RISON - There was a day when teams atop the 8-3A could just about pencil in an automatic win against some opponents. That's not the case this year.The Rison Wildcats will travel to Monticello this Friday night to face the improved Drew Central Pirates in a match-up that will have playoff implications for both teams. Kickoff is at 7 p.m.After finishing with just two wins last year, Drew Central is currently 3-3 overall and 2-1 in conference play.The Pirates started league action with a surprising 21-8 win over McGehee in the opener before falling on the road to highlytouted Fordyce, 46-0. Drew Central knocked off Lake Village, 3514, last week on the road for its second league win.Rison, meanwhile, hits the road after coming off back-toback near-misses. After the 'Cats rallied to beat Palestine-Wheatley, 40-35, to open 8-3A play, they saw Dumas throw a touchdown on the last play of the game for a 40-34 win, and last week lost a fumble in the second overtime as McGehee capitalized for a 30-24 victory.Rison Coach Chris Vereen said one of his goals in practice this week is keep his players focused on the conference by seeing the "big picture." He pointed out that Dumas was in much of the same situation last year before making a late run to earn the conference's no. 4 seed to get into the playoffs. The Bobcats ended up going further in the playoffs than any other team in the 8-3A last year."Our guys have got to step back and look at the big picture," he said. "We've got to win." Drew Central is a much improved team from last year. Vereen said the Pirates have team speed that is comparable to Dumas, and while they are based out of the spread, they rely on their run game about 70 percent of the time.The Pirates will have a senior laden offensive backfield led by quarterback Tra'Bennet Fuller, a three-year starter at the position. He is joined in the backfield by 59, 210-pound senior running back Tyviance Wormley and junior...
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