RIVER VALLEY REPORT: No time to enjoy No. 200 for Northside's Falleur

FORT SMITH -- Mike Falleur won his 200th game as a head coach with relative ease on Friday night with the Fort Smith Northside's 42-0 win over Little Rock Catholic at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock.

Unfortunately, in the middle of the season with a daunting three-game stretch of 7A-Central conference games coming up, he didn't get to enjoy it much.

"I knew it was getting close," Falleur said. "I've had good players and good times so the fact that I got there is good, but we've got to get ready for Conway."

On Friday, Northside hosts Conway, ranked No. 2 in the state and coming off a 57-21 dismantling of Cabot. Then the Grizzlies travel to North Little Rock before they return to Mayo-Thompson to host Cabot. It's a three-game stretch that will determine Northside's placement in the Class 7A playoff bracket.

Falleur, a 1980 Northside graduate, returned home when he was named the Grizzlies' head coach in December, 2012 after spending 26 years as a coach in Georgia, which included 21 years as a head coach at four different schools.

Falleur was hired by athletic director Jim Rowland and is the fifth longest tenured coach of the Grizzlies.

PARIS BURST

The Eagles were forced to play four quarters for the first time this season in a tough 24-14 win over Baptist Prep on Friday.

"We knew going in that there was a good chance it would," Paris coach Jeff Weaver said. "They were a tough matchup for us, but we played pretty well."

Paris held a 24-0 lead midway of the third quarter and put it on cruise control from there.

"Played it very conservatively from that point on," Weaver said. "Our guys were running on fumes late in the game. It was the first time we had to play four quarters. We were in control, but it was a hard-fought game."

Paris had recorded five mercy-rule victories in the first half of the regular season. Even though the Eagles didn't score 35 points in a 34-6 win over Johnson County Westside, the continuously running clock was initiated before the end of the first quarter at the agreement of both coaches.

"Our quarterback before Friday had played eight quarters of football," Weaver said. "It's hard to get your legs under you and get focused all the way through."

The last half of the regular season won't be that way.

"We knew weeks six, seven, and eight were going to be tough tests," Weaver said. "If we can pass those tests, we know that it sets us up for a big one week nine with Booneville, who obviously is very, very good."

Paris held Baptist Prep to 222 yards on 59 plays on Friday. Nate Henderson had 11 tackles. Beau Baine and Cooper Haley intercepted passes.

Offensively, Duke Walker ran for 122 yards and two scores. Chase Watts threw for a score and ran for a touchdown.

Paris host Atkins and quarterback Zach Berkemeyer, who has taken up where he left off last season. Berkemeyer has thrown for 1,501 yards and 17 touchdowns versus only three interceptions.

PASSING FANCY

Southside is passing like never before.

David Sorg and George Herrell combined to throw a single-game school record 61 passes on Friday night in the 47-17 loss to Fayetteville.

Southside was already passing the ball at a record rate before Friday's record performance.

The Mavericks have attempted 275 passes this season, accounting for 69 percent of their offensive plays.

The last time Southside threw this much was the opening two games in 1999 under coach Barry Lunney when Josh Driscoll was 26-of-57 passing for 221 yards in the season opening 27-3 loss to El Dorado and 28-of-57 passing for 261 yards and two scores in a 27-14 loss the next week at Marshall, Texas.

"For us at that time, we had a very young running back," Driscoll said. "He was still learning our system and what we do. During the offseason, coach Lunney came to us and said this is who we are, we've got four or five wideouts that can run routes and five offensive linemen coming back, that we can control people up front so let's spread the offense out and throw the ball up and down the field." Driscoll is currently an assistant coach at Alma.

"I had a bunch of guys that I could trust that I knew by working with them in the summertime doing one on ones with them," Driscoll said. "I could throw the ball before they would even break and I just knew where they were going to be. It's a great opportunity to have guys like that who are willing to work hard and knew the game and knew the system."

Richard Bracken led the team in receiving yards that season with 615 yards on 40 catches. Scott Strom had 42 catches for 593 yards and a team-high four touchdowns. Bobby Don Meek had 32 receptions for 276 yards, and Aaron Bell caught 26 passes for 220 yards.

"We were kind of leading the way at the time, the air attack," said Bracken, who's currently an assistant coach at Northside. "We knew we were going to throw it a lot. We got pretty good at it. It makes it extremely exciting when you're going to get a chance at the football that many times. You know receivers, they want it all the time. That's like a kid on Christmas morning."

Southside takes it current air attack to Rogers Heritage on Friday.

HOUSTON, BULLDOGS BACK

Junior quarterback Hunter Houston returned to the field on Friday and guided the Bulldogs to a 54-17 win over Siloam Springs.

Greenwood mounted a 540-yard attack again balanced with 340 yards rushing and six touchdowns while Houston completed 17-of-27 passes for 200 yards and a 33-yard scoring toss to Aiden Kennon.

Jake Glover earned River Valley Player of the Week honors with 22 carries for 209 yards and touchdown runs of 23, 54, 1 and 3 yards.

Greenwood travels to Russellville on Friday.

OZARK READY TO PLAY AGAIN

The Hillbillies were idle on Friday night and return home to face Mena.

When Subiaco Academy went to 8-man football last season, it left a void in the schedule for all the 4A-4 teams.

Ozark was off to a great start in the conference with mercy-rule wins over Dardanelle and Dover.

In Ozark's 55-24 win over Dover, running back Eli Masengale had just four carries but for 200 yards and touchdowns of 75, 18, and 67 yards.

HORNETS BUZZING

Hackett has put itself in a good position in the 3A-1.

The Hornets won at Cedarville on Friday, 20-12, to stay a game behind Charleston in the standings.

Hackett managed just 238 yards of offense with Peyton Hester catching a touchdown pass from Ethan Slavens, and Cole Ketchum and Cogan Hester adding touchdown runs.

Although the standings are jumbled and will likely stay that way in the competitive conference, Hackett has the luxury of playing three of its final four games at Bill Mills Field.

Hackett hosts league-leading Charleston on Friday.