By todd traub
Leader sports editor
It was sure a nice weekend for the Jacksonville Red Devils.
After scoring a 26-2 victory in the 7A/6A-East Conference opener against Mountain Home on Thursday, the Red Devils enjoyed a pleasant Friday night while the rest of the conference was in action.
Coach Rick Russell had the luxury of being able to personally scout future conference opponents Searcy and Marion while he and the players could bask in their televised, Thursday night victory instead of regroup after a loss.
“Thursday night, got it out of the way and executed it for the most part,” Russell said of the Red Devils’ third straight victory. “Friday was a good day.”
The only problem with last Friday is Russell didn’t get to see this Friday’s opponent, theJonesboro Hurricane, and will have to rely on film to prepare the Red Devils for their second consecutive home game.
“They’re going to be the best football team we’ve played all year,” Russell said. “They’re big, they’re strong, they’re physical. They’ve got a good running back.
“Against Hot Springs we felt like we contained their speed pretty well so we’re going to see more speed than we’ve seen and more size on the front.”
Jacksonville (3-1, 1-0) has already won more games than it did last year, when it won two under previous coach Mark Whatley, and the Devils have also built a streak, unlike last season.
But Jonesboro threatens to be a handful.
The Hurricane, with 17 victories and playoff appearances the past two seasons, is on track after winning just two games in 2007. Jonesboro (2-2, 1-0) went 9-2 last year, its best season since 1982, and beat Little Rock Parkview 35-7 in its 7A/6A-East opener last week.
“It’s got to be a great week for us,” Russell said. “We’ve got to elevate our performance and fine tune the things we’re doing well and eliminate the mistakes. We want to start off the way we finish.”
Russell said he could accept some of the “full speed mistakes” he’s seen when players have erred on the side of being aggressive, but there are other goofs he wants to be rid of by Friday night.
Jacksonville stumbled early Thursday with penalties and a lost fumble after a long kickoff return put the Red Devils in scoring position on their first possession. There was also the punt snap through the end zone for the safety that gave Mountain Home its only points and various other miscues, like a defensive offsides call Russell said he hadn’t seen all year.
But the offense got in gear with Logan Perry passing for 217 yards and a touchdown, Antwone Mosby rushing for two touchdowns and D’Vone McClure rushing for one and catching a pass for another.
The defense got four sacks and a fumble recovery.
“We believe that we’re going to be a good football team,” Russell said. “We believe that we’ve got a chance to do well in the playoffs and do well in our conference. First off we have to do well in our conference and then go to the playoffs and do well.
“We can’t get too high or too low, we’ve got to go to the next play. Just like that we’ve got to go to the next game.”
