WOODLAWN - The Woodlawn Bears will be making a 200-plus mile trip to face the Rector Cougars, the no. 1 seed in the North Conference, in the first round of the state playoffs at 7 p.m. Friday at Cougar Stadium.
Some rating services have Rector as the top-ranked team in Arkansas eight-man football after going 7-0 this season and making it to the state championship game last year before losing to Izard County, 36-26.
The senior-laden Cougars have outscored their opponents by a combined 300-68 this season, including two shutouts. The Cougars are scoring an average of 42.9 points per game while giving up an average of 9.7 points.
The winner of Friday's game will advance to the eight-man semifinals on Nov. 17 to face the winner between Mountain Pine, the no. 2 seed from the South, and Izard County, the no. 3 seed from the North.
Woodlawn and Rector do share two common opponents this season. Rector defeated Mountain Pine at home (46-22) on Sept. 8 and knocked off Midland on the road (44-6) on Oct. 20. Woodlawn beat Midland at home (44-14) back on Sept. 8 but lost at Mountain Pine (2622) on Oct. 20.
The Cougars should be well rested having not played a game since beating Midland back on Oct. 20.
Bears Coach Zach Meyer said Rector operates from the shotgun using a single wing, and likes to pull, run traps and use the quarterback power game. He said both of their top two running backs, seniors Drew Henderson (no. 1) Carter Hill (no. 2), are "very good." "They have great vision, great feet and are very fast," he said. "They seem to cutback really well, and they see their lanes. They're hard to bring down." Meyer said Woodlawn will need to tackle well to contain Henderson and Hill.
Another senior, quarterback Drew Henderson, is a threesport athlete that Meyer said excels in just about everything he does. Henderson was an All-State selection after his performance in the 2022 season.
Rector does h...
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