Smackover to take on Harmony Grove for league championship.
In years past, the end of October always signaled that it was time for Smackover and Harmony Grove to have their annual showdown with major playoff implications on the line.
But due to being in separate classes, the last two meetings have been non-conference affairs played early in the season.
However, that changes on Thursday, as the Bucks and Hornets resume their late October clash with the 5-3A title at stake.
The Bucks (8-1, 6-0) can win the league title outright and have home-field advantage throughout the playoffs with a win.
The Hornets (7-2, 5-1), who were shut out at home by Prescott last week, can force a threeway tie for the league crown with a victory.
“They’re really good,” said Smackover coach Brian Brown. “They’ve got some dynamic players on offense. They do a really good job of mixing things up on offense. They’ve run the spread and the single-wing. They will cause some problems for us.”
Although there is plenty on the line, Brown said he is trying to keep things as normal as possible.
“You always try to do that,” Brown said. “If you start making things bigger than they are, you can have a big fall sometimes. It’s not the end-all to the season. We’ve played too many games and played too hard to have this be the end-all to what we’re trying to accomplish, but it is a big game, and they know that. We just want to come out and do what we’ve been doing. We want to play hard, limit our mistakes and try to come out with a victory.”
The Hornets are led by one of 3A’s top two-way players in senior Gannon Bearden.
Bearden guides the Hornets’ offense at quarterback, and he has 10 tackles for a loss and two sacks from his spot at linebacker on defense.
“Obviously, he’s tough playing both ways,” Brown said. “He’s their best linebacker. He does a great job there. He throws the ball well and directs the offense well, so it’s one of those things where he is a great deal for their coach. When you have that guy that can play both ways and can handle two positions, that really takes a lot of pressure off of you as a coach when you’ve got a guy that can do all of that stuff. He’s going to be tough for us to handle. Hopefully, we can make more plays than he does.”
The Bucks' defense will have its work cut out for them in trying to slow down the Hornets' attack.
Bearden is a threat both with his arm and legs, and he has several weapons at his disposal.
Junior Xaylon Falls needs 74 yards to reach 1,000 for the season, and he also has caught 12 passes for 149 yards with 25 total touchdowns.
But it’s on special teams where Falls really shines.
The junior has returned four kickoffs and one punt for touchdowns, giving the Hornets a weapon that is dangerous whenever he steps on to the field.
“He is a great kick returner and he can catch the ball out of the back-
field,” Brown said of Falls. “He makes big plays. He almost beat Junction City at the end of the game by himself for them by kicking to him. He brings a lot in the return game. He does a great job of returning kicks. He’s dynamic with the ball in his hands.
“He doesn’t play much on defense at all, but the thing I noticed is he doesn’t get real tired on offense, so you’re going to get some of the same stuff in the fourth quarter that you would in the first quarter. You can’t let up or take a play off because he’s dynamic enough to get in the end zone.”
Kentrell Hill is another standout for the Hornets that the Bucks will have to watch closely.
A senior, Hill averages over 12 yards per carry, and he has caught 11 passes for 207 yards this year.
Several starters did not play in last week’s game against Prescott due to a school trip, but Brown said that wouldn’t be a factor in his team’s preparation.
“We saw them play. We were all at the Junction City game, so we know who is doing what,” Brown said.
“We’ve seen some other games also, so we’ve got a good idea of what they’ve been doing, and they do a lot of stuff. It’s difficult for our defense. We have to do a lot of different things this week on defense to try and stop them.”
This week also marks the second time this year that the Bucks have had a short week to prepare for an opponent. At the outset of the season, the Bucks faced Foreman in Hooten’s Kickoff Classic before taking on Junction City later in the week.
Although the Bucks will have to cram some, Brown said the Bucks would be ready.
“We went a little longer (on Monday), but we’re going to get it all in,” Brown said. “We always talk about practice, and we practice until we’re done. We just went a little longer, mainly trying to be in the right place and doing the right thing. It’s not going to hinder us.”
Since winning at Prescott four weeks ago, the Bucks have racked up lopsided wins over Fouke, Genoa Central and Bismarck, and Brown has been pleased with his team’s focus.
“It can be tough,” Brown said. “We always talk about it as coaches. Those are tougher games to coach in because you’re coaching things that you don’t normally coach when you get way ahead. You’ve got to talk to young people, and they’ve been practicing all week.
“They want to score. Last week, I’m playing my guys for a half, and I’ve got to have at least a half out of them. You’re dealing with scoring, playing a half, then the mercy rule comes in. You can’t get the guys enough time, so it’s really hard to coach in those games.”
Last week, the Bucks held Bismarck to minus64 yards rushing in a 66-6 win, and Brown credited the defensive line for winning the battle in the trenches.
“We dominated the line of scrimmage, and that’s what we try to get our guys to do,” Brown said. “We played pretty good. It just turned out that way.”
While the defense was dominant, the Bucks’ offense was perfectly balanced, finishing with 220 yards both rushing and passing.
“We work on it quite a bit,” Brown said. “It’s one of those things that I think we’re good it, but one of deals has been that we’ve gotten some big leads where we’re not going to throw as much. We’ve talked about needing to do some of that early last week, and we did it. Roshard (Boone) has worked on his accuracy a whole lot, and he’s gotten better.”
The Bucks have won six of the last seven meetings in the series, and if that trend is to continue, Brown said his team must continue to be solid in all phases of the game.
“I think our run game has to stay the same,” Brown said. “We need to dominate on the ground, which we’re going to try to do. I think we need to hit the passes when we have open receivers. We need to be able to that, and blocking and tackling.
“Defensively, we can’t give up big plays or make big mistakes. I think Harmony Grove does some things where they can hit big plays, so we can’t give up the big play and play good on special teams.”