Bulldogs have this one “marked”

Bulldogs have this one “marked”

Earle renews old rivalry with Marked Tree on Friday

Sports Editor The Marked Tree Indians are playing a number of youngsters on their football roster, but that doesn’t mean that Earle can overlook them this Friday night.

Earle is 2-2 overall and 10 in the league, but head coach A.C. Coleman knows that this is when his team needs to turn it on, rather than hitting the cruise control.

“I think everyone is excited about the opportunity to go up the road to play at Marked Tree,” Coleman said yesterday.

Marked Tree will enter play at 2-2, the same overall record as Earle, but the Indians lost their conference opener last week, a 36-16 decision to East Poinsett County.

Earle won at Marked Tree last fall, and this will mark the second year in a row that the Bulldogs will play there.

The game will also be the renewal of an old rivalry between the schools. That clash is based on proximity, and the constant lure of competing for a league title.

“Before I got here in 2007, there was a big brawl between the schools after a football game,” Coleman recalled. “You have to remember that this is the closest school that we play. They’re just up the road from us too, so just based on that, if we were going to have a rivalry with anybody in the conference, then it would have to be Marked Tree.”

The game will mark Earle’s fourth road game in five outings on Friday night, which is actually a preference of Coleman during his time in Crittenden County.

Two years ago, Earle played just four home games, but still won a share of a three-way tie for the 2A-3 league title with East Poinsett County and Cross County.

“This is all about trying to be playoff-ready,” says Coleman, whose teams have won nine postseason games since taking over the Earle program in 2011.

“Our goal is to win the conference be the number 1 seed, but you never know it’s gonna go. So, as far as that goes, I like playing away in a harsh-type of environment where we may not be familiar with the facilities, like sometimes we have a little small locker room. That’s really the whole point of playing away games like we do.”

Earle beat Salem at home last week 28-14, and they are looking for at least a share of their third straight league 2A-3 league title after that three-way tie in 2014 and a split title with Cross County last year.

Kickoff in Marked Tree is scheduled for 7 p.m.

By Chuck Livingston