Wolverines ready for ‘loud’ experience

West coach Bryan Pratt said his team must prepare for the loudest atmosphere since the season opener at Owasso, Okla., when the Wolverines make the short trip Friday to play Bentonville at Tiger Stadium.

“The Owasso game has probably been the loudest place I’ve ever been,” Pratt said. “Everything was closed in with the big home bleachers and the big end zone complex. It was really loud, and there were a couple of times when we jumped offsides early in the game.

“Friday’s game won’t be as loud as that, but we will have to make sure we stay calm and stay focused on what is going on. Everybody’s going to be jacked up and be ready to play. You have to let the game come to you and not force it upon you.”

West won’t have the unbeaten regular-season record like it did last year, but Pratt believes the game will be just as intense because both teams are vying for the same prize — the outright 7A-West Conference championship.

“We’re going to treat it like a normal game,” Pratt said. “We need to keep things as normal as possible. I know it’s going to be chaos there, but that’s just going to be part of it.

“There were different situations that caused both of us not to have very good nonconference records, but I don’t think that should take from both teams are playing really good right now. It’s for the conference championship. When it comes down to that, I don’t care what the records are when it comes down to two schools that split just three years ago.”