RISON - With just three games left in the regular season, there is now a five-way tie atop the 8-3A conference standings and the Rison Wildcats are in the thick of it.
Fordyce handed Lake Village Lakeside its first and only conference loss of the season last week when the Redbugs delivered the Beavers some payback for last year’s loss in the form of a 60-6 victory at Bear Bryant Stadium.
The Bugs’ victory created a five-way tie for first among Rison, Fordyce, Lake Village, McGehee and Helena, each sporting 3-1 conference marks.“I tell you what, with us going into Week 8 with us (the Wildcats) having only two games to go… to say all five teams going into the playoffs can go anywhere from 1 to 5 (seed)?,” a bewildered Rison Coach Chris Vereen said about the log jam at the top.
Those seedings will be sorted out over the next three weeks as most of the co-leaders will be playing one another. For Rison, that begins this Friday night when the Wildcats journey to Lake Village. Kickoff is at 7 p.m.
With the Barton Bears dropping down to eight-man football just before the start of the season, Rison has just two on-field games left in the regular season: 5-2 Lake Village this week followed by another road trip to 5-2 Fordyce next week. Barton was scheduled for Week 10.
Lake Village program that seems to be putting its program together under co-coaches Darrius Green and Darren Toney.
Over the past 20 years, the Beavers have had only two winning seasons: 2018 and 2006 when Lake Village went 6-5. All the other seasons were sub-500, mostly ranging from one to three wins are year.
Last year, Green and Toney led the Beavers to a 5-5 finish which included back-to-back wins against Fordyce and Rison, two of the most storied small school programs in the state. They drummed the Wildcats, 52-12, for homecoming last year at George Walker Field of Champions.
Vereen said that loss as be a subject of discussion as they prepare for a very good Lake Village team this week.&nbs…