AAAAA-East Conference
Forrest City at No. 7 West Memphis
Thursday, November 4 -- 7:30 p.m.
Hamilton-Shultz Field
Forrest City 2-7 (1-5)
West Memphis 6-3 (5-1)
West Memphis has much more to gain from tonight's AAAAA-East Conference game against Forrest City than just trying to hold on to the Cotton Bale Trophy for another year.
Going into tonight's game at Hamilton-Schultz Field, the Blue Devils are vying for at least a share of the conference title and a high seed into the Class AAAAA state playoffs.
West Memphis has already locked up a postseason berth.
The Blue Devils are locked in a three-way tie for first place with Cabot and Sylvan Hills. All three East teams are 5-1.
Cabot hosts Jacksonville tonight while Sylvan Hills will host Jonesboro Friday.
Forrest City, with just one conference victory this season, could play the role of the spoiler with an upset victory over the seventh-ranked Blue Devils.
The Mustangs have lost four straight coming in.
"If we play hard and play smart, we have a chance to win," said Forrest City Coach Donnie Willis. "We've been in most of the conference games this season and lost two of them by just eight points. That is the difference in being 1-5 and 3-3."
Willis, in his sixth season with the Mustangs, has never beaten West Memphis. The last Forrest City victory over the Blue Devils came in 1997 at Sam Smith Stadium under then coach Wayne Mayer.
The Mustangs enter tonight's game, amid speculation that this could be Willis' last season as the Mustangs' head coach.
Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m.
The Class AAAAA state playoffs begin Nov. 12.
6AA Conference
No. 3 Palestine-Wheatley at No. 9 Hughes
Thursday, November 4 -- 7:30 p.m.
Blue Devil Stadium
Palestine-Wheatley 7-1 (7-0)
Hughes 7-2 (6-1)
It's all on the line tonight for the Palestine-Wheatley Patriots as they visit Hughes for the regular season-ending conference battle at Blue Devil Stadium.
The Patriots, ranked third in the Class AA rankings, already know they are headed to the Class AA state playoffs for the fifth consecutive season. They also know they are undefeated in conference play at 7-0 and have a chance to finish with a perfect league record for the first time ever.
What Terry Farmer's team will be in search of tonight is the outright 6AA Conference title and the No. 1 seed into the playoffs.
A year ago, the Patriots defeated Hughes 41-34 in the middle of the 3AA season. Both ended in a tie for first and shared the league's title with Palestine-Wheatley getting the top seed into the playoffs and Hughes drawing the No. 2 seed.
While the Patriots shot at the No. 1 seed into this year's playoff bracket is almost assured, the Blue Devils are probably looking at the No. 3 seed into the playoffs, while Harding Academy, tied with Hughes for second, will get the No. 2 seed with a conference-ending win over Des Arc Friday. Hughes' only conference loss was against Harding while Harding's only conference loss came against Palestine-Wheatley.
Palestine-Wheatley leads the trio in the points standings with 81, while Harding has 78 and Hughes 60, should any point-based tie-breakers come into play.
The No. 1 seed into the Class AA playoffs will have the opportunity to host the first and second-round games but will hit the road in round three, should they get that far.
The Patriots lead the state in total offense and total points scored.
With a three-way tie for first and three teams still battling for the fourth playoff spot, something has to give in the AAAAA-East Conference.
It begins tonight when four of the league's eight teams play. Two of those three -- Cabot and West Memphis -- are locked in the tie with Sylvan Hills, who plays Friday night.
Tonight at Panther Stadium, Cabot hosts Jacksonville.
This game represents a possible fifth consecutive conference championship on the line for Cabot, and a playoff berth for Jacksonville, to go along with the already intense regional rivalry that has developed over the years.
While some fans will say they stop short of considering a series that has been dominated by one side a rivalry -- in this case Cabot -- the game always seems to have an added intensity to it that most other games don't have.
