MAVS CLINGING TO PLAYOFF HOPES WHEN NLR VISITS

The Southside Mavericks know they’re two or three plays away from being in a first place tie with Bryant and North Little Rock. The Mavericks will be battling for their playoff lives today when North Little Rock pays a visit to Rowland Stadium. The Mavericks (1-4, 0-2) have scored 50, 47 and 41 points in consecutive games but are 0-2 in the 7A-Central. The unbeaten Charging Wildcats (5-0, 2-0) have won their last three games by an average margin of 10 points. “We’ve got to play a little bitter and when we get stops we have to go score,” Southside coach Jeff Williams said. “We’ve been playing pretty well. It’s just one or two plays that have hurt in each (conference) game.” “They’re certainly capable, and they’re a play or two away from beating two of the better teams in the state,” North Little Rock coach Jamie Mitchell said. “They are very, very talented offensively.” The Mavericks and Charging Wildcats met twice during two memorable playoff games in 2006 and ’09, both at NLR. This is North Little Rock’s first trey to Rowland Stadium since shutting out the Mavericks, 35-0, in the first round of the 2003 state playoffs. North Little Rock quarterback David Chapple isn’t going to spread it out. In fact, he’s passed for just 523 yards through five games, with Deontae Montgomery snagging a team-high 10 passes for 184 yards and two touchdowns. On paper, today’s match-up doesn’t favor the Mavericks, who allowed 528 rushing yards on 49 attempts in last week’s 43-41 loss to Cabot. Charging Wildcats sophomore Brandon Thomas is on his way toward a big career having already rushed for 501 yards and five touchdowns. “Offensively, they have a really good offensive line and some good backs,” Williams said. “They have a very athletic quarterback.” Thomas, who is averaging 7.3 yards per carry, is coming off three straight 100-yard efforts. Junior Oscar Adaway has rushed for 371 yards and a team-high four touchdowns. Both NLR and Southside have relatively young offenses. In fact, the Charging Wildcats are young on both sides of the ball. “Every year is different,” Mitchell said. “This year we have a young football team. We have only three or four seniors playing offensively, and defensively we’re kinda the same boat. We just hope these kids will continue to develop and improve, and so far we’ve found ways to win.” Quarterback Taye Gatewood is putting up numbers unlike anything Williams has experienced as the team’s coach since taking over in 2005. In last week’s loss to Cabot, Gatewood accounted for 552 of the team’s 597 yards, including 183 yards rushing. “He’s obviously a very talented kid,” Mitchell said. “He does both well running and throwing the ball. You think he’s going to run, and he’ll throw it.”

MAVS CLINGING TO PLAYOFF HOPES WHEN NLR VISITS

KEVIN TAYLOR

Times Record | 10/6/2017

PHOTO CREDIT: Jamie Mitchell