Blytheville Chickasaw head coach Ben Fisher wishes he had an answer for the 27-12 road loss to the previously winless Paragould Rams last week. However, the Chickasaws last game of the season will come in front of the Chickasaw faithful Friday night at home on Haley Field.
The Chickasaws (2-7, 1-5 5A East) will host another struggling 5A East opponent, the Forrest City Mustangs.
The Mustangs (3-6, 2-4 5A East), like the Chickasaws, are usually fighting for a playoff spot in the 5A conference, but are now just trying to finish their season with a win. According to Fisher, the Mustangs began the season with much higher expectations, but the outcome didn’t bear out.
“They’re kind of in the same boat we are,” Fisher said. “They had a little bit of higher expectations going into this year, then what happened. So I don’t know what to expect from them. I do know what to expect in the type of defense they’re going to run and the type of offense they are going to do. But as for coming out and competing, it could go one of two ways. They could come out [for the] last game of the season. For the seniors it’s the last game that a lot of them will ever play and come out and play their hearts out or they could come out and say, ‘It’s the last game, we aren’t going to the playoffs so lets go through the motions and see what happens.’ So you never know what you’re going to get in this situation.”
Fisher said his Chickasaws are disappointed after last week’s matchup against the Rams.
“I’m hoping we come out and compete. I think we will. The kids are disappointed in last week. I believe they are ready to come out and show that’s not who we are,” Fisher explained.
Last year, the Mustangs defeated the Chickasaws, 56-28, at Forrest City primarily behind the play of tall, fast receivers.
“They’re not as big as they were last year, but they’re fast,” Fisher said.
Randall Moore, the Mustangs’ junior quarterback, is tall and knows how to either stay in the pocket or to scramble, whichever it takes for passing yards much better than he does running the ball.
“They got a good quarterback. He’s a big kid and stands in the pocket,” Fisher said. “He scrambles but doesn’t scramble to run the ball. He scrambles more to get open and just throw the ball. He keeps his eyes up field and not necessarily tuck and run it.”
Fisher said the Chickasaws will have to be ready to compete with the Mustangs speed.
The Chicks are healthy but Fisher says he still doesn’t have an answer for the loss to the Rams.
Fisher explained, “Everybody’s healthy and good to go. I wish I had an answer for last week, but I don’t. I just hope we come out and compete like we’re capable of. Like we did against Wynne, Nettleton, Greene County Tech and Valley View.”
Friday night will be “Senior Night” for the Chicks and Fisher said he’s disappointed for them, but he loves and will miss each one of them.
“I’m disappointed for them. They deserve better because they do work hard and they wanted to not only be the team to make the playoffs but to win a playoff game,” Fisher said. “ I feel bad for them because they did work their tails off. Sometimes it just doesn’t work out the way you want it to. But I love each one of them, I’m going to miss each one of them and I hate to see the seniors go this year.”
Kickoff between the Chickasaws and Mustangs are scheduled for 7 p.m. Friday night at Haley Field.
Follow Joseph Fondren on Twitter under @CN_JosephF for game updates.