RISON - There was a time when many schools would schedule the Helena Cougars as their homecoming opponent. Not any more.
Rison will open 8-3A conference schedule this Friday night with a road trip to Helena to face the resurgent Cougars, the newest member of the 8-3A conference. Kickoff is at 7 p.m.
After competing in Class 4A for several years, Helena dropped down into Class 3A this year and essentially takes Palestine-Wheatley’s place in the league.
The days of lopsided losses for Helena have faded away as the Cougars are coming off back-to-back playoff seasons. Arkansas Football had them ranked as the no. 11 team in Class 3A at the start of the season, and the magazine’s coaches’ poll tabbed Helena to finish second in the 8-3A behind Fordyce.
Those lofty expectations are no surprise considering the Cougars return nine starters on both offense and defense from that finished 5-6 and advanced to the playoffs. Helena didn’t last long in the playoffs but made some noise when the 10-2 Little Rock Mills Comets needed a late touchdown to escape the Cougars at home, 40-38.
Much of the optimism behind Helena centers around All-State running back Keveahn Brown, a 5-10, 360-pound senior who Coach Russell Smith told Arkansas Football is getting looks from some high-ranking Division 1 colleges. In addition , Helena has a couple of All-Conference selections returning in offensive/defensive lineman Karl Washington and receiver Maurice Pippen.
Helena comes into the game off a bye week after going 2-1 in non-conference play. The Cougars started the year with back-to-back wins, blasting Little Rock Southwest, 41-18, in the opener and then knocking off Earle, 49-28, the following week. Earle rebounded from that loss by beating two members of the 8-3A: Lake Village 36-22, and McGehee last week, 30-20.
Helena’s lone loss came against a common opponent that both the Cougars and Wildcats share this season, Class 4A DeWitt. The Dragons pulled off a shocker, w…