Rivercrest travels to Arkadelphia for third round

Rivercrest improved to 10-2 on the season with a 40-0 shutout of Gravette in the second round of the Class 4A State Playoffs Friday. Their reward, a trip to Arkadelphia, 7-3, for the quarterfinals for the second consecutive season.

The Badgers ended the Colts season on their home field last with a 48-13 win.

Will this year be any different? “We know Arkadelphia,” said Colts head coach Johnny Fleming. “We know they’ve lost some guys, but they’re always going to be good. They’re well coached.”

Jayden Young

The Badgers do have a huge roster with nearly 100 players. And while they are not as well known as some of the team members were last season, Arkadelphia still has a dangerous and deep squad.

The Badgers, champions of the 7-4A Conference, went undefeated in the six team league. Their three losses came at the hands of larger classification schools Camden-Fairview (43-27), Hot Spring (24-7) and Arkansas High (36-14).

They hold a non-conference win over Nashville (44-6) and outscored their five conference foes 251-75.

Wyatt Lancaster

The Badgers had a first round bye and struggled to put away Mayflower in second round action before earning a 22-7 victory.

The Colts have won nine in a row and picked up their first consecutive post-season shut outs in 20 years in rounds one and two.

The Colts offense has many weapons with receivers Michael Rainer and Buddah Harris.

Rainer has 41 catches for 683 yards and 12 touchdowns. Harris has 36 receptions for 559 yards and six scores. They also have Koby Turner toting the mail. Turner has 1,204 yards rushing and 19 touchdowns. Rainer has 603 yards on 71 carries and nine more scores. Marcus Slayton also gives opponents a different look with 119 yards on 29 carries for five scores.

On defense, the Colts secondary has 10 interceptions with most of them coming the last two weeks. Jayden Young leads the team with four picks for 84 yards and a score.

Wyatt Lancaster continues to led the defense with 128 tackles with 25 of those being for a loss. Lancaster has forced three fumbles and recovered two fumbles.

Slayton is second with 71 stops, six for a loss, a fumble recovery, a fumble forced and an interception. Tekylun Sanders has 67 stops, 15 for a loss. Quinshunn Perry and Young have 60 stops, while Keiran Morris has 58 tackles. Turner, Lomack and Jeb Brigance all have 50 stops or more and 163 cumulatively.

Special teams are also a key for the Colts with Rainer having three punt returns for a score and one kickoff return for a score.

While the long drive is daunting, Rivercrest seems a little bit better prepared for the trip this season. We think the Colts will win and return home for a semifinal game at the Tez.

Kickoff Friday is set for 7 p.m. at Badger Stadium in Arkadelphia.