By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
The Forrest City coaching staff hopes that Tuesday's home scrimmage game against West Helena will go the distance in telling them where the Mustangs stand with the season opener just 11 days away.
The Mustangs will open the 2003 high school season against Wynne on Friday, Sept. 5, at Sam Smith Stadium.
Saturday morning at Sam Smith, the coaching staff put the Mustangs through a light workout as the team prepared for Tuesday's scrimmage, which will kick off at 6 p.m.
"We hope that Tuesday's scrimmage will help show us what holes we need to plug before the season opener," fifth-year Coach Donnie Willis said. "The defense really looked good. They did a good job of attacking the football and that's what we need to do. Tuesday night should be interesting."
While the Mustang defense earned Willis' praise, the offensive unit still needs some fine-tuning.
"On offense we were hit and miss," Willis added. "I'm not sure exactly why but we just weren't as sharp as we have looked in other practices. We have some work to do on the offensive side of he football."
A year ago, the Mustangs recorded shut out victories over West Helena and Brinkley in their preseason scrimmage at West Helena.
Several of the Mustang players said Saturday they wanted to repeat that effort Tuesday.
Forrest City enters the 2003 season picked to finish fifth in the AAAAA-East Conference.
The Mustangs are coming three straight 4-6 seasons and have not made the Class AAAAA playoffs since the 2000 year.
The Mustangs will field 25 seniors this year, the most for a Forrest City team in several seasons.
*Meanwhile, the Hughes Blue Devils will play a scrimmage game Tuesday night at Trumann involving both the junior and senior high team.
Hughes coach James Wright is beginning his sixth year with the Blue Devils.
The team finished 10-3 a year ago, second in the 3AA Conference and reached the quarterfinals of the AA state playoffs.
The Blue Devils will open the season on Sept. 5, when they host Barton.
"I'm ready to play now," Wright said over the weekend. "I'm just not sure if the kids are ready."
Wright returns 11 seniors from last years team, all of whom logged valuable playing time.
"We don't have a much depth as we had last year," Wright said. "Or maybe we do and I just haven't realized it yet. We just need to play."
Wright will dress out about 28 players on both the junior and senior high squads -- about average for Hughes.
Hughes and Trumann will play a full four-quarter game Tuesday.
The Forrest City Mustang Athletic Booster Club will meet Tuesday, Aug. 26, at 5 p.m., at the high school Lecture Hall.
Anyone interested in joining the Booster Club is invited to attend the meeting.
Forrest City Mustang season football tickets are on sale at Times-Herald Printing and Office Supplies, located at 703 Garland.
By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
The Forrest City Mustangs and Wynne Yellowjackets have opened seven of the past eight high school seasons against each other.
This year will make it eight of nine when the Wynne Coach Don Campbell brings his Yellowjackets to Sam Smith Stadium on Sept. 5 to continue the Highway 1 rivalry as many people now refer to the series.
The Mustangs own just two victories over Wynne during the opening game stretch -- the last victory coming in 1997. Wynne has won the past four games by a total combined score of 125-to-47.
Wynne has had 12 consecutive winning seasons and 12 consecutive playoff appearances and begins its second straight year of competing in a league that has lost two of its biggest kingpins: Newport and Osceola.
Could be, without Newport and Osceola, Wynne has lost some of its edge. That's still in the debate mode.
The Mustangs have not had a winning season since finishing 7-4 in 1997 and continue to compete in the extra tough AAAAA-East Conference, which includes traditional powers Cabot and West Memphis.
The Mustangs, who have been picked to finish fifth in the conference this season, are gaining some momentum, especially fielding a 25-member senior class this year?
In 2001, the Wynne Yellowjackets won their first state championship since 1986.
Then, in 2002, the Yellowjackets returned four players to both sides of the football and still ran off eight victories in a row before losing in the quarterfinals of the Class AAAA state playoffs to Pulaski Robinson.
Fifth place doesn't appear to be a satisfying thought for the Mustangs this season. And neither does another loss to Wynne.
McCrory became the fourth high school to drop its football program this year after having only 13 players for practice the last two weeks.
Already Bismarck, Decatur and Johnson County Westside have dropped their 2003 season schedule due to low player participation.
McCrory has not had a winning season since 1997.
The Hughes Blue Devils finished second to Marked Tree in their first go at 3AA football last year.
A November spurt shot Hughes into the third round of the playoffs, however, and made the Blue Devils the league's only 10-win team.
Hughes also joined Salem as the only two schools from the league besides Marked Tree to win a playoff game since 1994.
Beyond Hughes and Marked Tree, headed into the 2003 high school season, there really isn't a proven winner in this lot of 10 teams.
Earle, however, is on the brink of breaking down the barrier.
The Bulldogs went 7-4 last season and return eight starters on offense and defense. The returning numbers, which include quarterback Bobby Moody, are the best of any of the teams at the top of the league ladder.
Palestine-Wheatley, which has made a habit of getting into postseason under coach Terry Farmer, is the coaches' choice to finish second to Hughes.
The Patriots eked into the playoffs last year and were treated to a 49-23 thumping from Harding Academy to end their season.
Less than half the offense returns from a squad that put up an average of more than 28 points a game and defeated Salem, 38-14, in a playoff-like regular-season finale.
The Patriots open on the road at Des Arc, who made the playoffs a year ago, losing to Hughes in the first round.