There's a whole lot more at stake tonight for the Forrest City Mustangs than just winning the Cotton Bale Trophy.
There's that little matter of postseason and whether or not the Mustangs can get there.
The only way they can get there is to defeat West Memphis Blue Devil tonight at Sam Smith Stadium. West Memphis, along with Cabot and Jonesboro, have already assured themselves of a postseason trip.
It won't be easy -- for either team. The Blue Devils have been playing well all year. The Mustangs have suddenly found their offense. That should make for a very entertaining match.
Cabot, with a win over Jacksonville tonight, will clinch the outright No. 1 seed from the AAAAA-East, while Jonesboro appears to be headed into postseason in the No. 2 slot. That leaves Nos. 3 and 4 up for grabs, with three teams in the running for the final two spots.
A West Memphis victory leaves the Mustangs at home and puts Searcy into the playoff bracket while a Forrest City victory puts the Mustangs and the Blue Devils in the Class AAAAA state playoffs and leaves bubble sitting Searcy at home.
For the Mustangs it's all about postseason and very little about the Cotton Bale trophy although having both at the end of tonight's game would be a fitting end to the Mustangs' regular season.
The Mustangs are trying to get back to postseason for the first time since 2000.
Should they qualify for postseason, the Mustangs could go as either the third seed or as the fourth seed into the Class AAAAA state playoffs.
The Mustangs, who were picked to finish fifth in the AAAAA-East this season, got off to an 0-3 conference start -- but bounced back to win three straight conference games to put themselves in position for a postseason appearance.
By finishing fourth, the Mustangs would find themselves right back at Quigley Stadium in Little Rock for yet another meeting against the Tigers, who have held down the top spot in the Associated Press poll for much of the prep football season.
A third place finish would send the Mustangs a little farther -- to either Fort Smith Southside, 5-1 in the AAAAA-West or to Fayetteville, unbeaten in the West. Southside is the defending Class AAAAA state champs.
West Memphis will enter Sam Smith Stadium tonight with the series history riding shotgun. The two teams have made a habit of ending the conference season against each other and the game has flip-flopped back and forth between being played on Thursday or Friday night.
The Blue Devils have won the past five games. Since 1975, the Mustangs have defeated West Memphis only eight times.
But this group of Mustang players, who appear to be one of the most athletic squads in recent memory, are definitely on a mission which is to break the jinx of too many losses to the Blue Devils and too few postseason appearances.
Forrest City's last victory over West Memphis, a 29-14 triumph in 1997, came in the middle of Sam Smith Stadium.
"West Memphis can be and has been beaten this season,"
said Forrest City Coach Donnie Willis. "We have the talent
and the momentum to hang another loss on them."
The Cabot Panthers have turned back each of the AAAAA-East teams this season -- one-by-one -- and the only remaining obstacle in their path to a perfect run through the conference is Jacksonville.
Tonight, at Jan Crow Stadium, the Panthers and Red Devils hook up in what has become a great rivalry and good battle over the years.
Tonight's game, however, heavily favors Cabot.
Jacksonville has stumbled upon hard times this season and have not been able to rebound.
The Red Devils are going nowhere after tonight, win or lose, except back to the drawing board to begin preparing for next season.
For Cabot, a win tonight gives the Panthers the undisputed conference championship and a perfect 7-0 record in the league and the No. 1 seed into the Class AAAAA state playoffs.
Cabot reached the semifinals a year ago, defeating Texarkana and Conway before losing to eventual AAAAA state champion, Fort Smith Southside, 38-20.