El Dorado set to take on Russellville

El Dorado has not won backto-back games, yet, this season. The 4-4 Wildcats will need to accomplish that feat tonight if they want another game at Memorial Stadium.

El Dorado hosts Russellville (5-3, 3-2) in a game that could, basically, decide who gets the third seed in the upcoming playoffs. The Wildcats, also 3-2 in league play, travel to play the last-place Little Rock Hall Warriors in the season finale next week.

“Honestly, if we win this one, we are the three, no matter what,” said El Dorado coach Scott Reed. “That’s good news. We would have head-to-head over anyone else who could get to our record. That seed is really good.”

The Wildcats, who are coming off a 24-21 win at Siloam Springs, could be shorthanded tonight. Quarterback Alex Hicks and senior receiver Shun Levingston were both listed as questionable on Wednesday. Defensively, ends Quentin Frazier and Jacoby Hankton were listed in the same boat.

“If we’re healthy, we can compete with anyone in 6A. We just haven’t been healthy. We’re not, right now. It’s going to take a really resilient group to get it done,” said Reed, who said there are no excuses.

“It is what it is. You’ve got to lace it up and go get it done.”

The Cyclones are coming off a 48-0 win over Hall last week. It was their third shutout of the season.

“They’re good defensively. They’re giving up very few points,” Reed said. “Offensively, they’re not scoring a lot. Greenwood is the only team that’s gotten away from them. Benton was the night we played Lake Hamilton. That was the rain night. You can’t really tell much about that game.”

Russellville owns wins over Morrilton (28-23), Alma (31-0), Sheridan (21-0), Lake Hamilton (28-14) and Hall. The losses were to Har Ber (27-7), Benton (27-0) and Greenwood (51-7).

“Defensively, they’ve got five returners on defense. Their corners are both good and their safety (Johnny Butcher) is really good. They’ve got a big, long defensive end in (Langston) Parker (6-5, 220) that’s a returning starter,” said Reed.

According to the depth chart, Russellville has 11 senior starters on defense. The Cyclones have yielded 17.7 points per game out of a 3-4 alignment that features plenty of blitzing and stunting up front.

“They bring a lot, a whole lot,” Reed said of the blitz. “They’re pretty exotic in what they do. You’ll see mug backers or the lineman will go one way and a guy will loop behind him or they’ll have a lineman loop and

then bring a guy off the edge of it. They do a lot of different things defensively. They create some problems. It’ll be a big test for our offensive line.”

With Hicks questionable, Stuart Bower could see action at quarterback. If there is a change, will the offense look different?

“Sure, they’ll be less quarterback run,” said Reed, who said tailback Keonte Larry is healthy. “To me, the big thing is, are we going to be able to run the ball? If we’re going to be able to run the ball, we have a chance to have a good night.

“We need to be able to dictate when we want to run it. We need to play well up front. How we handle all of their movement is going to be a big deciding factor in the outcome.”

The Wildcats’ offensive line appears healthy. Although, injuries to the rest of the team limited El Dorado to just three points in the second half last week.

“I thought (guard Connor) Rambo played the best game he’s played,” Reed said. “He played the best ball game he’s played. That was good to see.”

Offensively, Russellville has averaged 21.2 points per game with its spread attack. Reed said the Cyclones have been a bit one dimensional, relying heavily on the passing attack, keyed by quarterback Rhett Adkins and senior flanker Jaidon Palmer (6-0, 185).

“They have one really good wide receiver. He’s a handful. And, that’s really their offense. They have not be successful running the ball,” said Reed. “Our back end really needs to play well.

“We have to keep (Palmer) in check, keep getting them on the ground and not let them have big-play touchdowns. They’re going to get some plays, I’m sure. But, our secondary needs to play their best ball game.”

The secondary could get a boost if cornerback Williem Artis returns from injury.

Health woes aside, the Wildcats are still looking to get into postseason form. They overcame adversity and got big plays from defense and special teams to hold off an improved Siloam Springs program.

“I saw signs of us doing some good things the last few weeks offensively. Then we got some guys hurt Friday night and we weren’t very productive in the fourth quarter but we hung on and won and did the things you’re supposed to do to win a game. We didn’t turn the ball over. We got turnovers from them. I really think the team we played Friday is getting better and better. I was impressed with them,” Reed said.

“Everybody has injuries so we’re not making a big deal out of it. We’ll have a bunch of backups in. There are some guys you’re going to see out there that you haven’t seen on Fridays a lot. Practice has been good. Kids’ attitudes have been good, upbeat. They know this is an important week.”