WOODLAWN - One of the benefits of bringing eight-man football to Arkansas was that it gives those Class 1A and 2A basketball schools an opportunity to start a football program.
And that is exactly what Izard County High School in Brockwell has done, and which also happens to be the Woodlawn Bears’ destination this Friday night.
Woodlawn will be making the nearly 200-mile trip to determine which team will advance to the Class 2A state championship game to be held Thursday, Dec. 1, at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock. Kickoff for the semifinal game is at 7 p.m. Friday at Izard County High School, which is about eight miles north of Melbourne on Arkansas Hwy. 9.
While Izard County is new to football, it is certainly no stranger to success in athletics. The Cougars have won two Class 1A state championships in boys basketball with the latest coming in 2019. The Izard County baseball team advanced to the 2021 state title game before coming up short to Viola, 11-4.
So it’s not a total surprise to see the Cougars finding success in their first-ever season to play football.
Izard County is 7-1 with its only loss being a 46-20 setback in the season opener against Mountain View, which itself went undefeated this year to win the Class 3A-4A club championship in eight-man football.
The Cougars swept through their North Conference scheduled undefeated, knocking off two preseason favorites in Rector (38-8) and Brinkley (44-28). Izard County earned its berth in the semifinals with a convincing 36-6 win over Spring Hill, the no. 4 seed from the South Conference, last Friday night.
The Bears and Cougars do share a couple of common opponents this season:
Izard County beat Spring Hill 36-6 last week at home in the first round of the playoffs while Woodlawn traveled to Spring Hill the week before that for a 34-14 victory in the regular season finale.
Woodlawn used a third-quarter...
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