SportsZone Football Friday game of the week preview: Smith-Cotton at Hickman

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Hickman and Smith-Cotton will do battle in Week 5 of the high school football season, as both squads look for their first win of the year, on Friday night.

The Kewpies and the Tigers are our KZOU game of the week. You can watch the game live on KZOU over the air channel 17.3 at 7 p.m. Here is a look at other local listings:

• DirecTV - channel 18
• Dish Network - channel 32
• Mediacom - channel 12, 709
• Centurylink - channel 12
• Spectrum - channel 183

Head coach Cedric Alvis and the Kewpies have come close to getting that first win before, in 2023, as the group only fell by a couple points to North Kansas City in week one. Offensively, Alvis said it's plain and simple that his guys just haven't put up enough points. The Kewpies have been outscored 127-40 in the team's last three outings. Despite that stat, there were some positives for Hickman's offense in the week four loss to Battle.

"Our tempo was nice. We were able to run 99 plays on offense and the defense was only on the field for 41 plays, so that's a huge accomplishment for us, in terms of keeping our defense fresh," Alvis said. "We were able to out-gain them in yards, so I think that's the first time in a while that we've had over 400 yards of total offense.

Hickman comes into Friday night's game with some playmakers on offense, which will include quarterback Carter Holliday and tight end Brock Camp. Each of those guys had a touchdown against Battle in week four.

The biggest thing Alvis looked to address in practice ahead of a meeting with Smith-Cotton was turnovers. His team registered three in last week's loss.

"It's really decision making," he said. "At the end of the day, especially in the red zone, just understanding where we can go with the football and where we can't, the safer throws, the non-safer throws, placement-wise, and just having those conversations. The good thing is both of our quarterbacks are both IQ kids and so they understand it."

The Tigers will come into Columbia also in search of the first win of 2023. Alvis said the guy to watch is running back Mylan Hawkins, but added that their offense, in general, has the potential to do big things.

Alvis said that planning for a guy like Hawkins comes down to, simply, tackling and making sure his group is gap-sound.

"Last week there was a couple of plays where we were not gap-sound and Chris [Brown] was able to exploit us and make huge gains with that. I told our defense this week that Mylan [Hawkins] is faster than Chris, so if we give Mylan the exact same holes, that kid is going to be gone," Alvis said.

Hickman does have a four-game win streak against the Smith-Cotton Tigers, however, the team is not taking that stat for granted.

"I think for us it's--we're in a situation that every team that plays us has confidence. Even though we are on a win streak, so to speak, on these guys, the one thing about them is that every year it's been a close game," Alvis said. "It's nowhere near what they're used to, it's not what we're used to, so mentally you have to prepare to be in a dog fight." 

Hickman and Smith-Cotton will kick off at 7 p.m. at Hickman High School.

Don't miss the highlights from this game and games around Mid-Missouri on SportsZone Football Friday on ABC 17 News at 10.