The Fordyce and Rison rivalry dates back to the 1950s.

The two schools, about 20 miles apart, have met annually since 1967 and will do so once again Friday night in Dallas County.

While they have a storied rivalry, there isn’t much that these two haven’t seen. But this time, there’s a new problem as both teams enter at 8-0 and are competing for the 3A-8 Conference title.

For most of its history, this game was reserved for late August or early September as a non-conference tune-up before conference play began. The conference’s realignment in 2022 places both teams in 3A-8, giving the matchup some strength.

This is the last match between Fordyce and Rison since 2011 and their third meeting all-time in November.

“This is some fun,” Fordyce Coach Tim Rogers said. “I mean, there’s a lot going on, there’s a lot of traditions, and it’s going to be fun to be a part of it. Like we tell our kids, you’re going to make some history on Friday night.”

Fordyce (8-0, 5-0) opened the season with a win over Class 4A Monticello and has dominated all opponents since.

They outscored their conference opponents 236-27. The Redbugs’ defense allowed nine goals.

“Even though we couldn’t score points offensively, we could win most of our games with our defense,” Rogers said. “There haven’t been too many situations where our kids haven’t known what to do. There haven’t been too many situations where we haven’t been able to make plays.”

Offensively, Rison is led by freshman point guard Andrell “Cadillac” Ellison. He completed 72 of 110 passes for 1,504 yards and 17 touchdowns while rushing for 337 yards and 5 touchdowns. Rogers said the most important thing for a young point guard like Ellison is his ability to protect the ball. He only flipped it twice.

“We tried not to put him in situations where he had to do too much,” Rogers said. “We try to keep it simple, which we did. He made some plays on his own a few times.

“We didn’t want to put too much pressure on him this year because he’s a ninth grader. We’ve got some good running backs and receivers around him that might take some of the pressure off him. And so far this year it’s worked out for us.”

Ellison’s top target was sophomore Jamartez Stroud, who had 24 catches for 568 yards and 7 touchdowns. Ellison’s older brother Keilin, a senior, has 10 catches for 267 yards.

Fordyce’s ground game is led by sophomore Micah Gamble with 565 yards and 7 touchdowns and senior Brenton Sledge with 344 yards and 9 touchdowns.

Under first-year coach Chris Vereen, Rison was able to bounce back from an uncharacteristic three-win season a year ago. The Wildcats, led by sophomore Christian Reeves, have over 2,000 rushing yards and 41 rushing touchdowns as they return to the ground game.

“They went back to what they always did,” Rogers said. “They’re playing tough football, they’re running the football, they’re hitting it in front of you. … The kids are in this situation again, just like they were (before 2023). So it’s kind of back to normal.”

Regardless of the records, Fordyce-Rison is almost always an exciting game. Add two undefeated teams and a conference championship to the mix and it has the makings of one of the best games of the regular season.

“Hopefully they will bring out the best in us because I know we will bring out the best in them,” Rogers said. “I’ve been here at Fordyce for 40 years. Rison has always played us hard, almost never had an easy game. They come after us and their kids are always stubborn, tough kids, so we’re waiting for that Friday.” night.

“They are 8-0, we are 8-0, we expect a good and tough match.”

Little Rock Park View

downwards

Little Rock Parkview has done more than dominate the conference schedule up to this point. The Patriots won their games so decisively that their starters did not play in the second half for over a month.

That will likely change Thursday night at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock when Parkview (7-1, 5-0 5A-South) begins the penultimate week of the regular season against its biggest conference title rival, Hot Springs Lakeside (7). -1, 5-0).

Over the last two seasons and again in 2024, the two-time defending Class 5A state champion Patriots end their regular seasons with a sweep of the Rams and Camden Fairview. These have been two of the biggest obstacles to Parkview winning back-to-back 5A-South championships.

“Our two biggest rivals for us are the last two of the year, Lakeside and Camden (Fairview),” Parkview Coach Brad Bolding said. “We’ve been running this program for the last two years and these teams have been very good teams, and I think Lakeside has been just as good since we played them.

“They are a team we have taken very seriously all week and we are looking forward to the match.”

Lakeside beat Camden Fairview 43-36 to open conference play. The Rams also made some noise over the summer with wins in the Shootout of the South and Benton 7-on-7 tournaments. The passing attack continued, led by junior quarterback Wally Wolcott. Add in the rushing attack, led by senior Grady Ohman’s 1,428 yards, and you see the Rams have a potent offense.

“He’s as good an opponent as the best we’ve played since Bryant,” Bolding said.

While these postseason matchups were set up as a true test for Parkview in previous seasons, the results didn’t always reflect that. Parkview defeated Lakeside and Camden Fairview by a combined score of 84-21 last season and 77-21 in 2022.

With the Patriots well rested after five straight wins, Bolding said he wasn’t concerned about the lack of playing time his starters were getting due to lopsided scoring, unlike in previous years.

“I was very worried about this last year,” he said. “We were in the same boat last year and they proved me wrong. I think the biggest thing about this time of year, which really showed us last year, is to have your legs underneath you. When you play four quarters at the start, your body is a little shaken up, you’re not like you were in Week 1. I think that’s an advantage for us.” . We work really hard and it’s a lot of physical work, so I think we can make up for any of that in our practices.”

8-MAN

club final set

While the 11-man football teams completed their regular seasons, the unapproved 8-man schools made it to the finals.

Corning (7-1) hosts Subiaco Academy (5-3) for the Club Division state championship on Friday night.

With this latest reclassification cycle, the Club Division dropped from 10 teams to four teams: Corning, Subiaco Academy, Marshall and Rose Bud.

While Corning beat Rose Bud 49-0 last week, Subiaco Academy advanced to the championship game by beating Marshall 60-22.

The Bobcats’ offensive performance last week was no surprise as they scored 48 or more points for the sixth time in eight games.

The Trojans started the season 2-2 and finished the season on a 3-1 run with a 20-8 victory over Rector. They scored an average of 47.3 points per game in these three wins.

These teams met for the second time this season and Corning finished the first match ahead 48-8. The only other meeting between these programs occurred last season, when Corning won the Club Division semifinals.