Lakeside looks for repeat vs. Hope for homecoming
Lakeside is looking to continue its win streak at home after a pair of road wins over Magnolia and Texarkana the last two weeks as the Rams host the Hope Bobcats for homecoming at Chick Austin Field Friday night.
The Rams (4-2, 2-1 5A South) are coming off last week’s 21-20 win where Will Perrigo blocked a PAT that ultimately decided the game while Hope (1-5, 1-2) picked up its only win over winless De Queen in Week 4.
Lakeside junior quarterback Will Ross showed good rapport with sophomore Chase Cross while connecting on six targets for 66 yards at Razorback Stadium. Ross completed 15 of 25 against Texarkana, passing for 128 yards with one touchdown by junior Will Perrigo. Brock Garner reeled in four catches for 34 yards Friday night.
Isaac Echols dominated the Rams’ ground game with 19 touches for 91 yards and two touchdowns.
“Isaac Echols had a really good game [with] 19 carries, almost 100 yards and two touchdowns,” said Lakeside head coach Jared McBride. “Those yards were hard to come by last week. They [Texarkana] had a very good defensive front, and he was kind of the guy that sparked us in the end to get it in the endzone and get those much-needed first downs.”
Hope relies on senior quarterback Hunter Hellums to get its offense going while several athletes have provided depth on the team’s offense.
“They’ve got a lot of different kids they’re getting the ball to, kind of spreading it around,” McBride said. “They’re driven by their quarterback. We’ve got to do a good job of getting pressure on him and helping him be inaccurate. We
did a good job of that last week versus Texarkana, and we’ve got to continue that this week.”
After downing the Bobcats 49-28 a year ago, McBride anticipates that the team has the ability to dominate the scoreboard again this year.
“We hope to duplicate,” McBride said of last year’s win at Hope. “We got on them fast last year, caused them to turn the ball over a few times, were able to get ahead and get going. That would be a big plus if we were able to do that this year.”
Logan White will be back on the field this week after an injury sidelined him for the Texarkana game, and there are a few linemen who will be taking the field in a starting role for the first time this season.
“We’ll have a couple lineman out there that have played some but haven’t started yet, so we’ll have a couple new faces out there that way,” he added. “I’m glad to have Logan White back. He didn’t play last week due to injury, and he is a big part of what we do.
“We’ve got some guys a little banged up, and we’re going to have some new faces out there that are going to have to grow up fast. [We] need to continue to grow, continue to get better. We’ve got some guys [who have] got to keep getting better in the run game, and that’ll help us down the line. We just want to keep doing what we’ve been doing and getting the win.”
While admitting the homecoming could be a distraction, McBride believes his players will keep their focus on the field.
“It’s a big night for us,” he said. “It’s homecoming; there will be lots of people here and lots of people to watch the Rams. We’ve got to make sure that we stay focused on the football game.
“It’s been a pretty good week so far; hopefully it will stay that way. We’ve just got to block out and play football when the time comes. It’ll be an exciting week for everybody, and the kids will enjoy it.”
Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.