Comparing results from season's past leads to the obvious conclusion that Cabot will win again, and they will, but it's been several years since Jacksonville has had such a legitimate shot at knocking off the Panthers.
The Red Devils are a team loaded with talent potential that hasn't been fulfilled. Jacksonville is bigger -- much bigger than Cabot, and big strong teams have given the Panthers lots more fits this year than fast teams. Jacksonville's defense, ranked third best in the East, has been very stingy this year.
Conversely, fast, quick teams have hurt Jacksonville the most, but Cabot doesn't have that.
Jacksonville has college-level talent, including some major college-level talent, sprinkled throughout both sides of the football.
Cabot has what Cabot always has -- hard-nosed football players.
At 5-1 in conference, Cabot is the favorite over the 3-3 Red Devils.
* Another huge game in the AAAAA-East will be played Friday night in Sherwood.
That's where Jonesboro, whose pride has been scorched this season, will look for redemption against the Bears.
The Bears, 5-1 and part of the three-way tie for first with Cabot and West Memphis, will be playing for a share of the East title as well as for the No. 1 playoff seed and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs.
Jonesboro brings playoff hopes into the game, albeit slim hopes, and will need a victory for those hopes to come to fruition.
A win over Sylvan Hills, combined with Jacksonville's loss to Cabot, would put the Hurricane into the playoffs as the league's No. 4 seed.
But that is a stretch. A big stretch.
Count on the Bears.
*There is yet one more game that could affect Jacksonville's chances of getting into the playoffs.
Friday night, in White County, Searcy will host Mountain Home, also searching for the fourth-place berth from the East.
With just one conference win, Searcy has no chance of any playing hopes past Friday but the Lions do have the ability to play the spoiler's role.
The Mountain Home Bombers still have dreams of making their first-ever postseason appearance since moving into the East conference.
Mountain Home improved to 4-5 on the season and 2-4 in the AAAAA-East Conference last week with a 35-19 win over Forrest City.
The Bombers enter Friday's conference finale, locked in a tie for fifth with Jonesboro.
Both Mountain Home and Jonesboro are one game behind Jacksonville.
To reach postseason, Mountain Home must beat Searcy and Jacksonville has to lose at Cabot.
If Jonesboro loses at Sylvan Hills, the Bombers will tie Jacksonville for fourth and earn the playoff spot due to the head-to-head tiebreaker based on the Bomber's9-0 win over the Red Devils.
If Jonesboro wins, all three teams tie for fourth and the tiebreaker point system will be used.
As of today, West Memphis has 58 points, Sylvan Hills 54 and Cabot 50.
Should Jacksonville finish fourth, the Red Devils are looking at a possible first-round matchup at Little Rock Central.
Should Cabot win out and gain the No. 1 seed, the Panthers could host Camden-Fairview in their first-round game.
RUSTON -- Louisiana Tech received 165 total points to rank No. 22 in the USA Today/ESPN/WBCA Division I Top 25 Preseason Coaches Poll released Wednesday.
The Lady Techsters, which finished 29-3 and ranked No. 12 in the country last year, must find a way to replace three seniors, including two who played in the WNBA this past summer.
Head coach Kurt Budke's team must also find a way to succeed during the non-conference portion of the schedule without the services of All-America candidate Erica (Smith) Taylor, of Palestine-Wheatley, who is expecting a baby in early December.
With the loss of seniors Trina Frierson, Amisha Carter and Amber Obaze and the temporary loss of Taylor, Tech will start the season Nov. 24 at Mississippi without its four double digit scorers from one year ago.
Tennessee, LSU, Texas, Connecticut and Georgia were ranked No. 1 through 5 in the poll.
Volunteer coaches are needed for the sixth-and-seventh-grade Forrest City boys and girls' basketball program.
The intramural games, which will be played after school at Lincoln Middle School Gym, is scheduled to begin the week following Thanksgiving. Interested persons can contact Forrest City Coach Stan Siler at 581-2469.