FOUNTAIN LAKE -- The Fountain Lake Cobras won their final three games of the regular season to earn the 4A-7 conference's final playoff berth. Their reward is a 200-plus road trip to meet one of only three one-win teams in Class 4A.
Fountain Lake (6-4, 3-4) will meet Rivercrest (9-1, 6-1 4A-3) tonight at 7 p.m. in the first round of the playoffs. The Colts were ranked No. 5 in 4A in this week's Arkansas Sports Media High School Football Poll.
Here are five things to watch in tonight's game:
3-0
Fountain Lake head coach J.D. Plumlee said the Cobras have felt like they were in the playoffs since a Week 7 loss at Bauxite. The loss dropped them to 0-4 in conference play with three games remaining.
"When we got home from Bauxite, we were in the playoffs because we had to win or we were done," Plumlee said. "In our eyes, we've been 1-0 every week since Bauxite. We have won three in a row.
"Our motto this week is nothing new. It is to be 1-0 after Friday night and let's get to next week."
Fountain Lake defeated Malvern (0-10, 0-7), 35-0, the following week and needed a touchdown in the final minute on Oct. 26 to defeat Haskell Harmony Grove (5-5, 3-4), 35-34, on senior night. Needing a win a week ago to make the playoffs, the Cobras watched as Ashdown (3-7, 1-6) opened the scoring in the first quarter.
"Our guys didn't flinch," Plumlee said. "We took the kickoff, drove 80 yards and scored. It's 7-7. We onside kick, and we got it. Then, we go down and score to make it 14-7. We onside kick again, got it and go score in like two plays to make it 21-7.
"I think when we got right there and we stopped them right before half, I think that was maybe the nail in the coffin. Going up two scores at halftime and we get the ball coming out. I think the turning point in the game was when we took the opening kickoff in the third quarter and go down and score to go up 27-7. I think they did not play quite as hard after that series."
Fountain Lake built a 42-7 lead early in the fourth quarter. Ashdown tacked on a couple of late touchdowns to set the final, 42-21.
"They were excited in pregame and it was senior night for them," Plumlee said. "They were trying to end the year on a win and get into offseason with some momentum. In the first quarter, it was a good football game."
Home region advantage
Rivercrest is located in Wilson, which is closer to Memphis, Tenn., than Jonesboro. Wilson is about 55 miles east of Jonesboro and 40 miles north of Memphis.
"We are going to break the trip up and not make it a straight three and a half hour drive," Plumlee said. "We feel comfortable with where we are and our kids are excited. Man, when you get to Week 11, everybody is good."
Plumlee said the team will stop in Searcy to to use Harding First Security Stadium for a walkthrough. They will later eat a meal in Jonesboro before driving the final hour to Rivercrest.
The Colts rarely venture far from the northeast region. Most of their conference and non-conference opponents are located within an hour from Wilson.
Rivercrest played three home games en route to the Class 3A state championship in 2017. The Colts defeated Mayflower, 41-14, on the road before blowing out Junction City, 48-14, at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock.
"Right now, according to all of the media outlets, we are the underdog," Plumlee said. "In one outlet, we are picked to lose by 24. We are using that as motivation, but we feel like it is a good matchup. We feel like we have a great game plan going into it."
Ground game
Many of Fountain Lake's opponents have utilized the passing game or a stable of running backs. The Colts focus most of their offense around two playmakers.
Rivercrest senior Kentavious Robinson (5-11, 180) is unofficially one of the top five running backs in the state with 1,567 rushing yards with 16 touchdowns on 157 carries. He averages 10 yards per carry.
Senior quarterback Demilon Brown (6-3, 190) catches the snap in the shotgun. He has 947 yards and 18 touchdowns on 117 carries.
The Colts most often use motion and reads to run the ball. Brown is 34-for-59 passing this season for 520 yards and four touchdowns with five interceptions.
