Episcopal Collegiate Coach Richie Marsh compared his team's playoff experience to a college football team's bowl game practices.
The Wildcats (8-2) have reached the Class 3A semifinals the past two seasons, playing eight postseason games during that span. It's no small feat for the Little Rock private school, Marsh said.
"Having those extra practices are huge," Marsh said. "It's an extra season of practice for a lot of our guys. It's big from a development standpoint."
Senior running back Kelvin Robinson rushed for 232 yards and 5 touchdowns on 21 carries in the Wildcats' 62-29 victory at Bald Knob last Friday. In 10 games this season, Robinson has rushed for 1,679 yards and 26 touchdowns on 145 carries.
"He's a smart kid who picks up on things quickly," Marsh said. "We were joking around last week, his stiff-arm rating on Madden is 99.
"He's a fun player to watch."
Episcopal Collegiate piled up 560 yards of total offense last Friday. Senior wide receiver Allie Freeman caught 6 passes for 94 yards and 1 touchdown and also returned an interception 37 yards for another score. Freeman has scored 16 touchdowns this season for the Wildcats.
Jacob Howard, a sophomore, completed 15 of 23 passes for 309 yards with 4 touchdowns and 1 interception.
"And that interception was on me, to be honest," Marsh said. "I wish there was an asterisk next to it."
Marsh said Howard's maturity has been impressive to watch.
"He takes his bumps in strides," Marsh said of Howard, who has thrown 25 touchdown passes this season. "He handles his failures like a baseball player. When he strikes out, he rolls it off his back. He gets ready for the next series, the next play."
Episcopal Collegiate travels to eastern Arkansas on Friday to face Rivercrest at Wilson. The Colts (8-3) won the 3-3A Conference championship and shut out Cedarville 43-0 last Friday.
Rivercrest senior Cecil Langston has rushed for 2,321 yards and 25 touchdowns on 225 carries and is the school's all-time leading rusher with 5,365 yards.
"He's explosive," Marsh said. "You give him a tiny window and he's going to go."
MAGNET COVE
Back on track
Magnet Cove played its best game of the season last Friday night at Earle in the first round of the Class 2A playoffs.
The Panthers, who lost their first five games this season, forced five turnovers in a 43-36 victory over the Bulldogs.
Three of the turnovers came on Earle's first three series, which led to a 21-0 Magnet Cove lead.
Junior running back Zach Dunlap led the Panthers offensively, rushing for 147 yards and 2 touchdowns on 34 carries. He also caught four passes for 42 yards, with three catches going for first downs. It was Dunlap's first game back after missing the previous three weeks with an ankle injury.
Senior quarterback Harrison Wade completed 16 of 30 passes for 207 yards and 3 touchdowns, while classmate Jay Kelley caught 5 passes for 80 yards and 2 touchdowns. Gavin Porter, a junior, added 3 catches for 55 yards and 1 touchdown.
"That was the team we expected to see all year," Panthers Coach Ronnie Efird said.
Magnet Cove (5-6) will travel to Des Arc (10-1) on Friday night. The Eagles are led by senior running backs Daylon Conway (1,117 yards, 11 touchdowns) and Colt Covington (690 yards, 9 touchdowns).
"Des Arc has some great athletes," Efird said. "They're huge on the offensive and defensive lines. They've got some weapons. We have to stop the big play."
Efird said the key for his team to win Friday night is similar to their game plan against earle.
"We need some turnovers," Efird said. "We have to control the ball and keep it out of their hands."
LAFAYETTE COUNTY
Mount Ida again
Lafayette County senior running back Tre'Darius Burks passed former Malvern star Madre Hill for seventh place on the state's all-time leading rushing list last Friday.
Burks rushed for 213 yards and 3 touchdowns on 21 carries in the Cougars' 55-26 victory over Strong in a Class 2A first-round game. He has 6,019 career yards, 42 yards behind Logan Best, who had 6,061 yards at McCrory in 2010-2012. Michael Dyer is the state's all-time leading rusher with 8,097 yards at Little Rock Christian in 2006-2009.
"It's phenomenal," Lafayette County Coach Bobby Clark said. "It's a great accomplishment. Teams have to pay attention to him."
Clark added that Burks has received recruiting interest from Central Arkansas and Harding, and has a visit scheduled for Memphis on Nov. 28.
The Cougars, the No. 3 seed from the 7-2A Conference, will travel to conference rival and league champion Mount Ida on Friday night. Mount Ida beat Lafayette County 48-40 in the teams' regular-season finale Nov. 5.
In the loss, Lafayette County allowed Mount Ida to convert 7 of 10 fourth-down plays, with three of the plays going for touchdowns.
"If we stopped half of that, we win that football game," Clark said. "But we know what they're going to do and they know what we're going to do. You do have a add a little bit of wrinkles."
While Clark admitted that he'd rather play somebody other than Mount Ida this early in the postseason, the Cougars believe they can knock off the undefeated Lions.
"We'll play them," Clark said. "We got a lot of confidence."
Sports on 11/18/2015