Rison Sees Double Duty This Week

RISON - Coming off a convincing 38-16 win over then 12th-ranked Camden Harmony Grove last Friday night, the Rison Wildcats will be seeing some double duty this week as they head to Haskell to take on the Harmony Grove Cardinals Friday night before hosting the Stuttgart Junior Varsity on Tuesday.The 'Cats will face the Cardinals at 7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 13, at Jimmy "Red" Parker Field in Haskell. Coach Parker, a graduate of Rison High School, started the Harmony Grove football program in 2010.Rison will then have a short turnaround before hosting the Stuttgart JV Ricebirds for its final non-conference game at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 17, at George Walker Field of Champions.Rison Coach Chris Vereen said it was important for his 'Cats to get the victory last week after going 4-8 last season. "We needed a win," he said. "We needed some confidence early." The Wildcats will take that momentum into Haskell for what will be their first road test of the year.Harmony Grove, a Class 4A school, is coming off a bye week after dropping its season opener at home against Clinton, 28-6, on Aug. 30. The Cardinals are in their first year under new Head Coach Josh Smith, who has been a long-time assistant in the program. One of the first things that Smith did was to convert from the Diamond T to the Dead T on offense, and Vereen said the switch matches up well with his personnel."This will be the shortest game in the state," Vereen said, referring to the fact that both teams are almost exclusively run the ball on offense. Based on film from the Clinton game, Vereen said the Wildcats will need to keep Harmony Grove's sophomore running back, Lane Beaty, in check. "He's the best they've got," he said about the 5-8, 145-pound halfback that has 4.7 speed.What really concerns Vereen is the fact that Beaty will be working behind a nice size offensive line that has the potential to take control of the line of scrimmage. "We better capitalize every time ...