SOUTHWEST ARKANSAS FOOTBALL PREVIEWS
CLASS 5A Wynne (9-2) at Hope (9-2)
KICKOFF: 7 p.m., Hammons Stadium, Hope
AT STAKE: Class 5A state quarterfinal win and berth to semifinals against winner of Pulaski Academy - Morrilton game.
LAST WEEK: 5A East runner-up Wynne eliminated Shiloh Christian, 35-19, and the South champion Bobcats topped Sylvan Hills, 31
17.
GAME FACTS: Hope notched its first playoff win since 2005 last week. The Yellowjackets are in the state quarterfinals for the third consecutive year. Wynne eliminated the Bobcats, 33-0, in the second round of the 2005 state playoffs. Hope's two losses are by a combined nine points. The Bobcats, who have won five straight, have scored 348 points (31.6 average) and allowed 200 points (18.2 average). The Yellowjackets average 36.5 pints per game (401 total) and allow 21.1 (232 total). Wynne has won four in a row since losing to Batesville by 25 points. Javon Westmoreland has rushed for over 1,100 yards and had 172 and two scores last week. Channing Kight added 70 yards on the ground, and Ty Voss had 22 tackles and three sacks. Wynne sophomore Antonio Davis has 1,900 yards and 28 TDs this year.
PLAYERS TO WATCH: Hope-RB/ DB Javon Westmoreland, QB/S Nathan Stubber, DE Davon Potts, DE McTelvin Agim, LB Ty Voss, WR Kenneth Thompson, FB Channing Kight, NG A. J. Smith; Wynne-RB Antonio Davis, QB Zach Morris, LB Deandre McGill.
COACH'S COMMENTS: Hope's Jay Turley—“We've been pretty physical all year long, but I don't think we played with a whole lot of intensity last week. We just didn't prepare mentally like we need to. I expect more out of them this week; every week we're going to have to raise our level of play.
“Wynne has a good running back and solid junior quarterback, and I haven't seen very many people block No. 62 (McGill) on film. They fly around to the ball on defense and are a well-coached, big-play team on offense.
“We have to be able to run the ball and control the clock. We also need to establish some drives so we can keep our defense fresh; we left them out there for too long last week. Defensively, we need to get off the field, continue to play fast, and all run to the ball.”
CLASS 4A Ashdown (9-2) at Dollarway (11-0)
KICKOFF: 7 p.m., Cardinal Stadium, Pine Bluff
AT STAKE: Second-round win and berth to Class 3A quarterfinals against either Gosnell or Star City.
LAST WEEK: The Panthers shut out Farmington, 300, and Dollarway beat Jonesboro Westside, 47-21.
GAME FACTS: Ashdown 's Lamontrick Turner ran for 229 yards last week in the rout of Farmington. The 24A champion Cardinals are in the quarterfinal round for the second straight year. The Panthers have scored 33.6 points per game (369 total) and given up 21.9 (241 total). Dollarway averages 42.6 points per game (469 total) and allow just 8.8 (97 total). The 21 points the Cards allowed last week were the most in a game this season. Dollarway QB Joshua Liddell and tailback Keyshawn Williams have each eclipsed the 1,000 yard mark for the season.
PLAYERS TO WATCH: AshdownQB/CB Jake Alexander, RB Lamontrick Turner, WR/QB Brandon Northcross, WR Parrish Guillory, WR LaDarius McElroy, WR/CB Devaughn Sanders, DE Starnes York, LB Kyle Duncan, NG Cody Delo; Dollarway-QB Joshua Liddell, RB Keyshawn Williams.
COACH'S COMMENTS: Ashdown's Matt Richardson— “The kids really played well last week. Farmington had one big drive, about a nine-minute drive to the red zone, but we made a stand there and kept them from scoring. We held them to just 22 yards of offense in the second half. “We controlled the ball and executed our gameplan perfectly. We need to have that same mentality this week.
“We're not asking our kids to go beat Dollarway; we're asking them to just go help Ashdown win. We match up with Dollarway pretty well. They're going to get in the wishbone and hit you square in the mouth, offensively. Our kids have seen them on film and feel confident about going and playing this game.
