Backyard Brawl

THREE RIVERS AREA — For the past three years, the football rivalry between Cabot and Jacksonville has been one-sided.

Cabot has beaten its neighbors for three straight years, but don't think the Panthers' coach, Mike Malham, is letting that go to his head.

"Of course, we'd like to keep this trophy here in Cabot," Malham said Monday at a press conference at First Arkansas Bank and Trust in Cabot, "but we know it'll be a [tough] game."

In 2005, the Red Devils showed what they could do against a relatively young Cabot squad. That was the last time the two teams were part of the same classification (the AAAAA). Jacksonville won that game 28-17, setting the tone for the rest of Cabot's season. The Panthers only won one game that entire year, but the program has since bounced back.

The game will be held Tuesday at Cabot's Panther Stadium and will be televised across the state on KARK. Monday's press conference was a celebration of two towns that love their high schools and love high school sports, especially football.

"These are two storied programs," said Pat Hagge, senior vice president at First Arkansas Bank and Trust.

Hagge introduced the two towns' mayors and the programs' head coaches, Malham and Jacksonville coach Mark Whatley. Malham said his involvement in the Backyard Brawl - the name given to the rivalry - spans 30 years and both schools.

"My first Cabot/Jacksonville game, Mark Whatley was a senior and I was a little ol' assistant coach [for Jacksonville]," Malham said.

Both coaches talked about how the rivalry evolved over the years and how during the 1990s, when the schools often played each other as the last game of the season, the rivalry had an added component of competition.

"It always came down to that game for all the marbles," Malham said.

These days the game is more about community pride than deciding playoff positions, and the fans haven't lost any sense of competitive spirit.

"If you want to come, you better come early because there's going to be about 5,000 people," Cabot Mayor Eddie Joe Williams said. "That speaks volumes about these communities."

One family that will be sure to be at the game is Jay and Sue Ann Whisker. The Whiskers live in Jacksonville, where Jay works as the city engineer. Sue Ann teaches at Cabot High School, and their two sons, Jack and Nick, attend Cabot schools. Each year at the football game, "we are a family divided," Jay said.

"I go to one side of the stadium, and she goes to the other side," Jay said. "There's no animosity, no taunting."

Jay said that in years past, he usually got one of his sons to accompany him to the Jacksonville side of the stadium while the other went with Sue Ann.

"Now with both of them being older, they'll probably head over to the Cabot side with her," Jay said.

Williams and Jacksonville Mayor Gary Fletcher will get in on the competition with a friendly wager. Fletcher said he challenged Williams to a punt, pass and kick contest with the loser having to pick up trash along a street in the winning mayor's city.

"We revised it, though," Williams said. "The winner of the punt, pass and kick also has to have their team win the game. If one of us wins that but our team doesn't win, the bet is off."

Williams said he wasn't sure when the punt, pass and kick contest would take place, but Hagge said it would make sense to have it during halftime of the football game.

As for the game itself, Cabot is favored, though Whatley said he's confident that his team can put up a fight.

The Panthers cruised to a 41-15 win at Jacksonville's Jan Crow Stadium last year, and the last time the Red Devils came to town, the Panthers shut them out 42-0. The size of the challenge is not lost on Whatley.

"Of course, when you play Cabot, you have to play almost that perfect ballgame," Whatley said.

The coach said his team still has a lot of questions on offense but he likes what he's seen so far from his defensive unit.

"Our defense is really com ing on, flying to the football," he said.

Malham knows there are a lot of expectations of his team this year with a small group of highly talented seniors. But there are plenty of young players who will have to step up if they want to extend their winning streak over Jacksonville to four games.

"We've got nine new faces on offense," Malham said. "I don't care how good you are, that can be tough. ... You get more comfortable the more you [play], but until you get out there under those lights, you just don't know." - jlemaster@arkansasonline.com