Yet another big challenge awaits White Hall as the Bulldogs open 5A-Central Conference play on Friday.
The White Hall football team will travel to Searcy for each team’s conference opener at 7 p.m.
Both teams were off last week after wrapping up nonconference play. White Hall Coach Daryl Patton said the Bulldogs (0-3) had a good week of practice.
“A lot of (individual) work this week, a little less team,” Patton said. “Just get better every day. We had to get some of our young kids, our sophomores, caught up to speed, because they’re going to have to help us later on down the road.”
Patton also said the bye week was an opportunity for some of the veteran players who had been banged up to get healthy.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
The open date came after White Hall went winless in nonconference play for the second straight season. The Bulldogs showed potential at times in their losses to Sheridan and Warren but were quickly overrun by Morrilton in their most recent game.
Patton said the team has quickly moved on from the Morrilton game, understanding their goal of reaching the postseason is still attainable with conference play starting.
“The kids’ attitude’s been really good,” Patton said. “They’re here working. They understand that in conference, we gotta find a way to get four wins to go to the playoffs. I think there’s some wins out there to get. So, we just gotta keep getting better and playing hard. More team over individual, and I think we’ll do that this week.”
Searcy (3-0) will be a tough opponent for the Bulldogs. The Lions defeated Batesville 45-7, Valley View 37-27 and Harrison 19-7 in nonconference action.
The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette ranked Searcy sixth in Class 5A entering this week, and Patton said the Lions deserve the ranking.
“They’re really good on defense,” Patton said. “On offense, best team we’ve seen so far on film. They’re deserving of a high ranking, and they are definitely a contender for a conference and state championship. So, it’s definitely tough for us to open up with them, but we’re going to have to play them some time. So, if we’re going to play them, let’s play them now and get them out of the way.”
Searcy sophomore quarterback Jacob Miles has thrown nine touchdown passes with one interception and is averaging 252.7 yards per game. Three receivers have caught the bulk of the passes, led by junior Will Manning’s 90.3 receiving yards per game and four touchdowns.
The Bulldogs will need to protect the football after committing nine turnovers in their first three games. Patton said White Hall must avoid making those mistakes again and force the Lions to earn everything they get in this game.
“If we played Searcy 100 times, they may beat us 99 times,” Patton said. “But when you look at our schedule, we’re only playing them one time, and that could be the one time that we play our best game and get some breaks and have a chance to pull this thing off.”