"Their top three plays are the zone read, they run the speed option to the weak side and then they run the power read," Plumlee said. "Their basic alignment is probably trips.
"They do get in the double wing. When they get in the double wing, they are just trying to run a little bit of counter and the dive. They are going to do whatever they can to get No. 1 (Robinson) and No. 3 (Brown) their touches."
The Cobras hit back with their own dynamic running game. Senior Andrew Roberson now has 979 yards and six touchdowns after rushing for 187 against Ashdown.
Senior Colson Simpson often operates out of the Wildcat, running for 184 yards and three touchdowns against the Panthers. Senior Kyle Fortner has been slowed by an ankle injury all season, but he carried four times for 55 yards and two touchdowns a week ago.
"A lot of those injuries kind of go away and you feel better when you are still playing in the playoffs," Plumlee said.
Junior quarterback Ian Lacy completed all three passes he attempted a week ago. He is 61-for-121 passing this season for 1,000 yards, nine touchdowns and eight interceptions.
"It is always nice when you've got Ahman Johnson as a weapon," Plumlee said. "Kyle Fortner really came on last week, too."
Cobra defense
Simpson is the top tackler in Garland County with 110 this season. Senior Joe Murphy led the defense a week ago and now has 100. Sophomore linebacker Bryce Stauder, sophomore safety Asa Westerman and senior linebacker Dylan Nguyen follow with 41, 40, 37, respectively.
"I think our linebackers will have a good night," Plumlee said. "They are going to have to have a good night for us to win. I like our defensive scheme. Andrew Roberson moving up and playing a defensive end is probably going to help. It helped us last week quite a bit.
"Dylan Nguyen, we are putting him in a position that is letting him go and make plays. He has come along here in the last few weeks. Our secondary, we trust them to go out there, play on an island, win the 50-50 ball and we are going to have to roll down and make sure we have a hat for the speed option. That is one of their go-to plays."
Playoff experience
Rivercrest has cruised in its first season in 4A. The Colts' only loss this season was a 20-13 defeat on Oct. 19 for Jonesboro Westside's senior night.
Plumlee said his team needs to keep the same mentality that has propelled the Cobras to three straight wins.
"If we play like we have the last three weeks, we will win the game," Plumlee said. "We are playing at a high level on both sides of the ball. We rushed for over 400 yards last week. Our offensive line has gotten better each week.
"We have put in some twists here and there, but for the most part, we are going to keep doing what we are doing and take what they give us. When you don't turn the ball over and you rush for over 400 yards, that kind of success will win a lot of games. We are going to try to keep doing that and just make sure we are rested."
Rivercrest won two playoff games in 2016 before losing to Glen Rose in the state quarterfinals. The Colts won five playoff games last season.
Plumlee said the coaches' message to the players has been for them to not be satisfied with just making the playoffs for the first time in three years.
"Any time you get satisfied, that is where complacency comes in and mediocrity comes in," Plumlee said. "We have been working hard and saying, 'Hey, it's not good enough that we're there. Now, let's go win one.'"
Week 11
Other playoff matchups tonight include 6-Lake Hamilton (5-5, 3-5 6A-West) at 3-Jonesboro (6-4, 5-2 6A-West), 4-Lakeside (5-5, 4-2 5A-South) at 1-Blytheville (5-5, 5-2 5A-East), 3-Gosnell (6-4, 5-2 4A-3) at 3-Arkadelphia (5-5, 5-2 4A-7), 4-Centerpoint (6-4, 4-3 3A-5) at 2-Newport (8-2, 6-1 3A-3), 4-Bearden (3-6, 2-3 2A-8) at 3-Mount Ida (8-2, 5-2 2A-7), 4-Magnet Cove (5-5, 4-3 2A-5) at 2-Des Arc (6-3, 5-1 2A-6) and 4-Hackett (4-5, 3-3 2A-4) at 2-Mountain Pine (7-3, 6-1 2A-5).
Sports on 11/09/2018