CLASS AA PLAYOFFS -- WEEK ONE
Cross County at No. 6 Palestine-Wheatley
Friday, November 12 -- 7:30 p.m.
Patriot Stadium
Cross County 3-6 (3-3) Palestine-Wheatley 7-2 (7-1)
The last time Palestine-Wheatley and Cross County crossed paths, the Thunderbirds walked away with a 12-6 win.
That was week three last season when the two teams met in a 3AA Conference battle at Patriot Stadium. Both teams went on to finish with identical conference records and, along with Hughes, finished in a three-way tie as tri-champions.
The Patriots advanced to the quarterfinals of last year's state playoffs while Cross County was eliminated in the second round by Rison.
Over the summer, Palestine-Wheatley and Hughes moved from the 3AA to the 6AA while Cross County stayed put. The move obviously favored the Patriots.
The Thunderbirds return to Patriot Field tonight as the No. 4 seeded team from the 3AA to test the Patriots, seeded first from the 6AA in a first-round Class AA state playoff game. Cross County enters the playoffs with a losing record, finishing 3-6 for the year.
The Thunderbirds started 0-3 with losses to Harrisburg, Hughes and East Poinsett County before taking back-to-back wins over Piggott and Marked Tree. They followed that with a three-game losing streak against Harding Academy, Earle and Salem before ending the season two weeks ago with a win over Walnut Ridge.
The Thunderbirds have had two weeks to review the game film and prepare for tonight's game since they had an open date in the final week of play.
The Patriots lost their opening game and their final game but won seven straight in between the two defeats to finish 7-2 overall and 7-1 in the league. The Patriots grabbed the No. 1 seed into the playoffs but once again had to share the conference title in a three-way split with Hughes and Harding Academy.
On paper, tonight's game looks like a complete mismatch and it may be. In the series between the two teams, since 1996, the Patriots have won five of the six meetings, losing in 2002.
The Patriots have far more offensive weapons than do the Thunderbirds. Still, counting out the Thunderbirds before the opening kickoff would not be wise. Kick off is 7:30 p.m.
Tonight's winner gets a second-round home game against either Lavaca or Hector.
CLASS AA PLAYOFFS -- WEEK ONE
No. 7 Hughes at Earle
Friday, November 12 -- 7:30 p.m.
Bulldog Stadium
Hughes 8-2 (7-1) Earle 5-3 (4-2)
If history has anything to say when it comes to high school football games, then the Hughes Blue Devils are a lock to defeat the Earle Bulldogs tonight in the first-round Class AA playoff game for both teams.
No. 2 seeded Earle, from the 3AA Conference, will host the No. 3 seeded Blue Devils from the 6AA at Bulldog Stadium.
Looking at the series history between the two teams, since 1990, Hughes has won seven of the eight matchups, the only loss coming in 1992.
Earle has had two weeks to prepare for Hughes having their open date during the final week of the season. That allowed the Bulldog coaching staff to scout the Blue Devils in last Thursday's season-ending win over Palestine-Wheatley.
Hughes Coach James Wright, a 30-year veteran within the high school coaching ranks, didn't seem bothered by the fact that Earle was watching. He was too busy trying to find a way to defeat county rival Palestine-Wheatley -- which he did 29-28 -- on a 48-yard field goal, the first one even attempted by Hughes this season.
Hughes finished this season just as they did last year, in a three-way tie for the conference title.
In 2003, Hughes finished as the No. 2 seed from the 3AA and advanced to the quarterfinals before being eliminated by eventual champion Junction City while Earle lost to Barton in the first round.
In most preseason notes about Earle, one of the Bulldogs' main weaknesses was listed as lack of strength. That could be a big problem against Hughes, who are traditionally known as a hard-hitting team, especially on defense.
Earle will probably try to air out the football while Hughes will keep it on the ground, utilizing Wright's no-quarterback, spinning, whirling, misdirection Single Wing offensive attack.
