Monroe Dispatch - No Struggle, No Progress

The regular season is 3 weeks away from being over and many of our area teams are sitting in prime position for post-season berths, but for several other local teams there's still some work to do. Some teams are making a push for top seeds while others are just trying to conceive home games in round 1. The teams on the outside looking in also aim for strong finishes down the stretch to become playoff spoilers. District 2-4A begins district play this week with all 4 of its teams currently projected to be road-warriors or non-participants the 1st round. Meanwhile, an epic clash of clans is in sights as Richwood and Sterlington try to remain undefeated in district 2-3A with their week 10 date nearing. In 2-5A, West Monroe appears to be in the driver's seat but Ouachita may have other plans in mind when they visit Don Shows Field next week. But before there's week 9 and 10, there's this week and with some evenly matched games don't be surprised to see the ole upset alert as teams start to "look ahead". Sorry for the inconvenience, but to make room for my mid-season awards I'll only preview one game this week but I'll be back next week for your full complement of games. ENJOY!!!

** Game of the Week **

** Upset Special **

#3 RICHWOOD RAMS (5-2) vs WOSSMAN WILDCATS (1-6)

If there's any team that could use a big win in the later weeks of the season, it's the Wossman Wildcats. Sitting at #30 in the latest LHSAA power ratings, the Wildcats can practically control its playoff destiny with a win Friday vs Richwood. Last week's homecoming loss to undefeated Sterlington actually helped the 'Cats P.R. score but the outcome wasn't what Coach Dean Smith would've preferred. With a nucleus of young players scattered throughout the defense and offense, Smith knows that the future is bright but that's not going to stop them from pushing this squad to its limits. Senior do-it-all athletes, Jay West and Ortega have put forth marvelous final seasons in purple and gold and nothing would suit them better than to shock the state with a strong finish to the year. Against Sterlington, Carter, a former defensive lineman, provided the punch for the Cats as he would run through Panthers defenders in route to his best game of the year. Like Carter, West platoons on both sides of the ball and came away with several pass breakups while pulling down a couple grabs as well.

Coach Rob Arvie must have bittersweet memories from last Friday's win over Carroll. The good news is that his Rams came away with the road win while allowing less than 40 total yards of offense. The unwelcome news is that his Rams only produced 87 yards of total offense of its own. The roller coaster that we've come to know as Richwood has me still scratching my head as to what type of team they are and will be. Despite the low yardage, the Rams offense missed on a couple of big play opportunities with a dropped touchdown in the end zone and an apparent slight overthrow to a wide-open receiver on another pass that could've surely been another score. Defensively, twin brothers Devione and Deione Reed stuffed the Bulldogs rushing attack while DB Benny Davis played his best Deion Sanders impersonation coming away with an interception and big punt returns. The hero of the night could've easily gone to special team's stud kicker Basheen Hutcherson as he booted several punts inside the Bulldogs 10 yard line to keep the field position in the Rams favor.

Less than 5 miles separate these rivals and the bad blood is still brewing from past history. Most of the kids on the field Friday night have known each other for years with some even being best buddies. But throw all of that out the window come Friday. The records won't matter much in this game and although the talent favors Richwood, their ups and downs on offense kind of scares me. Wossman hasn't been pretty on either side of the ball but Smith's defense can make a game like this one messy and if he can get his bunch to buy into a do or die bunker-style mentality then the fans at Richwood may get an early Halloween trick. Coach Smith told me once, "You gotta win the one's you're supposed to win" and no matter how good or bad his team maybe I'm sure he always feels that he's supposed to beat Richwood. And he's done exactly that in his 3 previous meetings with the Rams. I know how good Richwood is and I know how bad Wossman has been, but something about this game has me intrigued. Last week vs Richwood, Carroll put extra attention on stud CJ Ceasar and the Rams offense suffered because of it.

14 Richwood 13

OTHER GAMES:#1 WEST MONROE 58 PINEVILLE 10; OUACHITA 46 NATCHITOCHES CENTRAL 13; #4 RUSTON 48 ALEXANDRIA 20; #6 NEVILLE 55 WEST OUACHITA 8; #10 BASTROP 49 FRANKLIN PARISH 16; #5 CALDWELL 55 AVOYELLES 30; #2 STERLINGTON 60 MADISON 14; #7 UNION PARISH 38 CARROLL 18; RAYVILLE 45 BEEKMAN CHARTER 7; DELHI CHARTER 28 GENERAL TRASS 16; #9 MANGHAM 27 FERRIDAY 25; OAK GROVE 45 DELHI 12; OCS 39 TENSAS 18; #8 CEDAR CREEK 40 SICILY ISLAND 6

GRISSOM'S G.O.AT OF THE WEEK

week 7

DEMAINE RILEY - RB

NEVILLE HS

17 CARRIES, 220 YARDS, 2TDS

VS

FRANKLINTON