Isaac Gregory was almost matter-of-fact when asked about his big game on Friday night.
"It was fun to go out and score that many times," Gregory said. "We played great."
Fun as in record-breaking.
Gregory ran 21 times for 249 yards and a Fort Smith Southside-record five rushing touchdowns, and naturally deflected the credit to his offensive line which was blowing open some big holes in the 45-19 win over Rogers Heritage.
"My gosh, those guys, I couldn't do anything without them," Gregory said. "They trust me, and I trust them with my life. They're big, too."
Like any good running back, too, the rewards are on the way for those guys up front.
"We're getting them donuts and pizza for how good they did," Gregory said. "We also broke 1,000 yards, so it's great."
Gregory scored on runs of 1, 15, 5, 79 and 18 yards. The 79-yard run in the third quarter really cinched the win for the Mavericks.
"That was the first long one that I've broken this year," Gregory said. "It was tiring. It was still fun."
Gregory, a junior, played running back exclusively in junior high but played more receiver last year with almost as many receptions as carries and with Amari Tucker picking up most of the carries at running back.
Then, in the pregame warmup against Northside in the season opener, Tucker suffered a season-ending knee injury. That thrust Gregory into the role as feature running back from slot receiver.
"That was really unfortunate but I've played running back before until high school," Gregory said. "It wasn't anything new, I was just getting back into it."
Friday's game also put Gregory over the 1,000-yard mark for the season with 1,134 yards and 15 touchdowns.
Behind a surging offensive line, Southside on Friday pounded out 377 rushing yards, the most since 397 against Little Rock Central in a 52-21 win in 2017.
Being proficient in math, and planning on majoring in engineering in college, senior offensive lineman Ryan Eckelhoff definitely understood those statistics from Friday night.
"I'm real big on math," Eckelhoff said. "I like numbers."
Eckelhoff has worked his way into playing time on the offensive line, and enjoyed watching Gregory go for the school record on Friday night.
"It's the best feeling," Eckelhoff said. "It means the offensive line did good up front and that you got a few pancakes. There were high fives going all around."
Eckelhoff has seen more playing time with the addition of a tight end in certain situations and with Southside transitioning more to the run.
"It doesn't change much for me," Eckelhoff said. "I might go out for a pass occasionally, but blocking is blocking."
Junior quarterback George Herrell also rushed for a score on Friday, giving Southside six rushing touchdowns.
"It was definitely one of the best games we've played," Eckelhoff said.
Southside heads to Springdale Har-Ber on Friday and then Bentonville West before closing the regular season at home against Springdale.
"We have to eliminate the little mistakes," Eckelhoff said. "Up front, we have to put people on the ground."
BOONEVILLE
Electric Avenue
Technically, Booneville's Doug Scheel Field at Bearcat Stadium is located at 945 North Plum Street.
Friday night, it will be Electric Avenue as the Bearcats host not only senior night but also the biggest game of the season in Class 3A.
It's a game that's been highlighted on both team's schedules since the summer.
"It's a game you try not to think about but you know it's there," Booneville coach Doc Crowley said. "You schedule nonconference games to try to get ready for this game. I'm sure Charleston has done the same with tough nonconference teams. It will be a battle on Friday night. It should be an electric crowd on Friday. It will be fun."
In addition, Booneville will celebrate senior night with the Bearcats finishing the regular season with two-straight road games.
"We've got 15 seniors on our roster and it's the last guaranteed home game for those guys," Crowley said. "They know that. They've played a lot of games on this field, and hopefully we can get a couple of more come playoff time. You couldn't ask for a better atmosphere and a better situation playing for a conference championship with two good football teams laying it all out there."|
Booneville and Charleston are undefeated in the 3A-1. Friday's winner will have the inside track on the conference championship and the top seed in the Class 3A playoffs.
Charleston head coach Ricky May knows all about Friday nights in Booneville since he played for the Bearcats.
"It's going to a crazy place," Charleston coach Ricky May said. "We're tickled to be where we are. Obviously, this is a big game for the conference championship. That part of it is really neat."
It will be the second time for May to take a team back home to his alma mater in addition to 2016 when he coached at Waldron.
"I've been on both sides of it and seen it," May said. "Our kids haven't seen it. That will be a big thing. I've told them that. It will be a playoff atmosphere like they haven't been in for awhile."
Booneville's rushing attack is one of the best in the state spearheaded by Dax Goff, who has rushed for 1,348 yards and 17 touchdowns.
Charleston's offense is centered around quarterback Brandon Scott, a three-year starter who has thrown for 52 touchdowns in his career and rushed for 28.
