Before winning their first-round Class AA playoff game last week over Hector, it had been a long dry spell for the Mountainburg Dragons.
Today, the Dragons have a long, long bus rid ahead of them to reach their second-round destination.
The Dragons will face the Hughes Blue Devils tonight at Blue Devil Stadium.
Mountainburg began their first second-round trip early this morning for the 250 mile trip to reach Hughes.
The Dragons won their first playoff game in six tries with Coach Tom Harrell, upsetting undefeated Hector 13-6 in another decisive defensive battle. It was also the school's first play-off win.
Hughes, the No. 2 seeded team from the 3AA Conference, put away a pesky Carlisle team last Friday, which hadn't lost a first-round playoff game in 15 consecutive appearances.
Harrell said It felt good to beat somebody ranked as high as Hector.
"Especially for us, ranked 35-something," said Harrell of winning his first playoff game as the Dragon's head coach.
Harrell was equally pleased to see that all four of the 1AA Conference teams reached the second round of the playoffs. The 1AA was projected in preseason to be one of the weakest among the AA leagues.
Like Pea Ridge, also from the 1AA, Mountainburg took advantage of a pair of Hector turnovers to get on the board and eventually win the game.
The Dragons grabbed a fumble late in the third quarter at the Wildcat 32. Six plays later, Mountainburg reached the end zone on a one-yard run by Joseph Allen with :23 left in the third.
Hughes is no stranger to the playoffs with five trips in the last eight years.
The Blue Devils are charged by Ayodele Ogunsakin and Andre Walker working out of a Single-Wing offense that operates without a true quarterback.
Eighteen of Mountainburg's 33 players are juniors.
The Dragons start four seniors on offense and one on defense.
Mountainburg had to forfeit its final three games last season after injuries depleted the squad.
Hughes reached the quarterfinals a year ago, before losing to Junction City.
A Hughes win tonight would more than likely set up a rematch next week against Junction City, who will host Lafayette tonight.
Three fumbles -- two by Danville and one by Pea Ridge -- helped Pea Ridge knock off Danville 28-13 in a Class AA first-round playoff game last Friday.
For Palestine-Wheatley, the going was a little easier against fourth seeded Hazen as the Patriots rolled to a 52-20 first-round win.
Tonight, pea Ridge comes to Palestine-Wheatley, who will hold home-field advantage for as long as they keep winning, for a second round game.
The turning point for Pea Ridge last week came when Danville fumbled on the 3-yard line. Pea Ridge recovered and drove the length of the field to score which turned the game around.
The patriots took a quick lead but fell behind to Hazen early in the game which served as their wake-up call. The Patriots answered and took a big lead into the half.
The improved play of the Blackhawk defense has been key to Pea Ridge's success, especially late in the season.
Senior defensive lineman Sean Rhuda, who is out for football for the first time in high school, sophomore linebacker Jesse Grahem, sophomore safety Steven Woods and sophomore cornerback Landon McGarrah have been the defensive leaders.
Steven Woods also had his best offensive game of the year, carrying 11 times for 130 yards to take some of the attention away from Ryan Barnett, who also had a career-high 30 carries for 265 yards.
The Pea Ridge defense will have their hands full tonight when they face a Patriot team which leads the state in offensive yards. And a backfield that at times this season, has seen no less than nine different running backs with their hands on the football.
Look for both teams to 'ground it out" tonight although the Patriots have shown the ability to pass and pass effectively when needed.
Brad Barton, Rashun Barnes, Elisha and Elijah Duncan, Jonathan Wheeler and a host of others, including junior quarterback Fred Leak will al have a hand in powering the Palestine-Wheatley offense.
For Pea Ridge the key will be containing P-W's speed and playing keep-away by maintaining possession as long as possible.
By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
There was good news and bad news for Palestine-Wheatley Coach Lanny Allen Thursday night.
The good news first.
The Palestine-Wheatley Junior Lady Patriots improved to 3-1 for the year by slipping past Marked Tree's junior girls 31-29 at Marked Tree.
Keisha Stovall once again led the way with 15 points before fouling out of the game with three minutes to play.
Chelsea Jumper and Jessica Smith scored six points each. Seventh-grader Deidra Ingram added four points in the victory.
"It was a good game," Allen said. "And a good win for us. Marked Tree had a couple of six foot girls on the floor."
Now, the bad news.
Allen's senior Lady Patriots fell to the Lady indians 48-27.
Had it not been the Lady Patriots lack of scoring in the fourth, the outcome may have been different.
"We scored just two points in the final period," Allen said.
The Lady Patriots trailed 29-25 to start the fourth period but were outscored by Marked Tree 19-to-2.
Tonisha Wynne led the Lady Patriots with 10 points while Fallon Parker helped out with seven and Whitney Smith added six.
Sophomore April Wolfe added four points.
Allen started five sophomores Thursday night and played six.
In other P-W news, Monday's conference game at Gillett has been postponed and will be rescheduled.
The P-W senior Patriots lost their game Thursday to marked Tree.
The Palestine-Wheatley teams will host Marked Tree on Tuesday (Nov. 25) in a rematch at Patriot Gym.
Professional wrestling returns to the Forrrest City area on Saturday, Nov. 22, when the ASWF and IWF will present a Slams TV taping card to benefit the Toys for Tots program.
The event is scheduled for the Forrrest City Civic Center and bell time is 7 p.m..
Admission to the matches willbe one new toy per person. All toys collected will go to the Forrest City Toys For Tots Program.
Legendary wrestling Hall of Famer "Handsome" Jimmy Valiant will headline the event which incl udes pro wrestlers Bruiser Graham, the Untouchables, the Thrillers, Psycho, Danny B. Goode, Pokerface, the New Breed, Mr. Showtime, Hollywood Jimmy Blaylock, the Southside Brawler, Ebony Idol and Freezer Thompson.
The event will be taped for a television airing on WHBQ Fox 13 of Memphis.