By RAY BENTON
Leader sports editor
Jacksonville’s football team will try to rebound from a disappointing loss to Searcy when it takes on the Parkview Patriots this Friday at Jan Crow Stadium in Jacksonville. The Red Devils (3-4, 2-2) suffered another late collapse in the loss to Searcy, reminiscent of its road loss to Jonesboro earlier in the season.
In that game, Jacksonville led going into the fourth quarter and lost 34-22. Last week, Lions led 27-19, but Jacksonville had the ball and was driving when disaster struck. A turnover led to another Searcy score that put the Red Devils behind by two touchdowns.
From there, the Lions added another touchdown to turn a close game into a lop-sided loss.
“It was very similar to Jonesboro except that we didn’t have the lead,” Jacksonville coach Rick Russell said. “I guess it was our second play on the drive to tie it up. We turned it over, and they went and scored. That changed the game. After that, we were pressing. They stopped us and went and scored again, put it out of reach. It was disappointing. We’re still searching for that complete game. We expect that to be this Friday night.”
Jacksonville’s defense will certainly have to be in form against the Patriots. Parkview has scored at least 26 points in every outing so far.
Recently, all those points haven’t resulted in many victories. The Patriots (4-3, 1-3) just ended a three-game losing streak with a 28-7 win over Little Rock Hall last Friday. It was their first conference win of the season. In its first three league games, Parkview lost 56-28 to Jonesboro, 46-34 to Searcy and 54-26 to Marion.
“Parkview is a good football team that scores a lot of points,” Russell said. “They’ve moved the ball and scored on every team they’ve played. We’re going to have to be sure and protect the football. You don’t want to give an offense like that extra chances. Defensively we’ll have to play good technique and run to the football really well.”
The details to earning a victory aren’t the main thing Russell is concerned about. For most of the game in Jacksonville’s recent losses, he feels his team has played well enough to win. It’s the lapses that have cost his team. So the key to victory this Friday is simpler than getting all the details right.
“We just have to play hard and smart and play good technique for 48 minutes,” Russell said. “We put in our game plan, but after that we just have to work as hard as we can to put 48 minutes of execution together. That’s really what it comes down to.”
The Red Devils have endured a brutal season on the injured list. There is good news on the front. Tight end and defensive end David Johnson, who was taken off the field in an ambulance last week, has only suffered a sprained neck and will make a full recovery.
The Red Devils and Patriots kickoff at 7 p.m. Friday.
