RISON - When it comes to scheduling homecoming opponents, schools usually look for an easy win. And for teams competing in the 8-3A conference over the past few seasons, the Lake Village Beavers have been a popular choice of fill that role.But things are beginning to change in Lake Village, and Rison will find that out firsthand when the Wildcats host the Beavers for homecoming this Friday night at the George Walker Field of Champions. Pregame homecoming festivities begin at 6:30 p.m. followed by the kickoff of 7 p.m.Rison will carry a ton of momentum into Friday night's matchup after coming back from 20 points down in the first quarter to knock off the Drew Central Pirates, 44-38, snapping a twogame losing skid. The 'Cats improved to 3-4 overall and, more importantly, 2-2 in conference after the win.But Lake Village may have even more momentum coming into Friday night's game after pulling off perhaps the greatest upset in Arkansas high school football so far this season when the Beavers upended the undefeated and highly-rated Fordyce Redbugs, 21-6, at home last week.Rison Coach Chris Vereen said the Beavers should be sky high Friday night after such a huge win, and he expects the Lake Vil-lage coaching staff to use the big win for motivation going forward."It's just like any coach would be," he said. "It's like, 'Hey guys, we just beat somebody ranked 1 or 2 in the state whether they had starters or not, we can beat anybody'." Even before the upset win over Fordyce, Vereen said he felt the Beavers would be a much improved this season. "They are tremendously better," he said. "They have won more games at this point than they have over the past two or three years combined." Vereen has been warning everyone that the 8-3A is a much better conference this year than it was last season and the results are bearing that out: Lake Village beats Fordyce after coming within a touchdown of knocking off Dumas, which currently sits atop the l...
To access content, please login or purchase a subscription.