Little Rock Christian quarterback Walker White has heard all the talk.
Despite being 11 miles from one another, Little Rock Christian and Little Rock Catholic have never faced one another.
For White, and countless players on both teams who are friends off the field, Friday night's Class 6A playoff matchup is a game they've waited years to play.
"A lot of guys on our team had hoped to play Catholic just because we know it'd be a fun game," White said. "There is a lot of talk [happening] and at the end of the day, what the numbers say on the side of the scoreboard when the clock hits zero is the team who has bragging rights."
Players from both schools grew up together, go to church together and are friends off the field.
Catholic quarterback Sam Sanders said it is a game unlike any he's played before.
"I don't think I've ever played a team where I've known this many people," Sanders said. "It's going to be very different, especially playing in the playoffs. [But] one of us has got to go home."
Catholic (10-0) is coming off a bye week and the first undefeated regular season in school history.
Little Rock Christian (9-2) finished 6-2 and with the No. 4 seed in the top-heavy 6A-West.
Little Rock Christian Coach Eric Cohu said he's going to leave the off-the-field implications to his players.
"'I'm approaching it like every game that we play, especially every playoff game," Cohu said. "You have to play extremely well and efficient, good football or the season's over. ... My job is to get our team ready for whoever the opponent is and all the social aspects of things that are just not on my radar. It is an important game because it's a city team, these kids all know each other a lot and there's crossover and everything. But from my vantage point, it's who's going to execute the best and block and tackle."
Catholic Coach John Fogleman said he recalls a similar relationship between Little Rock schools during his time as a student at Little Rock Hall. Then it was Hall, Central, Parkview and McClellan. Now it's between Pulaski Academy, Catholic and Little Rock Christian.
Fogleman will have to contain White and the Little Rock Christian offense that scored the fourth-most points per game in 6A this season (41 ppg).
Cohu will try to be the first team to crack the code on Catholic's defense. The Rockets have held opponents to 14.5 points per game.
"I think Catholic executes at an extremely high level," Cohu said. "They're confident. They play extremely hard. They're a well-coached football team that we will have to play a really good game [to beat]."
Catholic's last state semifinal appearance came in 2005 with a 49-14 loss to Springdale.
Sanders said his dream has always been to practice on Thanksgiving Day. A win Friday night will assure that dream comes true.
"We haven't been to the semifinals in a very long time," Sanders said. "A lot of people want that. A lot of people want to see us play PA. Can't look forward to it. You got to focus on this Friday."
BENTON
Looking to get it right
Last year at this time, Benton's season was coming to a close. Coach Brad Harris said he is hoping that doesn't become a trend.
The Panthers were two weeks removed from a 9-1 regular season and coming off a first-round bye in the Class 6A playoffs.
But a second-half runaway by Marion in its 59-37 win brought an end to the Panthers' nine-game win streak.
Benton (8-2) is starting the playoffs in the second round for the fourth straight year. This time, the Panthers will face former conference foe Lake Hamilton, which is riding a seven-game win streak.
Opinions on how beneficial first-round byes can be are varied across the state. Harris said he's tinkered with his approach to the week over the years and is hoping he's found the best formula this time around.
"We've taken different approaches in different years," Harris said. "The great thing about it is you get a week to try to rest some guys and get some guys healed up from 10 weeks of football. The negative to it is you could come out with a little rust this week when you don't have that consistency of playing a football game.
"This is the first year that we actually kind of looked at an opponent. Typically we use it as a time to work on ourselves as much as anybody, but we went ahead and started looking at some of Lake Hamilton's stuff. With them being a Wing-T-oriented offense, you don't see it very often. So we got a few more reps at it this week."
Benton and Lake Hamilton shared a conference from 2000 to 2021. In those 21 meetings, Lake Hamilton won 13 times.
Benton and Lake Hamilton boast the two two rushing attacks in 6A -- although their paths to the top are vastly different.
Benton was the final landing spot for former Hot Springs Lakeside running back Braylen Russell -- a consensus 4-star prospect in the 2024 class.
In his first year in Saline County, Russell has led the Panthers with 1,341 yards and 21 touchdowns. He has been bolstered by the play of one of the state's top offensive lines, led by Arkansas State University commitment Walker Davis.
Lake Hamilton enters with a plethora of running backs, led by senior Justin Crutchmer, who have combined to rush for 2,745 yards and 39 touchdowns. Crutchmer is responsible for 1,043 yards and 17 touchdowns.
"We really like where we're at run-game wise," Harris said, "[Lake Hamilton Coach Tommy Gilleran] and them do a good job with their Wing-T. [The] run game tends to travel a little during the playoffs better than sometimes when you're a pass-oriented team."
GREENBRIER
Recruitment open for WR
Greenbrier's football season might be finished, but senior wide receiver Carter McElhany's college recruitment is just getting started.
McElhany committed to play football for the Air Force Academy on Aug. 2, less than a week after visiting its campus in Colorado Springs, Colo.
On Wednesday, McElhany decommitted from the Air Force and chose to reopen his recruitment.
McElhany said after thinking over the Air Force offer, he felt that the distance from home and the Academy's non-football requirements were not what he was looking for from his college choice.
"I loved the opportunity they gave me, but I wasn't really looking forward to going into the military," McElhany said. "The opportunity was amazing but going into the military really struck me and being 13 hours from home in Colorado. So I've opened up my recruiting again, looking at other options."
McElhany chose Air Force over offers from Army, Southern Arkansas University, the University of Central Arkansas and Hendrix College.
McElhany received an offer from Missouri State on Nov. 3. He said the potential of playing closer to home and without the commitments outside of football was exactly what he had been hoping for.
"Getting more interest from schools a little bit closer kind of stuck with me and kind of made me think about if I really wanted to go to the Air Force," McElhany said.
McElhany said he still has interest in UCA and has recently been in contact with Arkansas State University.