RISON - Following a pair of wild down-to-the-wire non-conference victories, then an open date, the Rison Wildcats will return to action Friday night at Pine Bluff, where they will face the Dollarway Cardinals. Kickoff time is scheduled for 7 o'clock. Rison is undefeated; Dollarway is winless. It will be the 6-3A Conference opener for each team.
One thing you can say about the Cardinals, though, they do not back down from any challenge. Dollarway opened the season with a 36-6 loss to highly-ranked Class 3A Booneville, and then took it on the chin from two upper classification foes - Texarkana, 47-0, and Camden Fairview, 48-0. The latter contest was called at halftime due to threatening weather. After their league opener with Rison, things will not get any easier for the Cards, who will then meet Camden Harmony Grove and Fordyce in back-toback 6-3A contests.
Rison head coach Clay Totty and his staff will be looking this week for a full 48 minutes of intensity by the Wildcats. In their previous two wins against Bismarck and Dardanelle, the 'Cats seemed to have a lull in the third quarter of both games. Both times it resulted in Rison having to respond with strong fourth quarter finishes to secure victories over their tough opponents.
After facing Dollarway on Friday, the Wildcats will then have another open date on September 30, just ahead of two crucial 6-3A Conference battles with Camden Harmony Grove at home on October 7, and at Fordyce on October 14. Those games will have major implications on determining the league champion for 2022.
The Wildcats won last year's meeting with Dollarway, 34-7, in Pine Bluff. Rison leads the overall series with Dollarway, 83, with the two schools having first met back in 1958. Dollarway captured five state championships over a six-season span from 1988 through 1993.
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