Tonight's winner will get either Greenland or Arkansas Baptist next week.
WYNNE -- This is a matchup more appropriate for Little Rock and the state finals; surely not the first round of the Class AAAA playoffs at Wynne.
Wynne won the state title in 2001 and is a perennial power. Vilonia finished state runner-up last year and was a popular pick to win it all in 2004.
Someone will be focusing on basketball after tonight's clash at Yellowjacket Stadium.
"It ain't a good draw. They aren't a fourth-place team," Wynne coach Don Campbell said. "It's going to be a good one."
In other Class AAAA state playoff action involving area teams, Blytheville will visit Greenwood and Paragould has the task of taking on Alma, the top AAAA team in the state and No. 4 overall.
Guided by former Gosnell coach Jim Stanley, Vilonia snapped Wynne's 12-game conference winning streak last year, 22-7, and went on to the state finals as Wynne finished third in the AAAA-East.
The Eagles moved to the AAAA-West this season and are 7-3 overall but they lost three league games by a combined 23 points to teams with a total record of 26-4.
Wynne (8-2), the No. 3 team in Class AAAA, fell early to Jonesboro and Class AAA Dollarway but has regrouped to win seven straight.
Stanley, who spent five years at Gosnell, is looking forward to returning to Northeast Arkansas -- sort of.
"Yeah, if I wasn't going to Wynne ... it'd be a lot of fun," Stanley joked.
Vilonia returns much of the same backfield that beat Wynne last year. Josh McEntire, who was all-state last year, leads the team with 1,100 yards while wingback Jake Gotcher and fullback Kyle Salmon each have over 900 yards rushing. Tough quarterback Nick Cowger engineers the Eagles' tough Wing-T attack behind a powerful offensive line.
"They way they run the football is impressive. They beat us last year and have basically the same backfield back," Campbell said. "They are very good, can run it and are very physical. Coach (Frank) Vines over at Alma said that when they played them, that's the first time they had won and been physically whipped. We can't get blown off the line of scrimmage. You know they'll line up and just power off the line."
Behind the strength of Cord Gray up front, the Yellowjackets' defensive line has been a strength as they have allowed just 14 points the last three weeks.
"Defensively we have played well. Our front four has been good," Campbell said. "We have to have our best effort Friday night to shut that bunch down."
Wynne hopes to use its speed in the backfield out of the Diamond-T with senior Courtney Williams, who has rushed for 1,108 yards and 12 scores, and sophomores Terrance Garrett and Terrance Boykin. Garrett rushed for three touchdowns against Nettleton while Boykin gained 156 yards and a score last week in a 35-0 victory.
"They look better to me. We haven't seen that kind of speed over here in the West," Stanley said. "There's a lot of good size and great coaches to go up against but not that speed.
"They've just got a great coach. I tell you, Coach Campbell is the best. A great coach, a great team -- that's pretty scary."
Cowger leads the Eagles' 4-4 defense, turning around to play linebacker where he leads the defense with 90 tackles.
"That tells you something about him," Williams said.
The 'Jackets have overcome a rash of injuries that hit them early in the year -- including five torn ACLs.
All five were expected to play this season, including two-year starting defensive end Jamie Franklin, who went down in the loss to Dollarway.
"I've never seen anything like it, that has to be some sort of a record," Campbell said. "But we've had some guys step up for us."
Blytheville-Greenwood
A banner season at Blytheville (8-2) was highlighted by the last two weeks, when the Chicks thumped Paragould and Marion to nail down its first playoff berth since '98 when the Chickasaws were in Class AAAAA.
Blytheville has just lost to Wynne and last year's Class AAAA champ Batesville.
"The last two weeks, we've played our best football all year long and are on the upside going into the playoffs," Blytheville coach Doug Quinn said. "We're excited about the opportunity to play and we feel like the last couple weeks, our football team is really starting to play complete ballgames.
"We felt like we didn't have our best day against Batesville but still felt like we would get into the playoffs and the kids responded."
