Few teams had as back-loaded of a schedule as Valley View this season.
With two games to go, the Blazers sat 4-0 in conference play with both of its main competitors for the 5A-East title still to play.
Last week, Valley View took care of the first, beating Southside Batesville 31-21 on the road to move into first place in the conference.
On Friday night, the Blazers handled the rest by defeating Nettleton 43-26 to clinch at least a share of the conference title and the 5A-East's No. 1 seed.
Through three quarters, Valley View held a 21-20 lead. Early in the fourth quarter, the Blazers got a rushing touchdown from quarterback Carson Turley plus a 2-point conversion to go ahead 29-20 before Nettleton answered with a touchdown pass from quarterback Maddox Hampton to make it 29-26.
Turley rushed for touchdowns in the fourth quarter to clinch the win. The senior finished for 226 rushing yards, 101 passing yards and 6 touchdowns.
A win next week over Batesville will clinch an outright conference title for Valley View, something it came short of securing last season with a 16-7 loss to the Pioneers.
Alone on top
Jalen Dupree has already cemented himself as one of the all-time greats at Malvern.
But Friday night, he stamped himself as the best of them all, breaking Madre Hill's school career rushing record with a 33-carry, 333-yard performance in a 35-21 win over Nashville. It also made Dupree the 15th player in the state to rush for 6,000 yards in a career.
Dupree has rushed for 1,805 yards on 180 carries this season for 225.6 yards per game on 10 yards per carry. In three seasons, the senior has rushed for 6,240 yards, topping Hill's mark of 6,010 in 1991-93.
Dupree has committed to play at Colorado State. Hill, a member of Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame, was an All-SEC back at Arkansas, setting a school record for yards in a season before later playing in the NFL.
Ticket punched
In his first season as a head coach, Brian Maupin led Maumelle to a 3-7 season with one conference win.
In his second season, his Hornets will be in the postseason thanks to a 44-28 win over Vilonia Friday night.
Maumelle is locked into the No. 4 seed in the 5A-Central with Joe T. Robinson, Pine Bluff and Mills fighting for the Top-3 positions.
Running away
With a 49-14 win over Trumann on Friday night, Rivercrest clinched at least a share of the 4A-3 title and the conference's No. 1 seed.
The Colts turned to senior running back Koby Turner to set the tone. He rushed just 9 times, but he made the most of those opportunities, turning them into 191 rushing yards and 4 touchdowns.
Club Division playoffs
The first round of the 8-man Club Division playoffs began Friday night with four games.
In the championship bracket, No. 1 seed Mountain View defeated No. 2 seed Cutter-Morning Star 56-6. No. 2 seed Corning pulled off the upset against No. 1 seed Subiaco Academy 38-30. It was Corning's first 8-man playoff win.
Mountain View will host Corning next Friday in the Club Division championship.
In the consolation bracket, No. 3 seed Genoa Central beat No. 4 seed Rose Bud 52-6, while No. 4 seed Parkers Chapel won its first playoff game in 8-man football, defeating No. 3 seed Cedar Ridge 42-8.
Genoa Central will host Parkers Chapel next week in the third-place game.