RISON - Head coach Caleb Carmikle of Rison said Monday that it's "a good time for it," as he commented about this week's open date before the Wildcats resume action Sept. 22 when they host the currently undefeated and highly-ranked Hoxie Mustangs. And after that it will be another currently undefeated opponent on the road - Bigelow.
Hoxie is scheduled to visit Melbourne this Friday, a semifinal team in last year's Class 3A state playoffs. In fact, three of the four semifinal teams a year ago - Charleston (eventual champion), Rison and Melbourne are a combined 1-7 to start 2023. The Tigers and Wildcats are both winless, Melbourne having the lone win among the trio. Booneville, state runner-up last season, appears at this point to be a heavy favorite for the title in '23.
Meanwhile, though, Rison continues its road through a grueling schedule before conference play.
"It's just a tough schedule," Carmikle said. "But we've got to continue to work hard and be prepared to open conference (early next month) at Harmony Grove, and then with Fordyce. We've got to do a better job tackling and we have to work at having a better mental approach to start a game. I was very disappointed at how we started (0-21 deficit in first quarter against Dardanelle) the other night. It's critical for us to have a good start. We still have a lot of stuff to fix." However, Carmikle had much praise for his squad after they blanked Dardanelle in the second half (also, only 87 yards) and also turned in their best offensive game of the season against the Sand Lizards, making a deep red zone trip in the third quarter and a pair of touchdown drives in the fourth quarter to close the gap in their 15-point setback. The R.H.S. mentor said the offense finished drives, and finally found a rhythm. Rison's 13 pass completions at Dardanelle were the most by a Wildcat team since statistics started being compiled on a regular basis back in 1960.
"We certainly want to ...
To access content, please login or purchase a subscription.