Blytheville has little time to lament about the stunning way last Friday night's game at Beebe ended.
5A-East leader Batesville visits Haley Field Friday night, a week after the painful 38-32 loss to the Badgers. Blytheville was up 10, with the ball, late in the fourth quarter, before giving up two touchdowns and a field goal. The final touchdown came on a controversial special teams play as Beebe scored on a called muffed kickoff.
"We have to bounce back and play another tough ball game against Batesville," Blytheville head coach Maurice Moody said. "Everybody knows Batesville is tough. They're huge; they're absolutely huge, just like last year."
Moody has certainly thought about what might have been. A win would have put Blytheville (4-2, 2-2 5A-East) in a tie for second in the league, instead of its current position, a tie for fourth with Nettleton.
"It's a tough one to swallow," Moody said. "I think our kids played extremely hard. I think we outplayed them for 3 ½ quarters. They just outplayed us for the last three minutes (when the Badgers scored 16 points). We were in extremely good shape to win that ball game. Defensively, we played well in the second half. The offense kept it in reach in the first half. We pulled out a couple of early touchdowns in the third quarter to put us ahead 12 points. We were rolling.
"The fourth quarter comes around and we just don't have a lot of depth so it's hard to get those guys rested. We're in good shape, we just didn't have anything left in the tank. It wasn't that we quit, there was nothing left in the tank and they just outplayed us. They had more depth in the final three minutes and we were just gassed on those last couple of drives. We could barely move. It wasn't that we quit or a lack of heart...I thought we did enough to win, but you have to finish the ball game."
Moody believes his club still has a good chance to make the playoffs if it wins at least two of its final three games. The final two are against Paragould and Forrest City, who are a combined 1-12-1.
"If we win two, I know we're in," Moody said, noting the East fourth seed will likely draw Watson Chapel in the first round.
Of course, Batesville has the coach's full attention right now.
The Chicks will try to slow down junior running back Jordan Childress, who has rushed for 1,157 yards and 14 TDs already behind the Pioneers' massive offensive line.
"He runs hard, his vision is great," Moody said of Childress. "Low pad level. He doesn't put the ball on the ground. He destroyed us last year. We're going to have to put in great effort to try to slow him down. I don't know if we can stop him, but we've definitely got to contain him and slow him down."
The second-year Chickasaw coach pointed out Bateville ran the ball at will against Wynne last week as the Pioneers took sole possession of the conference lead with a 37-8 victory.
"If we let them run down hill on us, we're going to be in trouble, Friday night," Moody said. "Against Wynne, Batesville ran it down their throats. They controlled the line of scrimmage...Their running back just ran wild on them."
Batesville held Wynne to its lowest point total of the year, constantly putting pressure on the Yellowjacket quarterback.
Moody said the Pioneers do a good job disguising their blitzes, making it difficult to identify who is bringing the heat.
"We've got to identify who is who," he said. "I put our offensive linemen up in a two-point stance so we can see where those are coming from because if we do a three-point stance and we never see that end coming off that inside receiver, he's going to kill us. We can't block him if we don't see him. We've got to be smart on the offensive line and we've got to identify who is who and I think we'll be Ok."
The Chicks should have the services of one of their leading rushers, DeMarko Clark, who has missed the past two games with what Moody termed a "light knee sprain."
Moody said Clark is about 85 percent and will play a little this week.
"He ran well Monday, sprinted," Moody said. "He got close to full speed for the first time in three weeks. We're letting him heal. We're going to need him for the playoff push. He's going to play a little bit Friday, not a whole lot. He will play a little more next Friday and try to complete a whole game before the playoffs. He's in great shape, just trying to get that knee strong. He's still favoring it a little bit."
Moody said Clark is determined to play.
"He's giving it all he's got," Moody said. "He's got a huge heart. He's working hard."
Meanwhile, Blytheville all-state receiver Greg McKillion is still nursing a hamstring injury.
He is expected to play, however.
"Friday night, he had a chance to score two times, he just couldn't move," Moody said.
Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. Friday at Haley Field.
mbrasfield@blythevillecourier.com