By JASON KING
Leader sportswriter
Someone’s season is about to get brighter on Friday as local rivals Beebe and Lonoke prepare for their annual battle of Hwy. 31 supremacy at James B. Abraham Stadium.
Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. Both teams are coming off season-opening losses despite competitive performances.
Lonoke fell just short of winning against Star City in what was, for the most part, a defensive struggle with a 16-14 result. Beebe, however, had one of its best offensive performances in years, combined with a complete letdown on defense that led to a 61-38 loss to Greenbrier in a game that featured countless big plays by both teams.
For Lonoke head coach Doug Bost, Beebe’s struggles on defense against Greenbrier carries no implications when it comes to this week’s showdown.
“I don’t even put any stock in the score from the Greenbrier game,” Bost said. “I remember last year, they had four or five fumbles in the Greenbrier game, and they’ll clean that up this year just like they did last year. It’s going to be the same old Lonoke-Beebe game.
Greenbrier passed against them 95 percent of the time, and we’re not set up that way, we’re geared more for the running game.”
Dylan Goforth and Chandler Elmore led the Jackrabbits defensively against Star City, with Elmore recording eight unassisted tackles and seven assisted tackles. Senior Kody Smith was solid in his debut at quarterback with 7 of 13 completions for 107 yards, and scored a touchdown on the ground. Senior receiver and Division I college prospect Blake Mack also ran for a touchdown, and had six receptions for 109 yards.
“Third downs were the main thing that hurt us the other night,” Bost said. “That’s a concern for us, is finishing drives on defense, but we battled and held them to three points in the second half, and we had no turnovers on offense, so there were a few things we had we can build off of.”
The Badgers had one of the most impressive varsity debuts witnessed in quite some time with sophomore fullback Trip Smith.
In his first-ever start on a Friday night, Smith rushed for 279 yards and four touchdowns, including a pair of breakaway runs of over 50 yards. Beebe coach John Shannon, who has had his share of outstanding players at the fullback position over the years, said he had not witnessed a debut quite like the one Smith delivered on Friday.
“Not in my 22 years of coaching,” Shannon said. “It was definitely something to see. We felt like he could be special right from the start, he’s a bigger kid than what we’ve had at that position in a long time, and he has a knack for making moves when he gets in the open field.”
Bost, who had the weekend to review the Beebe-Greenbrier game, is also aware of Smith’s potential for breaking games wide open.
“He looked real good,” Bost said. “He did breakaway for some long runs. It’s going to be the same old Beebe. They have huge offensive linemen, and they’re going to just run it straight at you. They did line up in a spread for two series, so that’s something we haven’t seen from them before.”
Just as Bost is leery of Smith’s abilities, Shannon’s primary concern when it comes to Lonoke’s offense is containing Mack.
“They’re very athletic as always,” Shannon said. “They have a good receiver, that kid all the colleges are looking at. They like to try and get it to him, and most of the time, he goes and gets it. That’s a big concern for us. They looked good on film.
“It’s going to be a dogfight as always. It typically comes down to the end, no matter if one team is good and the other team is not as good, or if both teams are good or vice versa. It seems like every year it is always a close game.”