PEARCY -- Lake Hamilton kicks off its Class 6A-West conference season tonight as the Wolves welcome the El Dorado Wildcats to Wolf Stadium.
The Wolves (3-0) are coming off of a 42-7 win over Class 5A Hot Springs (0-3), while the Wildcats (1-2) are looking to recover from a 27-10 loss to Class 7A Cabot (2-1). El Dorado leads the series, 11-9, since 2000, winning their last meeting, 35-13.
Here are five things to watch in the matchup:
Tough opponent
With the Wolves entering the game with three wins, some concerns could be raised regarding whether they are mentally ready for this week's 6A-West conference opener. Lake Hamilton head coach Tommy Gilleran said he feels it is not be a problem for his players.
"They see scores and see who El Dorado's played," he said. "El Dorado's played some 7A schools. They played one 5A school in Camden Fairview and beat them, so they know that the quality of talent is good in El Dorado. And they know that game's going to be big."
The Wolves struggled at times last season, and many across the state discount the strength of the non-conference portion of their schedule.
"Our kids, we've been speaking about it all week, getting recognition in the state," Gilleran said. "A lot of people don't think we can win because we haven't played a lot of really good teams.
"If you look, the teams that we've beat are 1-8. That's part of it, but we've been playing well. It's not like we've been barely beating people. We've been beating them pretty good, so we feel like that says a little bit about us, too."
While the Wolves have defeated their non-conference opponents by a combined 129-44, their season opener at Lakeside (1-2) came down to a last-minute fumble recovery.
Strong offense
One boon for the Wolves this season has been a high-powered offense that has outscored opponents, 98-17, the last two games. Gilleran said his team knows it will likely not have a blowout win this week.
"I think the quality of talent will be a lot higher Friday night from El Dorado," he said. "They're going to be a little more skilled and stuff like that. We feel like we can still score."
El Dorado marks the first Class 6A team the Wolves have faced this season. They opened the 2017 conference season with a 35-13 loss in El Dorado. Turnovers were a major factor in the result, but Gilleran said coach Scott Reed's Wildcats are not a team to overlook.
"El Dorado is a good football team, and they're coached well," he said. "It's not going to be as easy to score like that, but hopefully we can score; we'd like to score 35 or whatever and play really good defense. We feel like we can move the ball and do good things on offense, and we put a lot of stress on people because of the quality of running backs that we have."
The Wildcats, however, have a fairly strong offense of their own, including junior quarterback Alex Hicks, who at 5-8 and 180 pounds, is a quick offensive weapon.
"Their quarterback is really good," Gilleran said. "He is fast. We've got to limit him. Every time he touches the ball, he's a threat. ... Their running back is Shun Levingston. He's a good running back. Their tight end is a good receiver, Alex Boone. He's another good one."
Aerial game
The Wolves have only thrown an average of six passes per game, but Gilleran makes sure sophomore quarterback Layne Warrick keeps his throwing arm ready -- just in case.
"You'll see some (passing)," he said. "We work on it every week, so if we have to use it, we use it. If we have to throw, we'll throw it. I don't mind throwing it, but we feel like overall if we don't have to throw, we won't."
The passing situation, with Warrick completing 9 of 12 for 258 yards, is always a game-time decision.
"We'll see how the game goes," Gilleran noted. "If we can't move the ball on the line, we'll probably have to throw it a little bit, mix it up. We'll see where we're at on Friday. As of right now, we're going to keep doing what we're doing. If we have to throw it, I feel like we can complete and do things with our quarterback."
Last week's game allowed several players who had some minor injuries to recover and prepare for tonight's matchup.
"We have one kid that is out that has a boot, but other than that, we don't (have any injuries)," Gilleran said. "He is a kid that was a backup defensive lineman. In fact, we didn't have some kids play last week against Hot Springs because they were injured, but not badly injured. They could have played if we had to, but of course they didn't have to. They were kind of dinged up, and they got a little rest last week. This week, we should be full speed."
Defensive fluctuation
El Dorado lost nine of its defensive players from last year to graduation, which has taken a toll. Despite the loss, the Wildcats' defense has kept the team in both losses, including the season opener at Conway. The Wampus Cats prevailed, 48-41, in two overtime periods.
"They're a bunch of new guys, so they're a little different on that aspect," Gilleran said. "If there's a weak point for them, when you lose nine guys off your defensive squad, you're probably not going to be as good. They're still good, but they lost kids that are actually playing college football. That's probably the big difference."
Despite the fact the Wildcats' defense is less potent than a year ago, Gilleran said he knows they still have the ability to make big stops.
"They're coached well, and they'll do things," Gilleran said. "They've still got some bodies that will fly around, but when you lose kids that are playing college football on Saturdays from a defense, you're not going to be as good.
"I think that's the big part. If we want to have a chance, we've got to stay on blocks against them, our backs have to run well and we can't turn the ball over. We haven't really turned the ball over much this year like we did last year, and that will be a huge thing. We can't turn the ball over, and we've got to move the ball, and our defense has to tackle that quarterback. He's phenomenal.
Conference opener
"We feel pretty good here," Gilleran said. "We feel like we can compete with every team on Friday night, but also we feel like we can win every game. We're at a good point right now as long as we don't sustain any bad injuries and continue to get better each week."
This season also saw a change in the 6A-West with Texarkana making a move down to Class 5A, while Little Rock Hall (1-2) moved over from the 6A-East.
"We feel like we've got a chance to win every conference game," he said. "I feel that way strongly. The two best teams would be Benton and Greenwood, but hopefully by then, we're clicking on all cylinders because they're week nine and 10."
Week 4
Other matchups this week include Little Rock McClellan (3-0) at Hot Springs (0-3), Lakeside (1-2) at Camden Fairview (1-2), Fountain Lake (3-0) at Joe T. Robinson (3-1), Bauxite (3-0) at Malvern (0-3), Jessieville (2-1) at Perryville (1-2), Mineral Springs (3-0) at Mount Ida (3-0), Bismarck (1-2) at Camden Harmony Grove (2-1), Smackover (2-1) at Centerpoint (2-1), Mountain Pine (1-2) at Cutter Morning Star (1-2) and England (0-3) at Magnet Cove (1-2).
Sports on 09/21/2018