"They're quarterback is as good as we'll see," Crowley said. "He's a great player. He makes a lot of big plays and a lot of great throws. He can hurt you with his legs, too. He will be hard to contain."
Both teams warmed up for Friday's game with dominating performances last week; Booneville with a 35-0 win over Mansfield and Charleston with a 57-0 win over Hackett.
Booneville allowed just 117 yards and nine first downs against Mansfield. Charleston had three sacks and five interceptions last week, returning two for touchdowns, against Hackett.
ALMA
Big game
The Airedales will host Prairie Grove on Friday in the biggest game of their year.
"I don't think there's any doubt," Alma coach Rusty Bush said. "This place will be electric. It's senior night and it's a huge, huge game. It's the biggest game we've played in all year. People around say the Van Buren game was the most people, but this is different. The weather is cooler, there's playoff implications, the end of the season, that's a bigger deal. Rivalry games are important, but this is why we play the game."
Prairie Grove is in its first year in the 5A-West after being elevated in classification and is in position to earning a playoff berth.
"Two high school teams going nose to nose having great seasons that have playoffs written all over it," Bush said. "There's not a better atmosphere than that."
Prairie Grove's Wing-T offense has thrived on big plays this season especially in a 46-40 upset of Harrison two weeks ago.
"They've beaten some really good teams," Bush said. "They've got some speed. As far as explosive numbers, 20-plus yards on a snap, they compare to the Shiloh Christians of the world that are so explosive with the forward pass. They are explosive in the Wing-T. They're taking 20, 25, 80 yard runs and just demoralizing the defense. A lot of people think of the Wing-T as three yards and a cloud of dust, but they're not that."
Running back Ethan Miller ran for 288 yards and touchdowns of 64, 44 and 83 yards. Camden Patterson threw a game-winning 68-yard touchdown pass to Matthew Velasco with 14 seconds left on a flea-flicker. Prairie Grove blocked a 23-yard field goal attempt and then went 96 yards in four plays to win the game.
In a 30-6 win over Clarksville, Connor Hubbs had a 40-yard touchdown run.
In a 48-31 win over Pea Ridge, Hubbs returned a kickoff 83 yards for a touchdown and had scoring runs of 25 and 47 yards.
"They're really, really good offensively," Bush said. "They run the Wing-T, and they're perfectionists at it. They've got an answer for everything you do defensively. No. 1, you have to do a great coaching job. No. 2, the kids have to play extremely hard to be able to stay on the field with them."
OZARK
From frying pan
Ozark swatted away one threat as a contender in the 4A-1 and now faces another.
The Hillbillies dispatched of Gentry, which entered the game defeated last week, and now face Elkins, who is tied atop the conference standings with Ozark.
"It's another big one this week," Ozark coach Jeremie Burns said. "They're really good. We went right back to work on them."
While Gentry was focused around quarterback Chris Bell, Elkins has a 1-2 punch that rivals Ozark quarterback Landon Wright and running back Eli Masingale as the best in the conference with quarterback Slade Dean, the move-in from Greenwood, and running back Da'Shawn Chairs.
Dean has completed 116-of-168 passes for 1,524 yards and 22 touchdowns against just four interceptions. Chairs has rushed just 89 times but for 933 yards and 15 touchdowns.
"They're really good," Burns said. "They've got some weapons and some good personnel on the offensive and defensive lines. They've played well all year long. It will be a big challenge for defense."
Wright has thrown for 866 yards and 11 touchdowns and run for 758 yards and 12 scores. Masingale has rushed for 717 yards and 11 touchdowns.
Ozark is coming off consecutive 60-point outings with last week's 63-34 win over Gentry and a 64-21 win over Lincoln the week before.
Both of those games were at home, though, and now the Hillbillies must go on the road for the biggest game of the year.
"It's always different on away games," Burns said. "You've got to get stuff ready to travel on the bus."
NORTHSIDE
Crucial game
The Grizzlies host their biggest game of the year thus far, too, on Friday night when North Little Rock visits Mayo-Thompson Stadium.
The two teams are behind the big three of Bryant, Cabot and Conway, who are running away from the rest of the pack in the 7A-Central.
North Little Rock sits one game ahead of Northside in the conference standings. The fourth-place team will host a first-round playoff game while the fifth-place team must play on the road in the opening round.
North Little Rock is led by quarterback Malachi Gober and running back Torrance Moore.
North Little Rock has won all six meetings between the two teams as members of the 7A-Central. The Charging Wildcats also won playoff games against Northside in 2017, 2015 and 2014.