The last high school football game this year to be played in Pine Bluff will kick off Friday night.
Pine Bluff High School will host Watson Chapel for its final home game of the season at Simmons Bank Field at 7 p.m.
After this game, Pine Bluff (1-6, 1-3 in 5A-Central) is scheduled to travel to Joe T. Robinson next week before concluding the regular season at White Hall.
The Zebras are 1-1 this season at Simmons Bank Field, having beaten Jacksonville 25-13 before losing 50-22 to Searcy last week.
Watson Chapel (0-7, 0-4) will not play another game in Jefferson County after this one.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
The Wildcats travel to Beebe next week, then to Jacksonville.
The Wildcats hosted their final home game last week, a 32-28 homecoming loss to White Hall.
This will be the second straight week two Jefferson County rivals face off. Last week’s game between the Wildcats and Bulldogs featured five lead changes, including two in the first quarter, and a game-winning touchdown scored with 3:35 remaining.
Watson Chapel’s 28 points were a season high, and the 32 points the Wildcats allowed were a season low.
The Wildcats had scored 12 points total in their first three conference games and had not held any team to fewer than 42 points.
The Zebras are looking to snap a three-game losing streak.
All three losses came to teams currently in the playoff picture.
The streak began when Maumelle held Pine Bluff to 7 points, but the Zebras now average 16.5 points per conference game.
The critical matchup on Friday will be Watson Chapel’s rushing offense against Pine Bluff’s defensive front.
The Wildcats averaged 6.03 yards per rush against White Hall, led by quarterback Malachi Rayford’s nine carries for 85 yards and four passes for 86 yards.
Pine Bluff’s defensive front, led by senior Emmanuel Hudson, held Jacksonville to -1 rushing yards in the Zebras’ lone win this season.
In the loss to Maumelle, Pine Bluff held the Hornets to 2.54 yards per rush and tallied eight tackles for loss with three sacks.
The Zebras will enter this game tied with White Hall for fifth in 5A Central.
The top four make the playoffs, so Pine Bluff needs to be nearly perfect the rest of the season and get some help from Beebe’s opponents.