WOODLAWN - The Woodlawn Bears will open their 2026 season by hosting the South Side-Bee Branch Hornets this Friday night at the Carl Jones Sports Complex. The junior high teams will play at 5 p.m. followed the varsity teams at 7 p.m.
South Side is entering its third year playing football. The Hornets went 3-8 overall and earned a playoff bid by finishing in a three-way tie for third in the eight-man North Conference. They fell to Strong, 64-44, in the first round. This will be a return game for South Side after the Hornets hosted the Bears at Hendrix College in Conway last year. Woodlawn came out on top in a 66-36 scoring fest for both teams.
The Bears rolled up 480 yards rushing on 33 attempts averaging 14.5 yards per carry. Quarter-back Ethan Saeler and running back Griffin Manes did most of the damage, rushing for 218 and 206 yards, respectively. Woodlawn will be without Saeler this year as he is expected to miss most, if not all, the season recovering from an off-season surgery. Senior Parker Arnold, who was the back-up quarterback his sophomore season after being the stater in junior high, will be taking over behind center. Arnold did not play football last year but Head Coach Doug Means describes him as a very capable QB.
South Side has senior Caden Mahan returning at quarterback. He threw for 1,777 yards and 20 touchdowns last year. He completed nine of 23 pass attempts for 149 yards with two interceptions last year against the Bears. The Hornets finished with 476 yards to total offense in that game.
One of Mahan's favorite targets will be 6-5 junior receiver Jacob Riddle, who pulled in 33 passes and five touchdowns in 2025.
Woodlawn, which lost much of its size up front to graduation on both offense and defense, will have to contend with some big guys up front for South Side in linemen Jacob Barnes (6-4/280) and Jake Swinney (5-6/260). The Arkansas Football magazine's Coaches Poll had the Hornets picked to finish fourth in the new West Conference.