“The exciting things about the playoffs is it gives big players an opportunity to make big plays. People remember beating a big opponent in the playoffs, and we need to make a memory this week.”
CLASS 3A Prescott (6-5) at Episcopal Collegiate (9-2)
KICKOFF: 7 p.m., Wildcat Stadium, Little Rock AT STAKE: Second-round win and Class 3A state quarterfinals against Smackover-Melbourne winner.
LAST WEEK: The Curley Wolves eliminated Rivercrest, 2414, and Eipscopal Collegiate survived Fouke, 2721.
GAME FACTS: Prescott elminated Episcopal, 5216, in the first round of the playoffs last year. This is the Wildcats' best season, and only winning year, since 2005, when EC was 12-1. Episcopal was the runner-up from 2-3A and have four playoffs win in school history, compared to 54 for the Curley Wolves. Both teams have played Fouke the past two weeks. Prescott lost to the Panthers, 19-13, to close out the regular season. The Wolves average 23.3 points per game (256 total) and allow 20.4 (224 total), and the Wildcats score 31.8 (350 total) and allow 19.0 (209 total).
PLAYERS TO WATCH: RB/LB Khaalid Stewart, LB Laterrance Taylor, QB Tyler Woods, TE Lane Martin, WR Ron' Darius Cone, WR Trayvon Beasley, DL Marc Morman, LB Jordan Joyce, DB Maleric Butler; Episcopal-QB William Pollock, RB Braylon Smith, RB Darius Austin, WR Allie Freeman, WR Nick Becton.
COACH'S COMMENTS: Prescott's Tommy Poole—“Episcopal plays hard. We played them last year when they were real young, and they brought just about everybody back—that's always the mark of a good football team when you have everyone back from a playoff team.
“Our No. 1 concern is ourselves; we just need to go take care of Prescott. We can't have missed assignments and can't turn the ball over. We've had four or more turnovers in each of our losses.
“Last week, we executed well, and gave ourselves chances for big plays. When we had those opportunities, we have people step up, whether it was offense, defense, or in special teams. We began with a lot of new starters. But those guys have a whole season of experience now, and that experience and maturity is starting to show.”
CLASS 2A Strong (7-4) at Dierks (10-0)
KICKOFF: 7 p.m., Ayers Field, Dierks
AT STAKE: Second-round victory and Class 2A state quarterfinals berth against either Des Arc or Brinkley.
LAST WEEK: Dierks rallied for 23 fourth-quarter points to pull away from Salem, 57-35, and the Bulldogs topped Spring Hill, 28-6.
GAME FACTS: Strong is the fourth seed from 8-2A and has qualified for the quarterfinals for seven years in a row. The Outlaws trailed 35-34 with ten minutes left last week. Dierks averages 43.6 points (479 total) and allows 13.0 (143 total), and Strong scored 22.8 (251 total) and give up 20.5 (225 total). Adam Bradshaw has thrown for 1,544 yards and 26 TDs for Dierks, and TE Andrew Sirmon leads the receiving corps. with 38 catches for 862 and 18 scores. RB Trendin McKinney has scored 20 touchdowns and rushed for 1,380 yards as a sophomore. McKinney ran for 215 yards and five TDs last week. Bradshaw added a TD rushing, and RB Andy Tedder scored twice on the ground.
PLAYERS TO WATCH: QB Adam Bradshaw, TE Andrew Sirmon, RB/ LB Andy Tedder; OL/DL Mason Jester; DE Layne McWhorter; Strong-OL Devante Lovett, RB Tevion Hicks. COACH'S COMMENTS: Dierks' David Bennett—“Strong is a
very talented football team, and they're athletic on both sides of the ball. We have to go out and execute. This time of the year most teams are a little bruised up and have gone through some sort of injury. This game will come down to whichever teams wants to advance the most, and the teams that makes the fewest mistakes.
“Strong is very fast, and as athletic a team as we've faced. They're probably a little bit bigger than Gurdon (the 7-2A runner-up), but Gurdon is a little more polished with its execution.
“Last week was back and forth for three quarters. Salem was without a doubt one of the most talented teams in their conference; they just had some tough breaks and bounces during the season. We knew we were going to have our hands full, and we were able to rally in the fourth quarter.”