Wildcats, Cyclones Ready For Playoff Clash

By Nathan Allen

Posted: November 20, 2009 at 4:50 a.m.

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SPRINGDALE — Springdale Har-Ber coach Chris Wood doesn’t think his team will have any rust tonight when it hosts Russellville in the second round of the Class 7A playoffs.

Although it’s been two weeks since the Wildcats last played a game, Wood said his players have remained focused throughout every practice and should be ready when the game starts at 7:30 p.m. in Jarrell Williams Bulldog Stadium.

“This is the playoffs, we can’t afford to have any rust,” Wood said. “If we have any rust, there’s a chance we won’t win the game. We’ve tried to tell our guys they have to play with a sense of urgency because if they don’t, our season will be done.”

For Har-Ber, tonight’s game is step one toward its ultimate goal of winning the school’s first state championship. The Wildcats lost to Fayetteville in the title game in 2007 and got beat by Fort Smith Southside in the semifinals last year.

All season, Har-Ber’s players have felt they have a good shot to go back to Little Rock for the title game.

“That’s what it’s all about. That’s been our goal since day one,” senior running back Tre Tyler said. “We can’t look ahead. We’re just taking it game by game, but if we keep playing well, I think we’re good enough to go back to Little Rock.”

This season, Har-Ber won nine games, with its only loss being two weeks ago at Bentonville. During that game, Wildcats defensive back Houston Pruitt and defensive lineman Eric Pearce suffered concussions.

Wood said thanks to last week’s first-round bye, his team got some needed rest to gear up for tonight’s game. While both Pruitt and Pearce will be back this week, the Wildcats are also getting back senior receiver Josh McKinney and Tyler, who both missed most of the season because of various injuries.

“We needed that. We had some guys banged up, and they needed that week off,” Wood said. “We had a light week and were able to really work on some fundamental things.”

Russellville, which beat Springdale High 27-26 in the first round, features quarterback Barrett Hughes and running back Jacob Sparks to lead the offense. Against the Red’Dogs, both players combined for 311 yards of total offense.

“We’re playing with confidence, but if we want to beat a team like Har-Ber, we’ve got to play well,” Cyclones coach Jeff Holt said. “I wasn’t happy with the way we started our game against Springdale, so we can’t do that against Har-Ber or we’ll get so far behind, we can’t catch up.

“We’ve got to limit their big plays and find some ways to get a couple big stops, that’s really the bottom line.”

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