By JASON KING
Leader sportswriter
Mismatch is the only way to describe Carlisle’s road game at Palestine Wheatley this Friday.
The unbeaten Bison find themselves at the top of the 6-2A Conference standings with three weeks left in the regular season while the Patriots, under third-year coach Charles Sartin, are simply trying to build on the momentum from their first win of the season last week against Marvell.
Carlisle (8-0, 4-0) is headed for a week 10 showdown with Hazen, the other unbeaten team in 6-2A, but have to stay up for weaker opponents the next two games.
“You never want to overlook anybody,” Carlisle coach Scott Waymire said. “Their numbers are down. They have a small senior class there in terms of boys in that class, and that will hurt any school, especially a 2A school. But coach Sartin has done a good job of keeping the kids upbeat. They’re going to spread it out and go no huddle. They’ll go for it – onside kicks, just playing like they’ve got nothing to lose, and that’s always a concern.”
The Patriots (1-6, 1-3) play a style similar to that of Pulaski Academy with a wide-open attack and a no-punt philosophy. Defensively, they feature a 4-3 front.
Des Arc gave Carlisle one of its toughest tests of the season last week, but the Bison broke an 8-8 tie at halftime to dominate the second half on their way to a 28-8 victory. It also proved to be one of the most physical games, and Waymire will most likely hold out some of his linemen from this week’s game to recover from the tough battle in the trenches last Friday.
“We’ve got some big ballgames coming up, and the playoffs coming up,” Waymire said. “It’s a chance to give some of the younger guys some experience, and that’s always paid off for us in the long run.”
The victory over the Eagles also guarantees at least a No. 2 playoff seed regardless of what happens in the final three weeks of the regular season.
“It’s a big win anytime you beat Des Arc,” Waymire said. “It keeps us in the hunt for a showdown with Hazen in week 10. One thing it did was it secured a home date for the playoffs. We don’t want next week (against Hughes) to be our last at Fred Hardke Field, we want to play as many at home as we can.”
Being senior laden has served the Bison well this season, and Waymire has also been pleased with the development of some of his younger players. Junior quarterback Chris Hart was invaluable against Des Arc with three touchdown passes.
Austin Reed and running backs Bo Weddle and Deron Ricks are underclassmen who have also been contributors. Waymire has been pleased with several sophomores on special teams, including Jordan Sheets.
Being unbeaten through seven weeks has put the Bison at the top of the Class 2A rankings, and it keeps their preseason goal of going through the regular season unbeaten alive.
“That’s one of the goals we wanted as a team,” Waymire said. “We’ve faced some tough competition, but we’ve got some breaks, and we’ve played well. This senior class has been devoted to that goal of finishing the regular season undefeated, but we’ve got two Top 10 teams coming up, so it’s going to be real tough.
