Booneville fans will long remember the interception by Cam Brasher that saved the Bearcats’ 34-31 win over Prescott last week.
They’ll remember the play a lot longer should the Bearcats go on to win the state championship.
Booneville will get that chance beginning Saturday at noon when the Bearcats (14-0) meet Osceola (13-1) for the Class 3A state championship at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock. Booneville last won a state championship in 2013 while Osceola appeared in consecutive state championship games in 1997 and 1998, winning the first game by one point over McGehee (28-27) and losing the second by two points to Alma (14-12).
Brasher had to be the most popular student walking the hallways at Booneville this week after his interception near his own goal line with eight seconds left preserved the victory over Prescott, an impressive team with a dynamic quarterback. But everyone who took the field that night for Booneville contributed, including Andrew Robertson, who loosened up the Prescott defense with tough runs to the outside.
The football program at Osceola is on the upswing again under coach Robert Hooks, a former Fort Smith Northside assistant who is 24-4 in two seasons with the Seminoles. Osceola has won 11 consecutive since a 16-14 defeat to rival Rivercrest in Week 3.
Osceola will attempt to counter Booneville’s rushing attack with a balanced offense led by sophomore quarterback Kam Turner, who accounted for 400 yards (266 passing, 134 rushing) in last week’s 37-28 victory over previously unbeaten Rison. Turner’s favorite target is junior Greg Hooks, who has 812 receiving yards on the season and averages nearly 20 yards per catch. Junior Trayveon Moore is also a reliable receiver with 37 catches on the season.
Prescott had success throwing the football against Booneville last week, and the Bearcats’ secondary will likely be tested even more on Saturday against the Seminoles. Booneville, as usual, will pound the middle with Carson Ray and dare the Seminoles to stop them.
War Memorial Stadium is a centralized location for two schools separated by over 260 miles on opposite sides of the state. Will it be the Seminoles, whose school sits just yards from the Mississippi River, or the Bearcats from the Arkansas River Valley holding the hardware late Saturday afternoon.
Osceola is very good, but no one has stopped the Bearcats yet.
RICK’S PICK Booneville
LAST WEEK 2-0 (100 percent)
OVERALL 235-59 (80 percent)
Rick Fires can be reached at rfires@ nwadg.com or on Twitter @NWARick.