Ramay faces improving, winless Heritage

— Ramay notched its first win last Thursday night, defeating Springdale Southwest 14-6 to get back to .500 in Northwest Arkansas Conference play.

Now the Indians look to continue the winning trend when they entertain Rogers Heritage tonight in the second game of a three-game home stand at Harmon Field at 7:30.

"When you get a win on your record, you get some momentum going in yourseason," Ramay head coach Craig Foringer said. "You gain some confidence, and that's what we did against Southwest."

It's a confidence that will need to be sustained with Heritage visiting this evening.

Even though the War Eagles still haven't postedtheir first victory, they are still just as hungry, especially after a narrow 28-21 defeat to Bentonville Black last week.

"From what we've seen on film, Heritage is a team that's better than what their record indicates," Foringer said. "They play extremely hard, and they're a few plays here or there from having a few wins on their schedule."

That being said, Ramay will have its work cut out for itself with Heritagechomping at the bit to earn its initial triumph at the expense of the Indians.

"We'll have our hands full," Foringer said. "We'll have to match their effort [tonight] in order to win the ballgame."

Ramay (1-2, 1-1 NWAC) isn't looking to change its philosophy, though, instead sticking with what has gotten the team to this point.

"Offensively, we want to try and continue to do the same things," Foringer said. "Defensively, we're getting a little better. We definitely want to take a step forward every week and go from there."

After allowing 28 and 26 points to Woodland and Bentonville Gold, respectively, the Indians held Southwest to six last Thursday. Another strong defensive output will be critical versus Heritage.

Eighth grader Brayden Cook, meanwhile, has performed admirably in the role of quarterback so far this season.

His execution of the offense has rubbed off on the rest of the Indians.

"He had a good game for us [against Southwest]," Foringer said. "He had a lot of poise and commands the huddle. The kids believe in him. Iwas very pleased with his effort."

The receiving corps has also stepped up offensively for Ramay, running precise routes while also blocking for the Indians' running backs.

"Joey Brown, Trey Branch, those guys have been blocking well all year long," Foringer said. "They know that's their job. It creates extra yards and sometimes those blocks create touchdowns. They've been doing an outstanding job and so has the offensive line, and we continue to look for good things out of them."

Sports, Pages 7, 8 on 09/24/2009

Upcoming Events