week’s win had no direct bearing on Lanett’s playoff chances — Friday opens Class 2A-Region 5 play with the Panthers visiting Woodland (0-1).

“Woodland is a team who has been successful and been to several championship games,” Sikes said. “They lost their quarterback last week, but we know they’re still going to be a scrappy team.”

Woodland fell in Week 1, 19-6, to Bowdon (Ga.).

Despite the Bobcats losing their starting quarterback, though, Sikes said his gameplan won’t change.

“We won’t play much different (style) than we did last week,” Sikes said. “We’re strong defensively up front, but our secondary is new and never really got tested against Beulah.

“We’re hoping they won’t try to test that secondary too much and we can take care of things up front.”

With Region play opening this week, Sikes said the Panthers are more focused on what they can do to get better every day.

“More so than ever this year, we just have to worry about ourselves,” Sikes said. “We’re taking this season one day, one game at a time.

“I think if we look at it that way and just take care of ourselves, we’ll be OK.”

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