RISON - For the first time in school history, the Woodlawn Bears will be hosting a semifinals playoff game in football.The Bears (9-0), the no. 1 seed from the South Conference, will face the Rector Cougars (5-3), the no. 2 seed from the North Conference, at 7 p.m. Friday, Nov. 21, at the Carl Jones Sports Complex. All digital tickets must be purchases online through the Arkansas Activities Association.The winner of Friday night’s game will advance to take on the winner between Cedar Ridge and Strong in the state championship game at 7 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 4, at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock.Woodlawn Coach Doug Means said he expects junior quarterback Ethan Saeler to be ready for Friday’s semifinal game after coming up gimpy on a 42-yard touchdown run in the Bears’ 50-20 first-round win over Midland last Friday night.That play came at the 6:43 mark of the second quarter, and while he continued to see snaps the rest of the game, Saeler was not involved in any run plays after that his long run. Means said Saeler seems to be further along than he was last week when he suffered an ankle injury in the regular season finale against Brinkley.This will be Woodlawn’s second time to advance to the semifinals in eight-man football. In 2022, the Bears came from 16 down at Izard County to tie the game in the fourth quarter before the Cougars scored on the last play of the game for a 62-56 win. Izard County went on to win the state championship that year.Rector, meanwhile, is making its third consecutive trip to the semifinals. In 2023, the Cougars rolled to a 48-0 victory over the Bears at Rector on their way to winning the state title.Rector edged the Brinkley Tigers, the no. 3 seed from the South, 28-20, last week to advance to the semifinals.The two teams do share two common opponents: Brinkley and Midland.Woodlawn has two wins over Midland this season, last week’s 50-20 win and a 42-32 victory a...
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