MAVS NEED WIN OVER ROCKETS TO EXTEND SEASON

Coaches Jeff Williams of Southside and John Fogleman of Catholic can disagree about the color of the sky, or anything for that matter. But the two veteran coaches agree they know a lot about each other’s football teams. “We worked together one year at El Dorado,” Williams said. “He also coached at Bentonville. John does a good job.” Catholic (5-2, 3-1) needs to win one of hits final three games to clinch its first six-win season since 2011. The Rockets haven’t won seven or more games since posting an 8-4 record in 1991. Catholic rolled over North Little Rock last week, 41-21. “It didn’t surprise me,” Williams said. “John does a good job and that’s a little bit of a rivalry game for them. They’ve got it rolling right now.” The Mavericks (1-6, 0-4) have an unofficial playoff date with Fogleman’s Rockets today at Jim Rowland Stadium. Williams’ crew is in dire need of a victory. “We need a a good start,” the Mavericks’ coach said. “We’ve got to take care of the football. At the same time, we can’t have any turnovers, either.” Rockets’ quarterback Jordan Edington has completed just over half of his 153 pass attempts. But he’s made good use of those who’ve caught the ball. Edington has passed for 1,127 yards and a dozen touchdowns. “He played a little bit last year,” Williams said. “This year they’re (Catholic) spreading the ball out. He’s (Edington) a big kid; you have to get your hands on him to bring him down. He’s almost like having a running back out there, too.” The Mavericks have scuffled offensively, averaging just 8.7 points a game in four 7A-Central losses to Conway, Cabot, NLR and Bryant. The team has been shut out twice. “We’ve got to be able to move the ball and have some success,” Williams said. Quarterback Parker Wehunt has completed just 51 percent of his passes while throwing for 842 yards and nine touchdowns. Jay Washington’s been unable to get on track as well, averaging just 3.72 yards per carry. Through seven games, Washington has 394 yards and just four touchdowns. Defensively, the Mavericks allowed five Austin Ledbetter touchdown passes in last week’s loss to No. 1 Bryant.

MAVS NEED WIN OVER ROCKETS TO EXTEND SEASON

KEVIN TAYLOR

Times Record | 10/25/2019

PHOTO CREDIT: Fort Smith Southside High School Athletics