Beavers embracing challenge

Quarterback Collin Hunter (12) and top-ranked Glen Rose have won 12 consecutive games since a 31-28 season-opening loss to Class 4A Malvern.

Quarterback Collin Hunter (12) and top-ranked Glen Rose have won 12 consecutive games since a 31-28 season-opening loss to Class 4A Malvern.

Thursday, November 29, 2012

— Glen Rose Coach Mark Kehner has been itching to face another opponent from the 6-3A, the most top-heavy Class 3A conference in the state this fall.

Kehner will get that chance Friday night when Glen Rose, top-ranked in Class 3A, hosts Prescott, No. 3 in Class 3A, in a semifinal playoff game.

“This is what we wanted,” Kehner said. “We want to see how we stack up against them.”

Glen Rose (12-1) has won 12 consecutive games since a 31-28 season-opening loss to Class 4A Malvern, a team Kehner said resembles Prescott’s speed-rich roster

“They’ve got it all over the place,” Kehner said. “They can fly. They want to get you in space. There’s not a lot we can do about that, so we just have to make sure we do a good job containing them.”

Glen Rose advanced with a 31-28 victory over defending Class 3A champion Charleston last week.

Prescott (11-2) beat Greenland 49-14 last week for its sixth consecutive victory.

Prescott had been in the same conference as Glen Rose (5-3A) in the 2010-2012 cycle before moving to the 6-3A, where it joined McGehee, Camden Harmony Grove, Fordyce and Smackover to form a superconference. All five schools 6-3A schools were ranked at one point during the regular season.

“We’ve really played together the last five or six weeks,” Curley Wolves Coach Tommy Poole said. “That’s made all the difference in the world.”

Both teams average more than 400 total yards per game, have a 2,000-yard passer and a 1,000-yard rusher.

“Glen Rose is wellcoached,” Poole said. “Offensively, they’re big and strong and can pound on you, but they’re balanced.”

The teams split conference meetings the past two years. Glen Rose beat Prescott 40-34 en route to the 5-3A championship, and a perfect regular season, in 2010. Prescott won at Glen Rose 20-7 last season to complete a perfect regular season and claim the conference championship.

Poole said senior tight end Donald Lollis (sprained ankle) has been slowed in practice this week.

Robert Yates’ selections

SELECTIONS IN BOLD

FRIDAY

CLASS 5A FINAL 7 P.M., WAR MEMORIAL STADIUM, LITTLE ROCK Batesville vs. Camden Fairview CLASS 4A SEMIFINALS Ozark at Highland Prairie Grove at Stuttgart CLASS 3A SEMIFINALS Prescott at Glen Rose Fountain Lake at Harding Academy CLASS 2A SEMIFINALS Mineral Springs at Bearden Walnut Ridge at Junction City

SATURDAY

CLASS 6A FINAL NOON, WAR MEMORIAL STADIUM, LITTLE ROCK Pine Bluff vs. Greenwood CLASS 7A FINAL 6:30 P.M., WAR MEMORIAL STADIUM, LITTLE ROCK Fayetteville vs. Bentonville

NOTE Semifinal games begin at 7 p.m. Camden Fairview, Greenwood and Bentonville are designated home teams and their fans are asked to sit on the west side of War Memorial Stadium.

At a glance

PRESCOTT VS. GLEN ROSE

WHAT Class 3A semifinals WHEN 7 p.m. Friday WHERE Beaver Stadium, Glen Rose RECORDS Prescott 11-2; Glen Rose 12-1 RANKINGS Prescott is No. 3 in Class 3A; Glen Rose is No. 1 in Class 3A SEEDS Prescott is No. 2 from the 6-3A; Glen Rose is No. 1 from the 5-3A

Sports, Pages 25 on 11/29/2012