The Chicks will look across at a near mirror image this week as they travel to Greenwood, which runs a similar spread set, running a lot of the fly sweep and quarterback trap while putting the ball in the air.
"There are a lot of similarities," Quinn said. "Their offensive set is like looking in a mirror."
The Bulldogs, ranked No. 4 in AAAA, finished one game behind Alma in the AAAA-West at 6-1, falling to the Airedales 17-14 in the regular-season finale.
Quarterback Daniel Stegall has thrown for 18 touchdowns and rushed for 8 more. Last week against Alma, Stegall completed 17-of-27 passes for 242 yards.
"We've got a big challenge playing Greenwood but one we're looking forward to playing against," Quinn said. "They are really well-coached and they have a quarterback that is a fine football player. He can run the ball extremely well but the thing about them is that I think they can throw the ball well too."
Like Blytheville, the Bulldogs have several playmakers, including 6-5 wide receiver Lucas Miller, who had 6 catches for 98 yards and a TD last week.
The Chicks will attack Greenwood's 4-3 defense with senior quarterback Brice Beck. Beck has completed 141-of-237 passes for 23 TDs. Receiver Logan Rebstock has 49 catches for 921 yards and 10 TDs while Chris Smith has 46 grabs for 656 yards and 7 scores. Halfback Chris Metcalf leads the team with 636 yards rushing and has 19 catches.
"Defensively, they are very aggressive and they just get after you, from watching tape," Quinn said. "I think they have the best special teams we've seen all year."
Paragould-Alma
After battling late in the season to rally and earn a second straight trip to the Class AAAA playoffs, the Rams' reward was a trip to Alma.
Ram quarterback Chris Stidham came back from a leg injury to take part in all three Paragould touchdowns in a 20-6 victory over crosstown rival Greene County Tech last week. He rushed for 139 yards on 8 carries while completing 4-of-6 passes for 99 yards.
He will have to have a similar game this week, facing a dominating, physical Alma defense. Airedale linebacker Adam Harvin (concussion) and cornerback Adam Hobbs (hip) missed most of last week's game and their status is questionable for this week.
Alma quarterback Joseph Medeiros has rushed for nearly 900 yards and 14 TDs this season. Last week he rushed for 171 yards and two TDs and threw for 133 more in Alma's win over Greenwood, giving them the AAAA-West title.
Last year Alma and Paragould were both bounced by Pulaski Robinson in the playoffs.
By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
PINE BLUFF -- The Forrest City Mustangs fell twice Thursday -- both times by the three-point shot.
Playing in a preseason jamboree at Pine Bluff, the Mustangs missed a potential game-winning three at the buzzer and lost to North Little Rock when the Chargin' Wildcats nailed a late three.
Pine Bluff held on for a 29-28 win while NLR edged the Mustangs 32-31.
Sophomore Marcus Britt, who missed the three against Pine Bluff, led the Mustangs with a combined 13 points through both scrimmages. Sophomore Stephon Weaver added 11 while senior forward Chris Williams added 10 and Nick Grady had eight.
"I felt good about the effort and what I saw on the floor," Mustang Coach Dwight Lofton said. "I liked the way we moved the ball but we will have to improve our rebounding. I know where we are and the direction we need to go."
Lofton said the Mustangs will have to employ more matchup zone defensively this season rather than trying to go man.
"We don't have much size and that means playing man-to-man is probably not going to be an option for us all the time," Lofton said.
Lofton said that became evident last night when NLR with two 6-8 players in the scrimmage.
"And Pine Bluff was physical and they were quick," Lofton said. "It was learning experience for us."
Lofton said senior point guard Taurus Moore played well.
"He basically picked up where he left off last season," Lofton said.
The Mustangs are scheduled to open the season on Thursday, Nov. 18, at Little Rock Central.
Following the Central road trip, the Mustangs will play their home opener on Friday, Nov. 19, when they host Marianna.