RISON - While it may be Week 6 of the 2024 high school football season, Rison Coach Chris Vereen isn’t too bashful to say that there will be playoff implications on the line this Friday night when his Wildcats travel to McGehee to face the Owls in a crucial 8-3A conference showdown. Kickoff is at 7 p.m.McGehee (3-2) was the preseason favorite to win the 8-3A conference according to a coaches poll conducted by Hooten’s Arkansas Football, and after getting off to an 0-2 start, the Owls seem to have turned it around with three straight wins.Both of those losses came against some quality Class 4A opponents in Hamburg (27-22 loss) and Star City (25-7 loss). Those two teams are both currently sitting at 4-1 and are among the surprise teams of the 8-4A conference this year.But McGehee bounced back with a 22-21 upset road victory over the Class 4A DeWitt Dragons in Week 3, and has since opened 8-3A conference play with back-to-back shutouts of Drew Central (49-0) and Lake Village (40-0). “I think you’re going to see a war this Friday night,” Vereen said about the matchup between his 5-0 Wildcats and the Owls. Both teams are 2-0 in 8-3A conference action.“I guarantee you the winner of this game is going to finish first or second in the conference,” Vereen stated.That fact has not been lost on the Wildcats as they prepare this week. While both the first and second place winners in the conference will have first-round playoff games at home, the 8-3A champion is assured the home field advantage through at least the quarterfinals.McGehee moved back into the Class 3A ranks after playing in Class 4A for the past two years. The Owls finished 5-5 last season and earned a playoff berth.Vereen said the two teams are basically mirror images of one another as far as offensive philosophies are concerned. Both are run-first teams with Rison operating out of the Flexbone, and McGehee using the Wing T. Vereen...
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