AWM turns focus to Hall

AWM turns focus to Hall

Blue Devils don’t want to overlook scary Warriors

WM School District Little Rock Hall is back on the West Memphis football schedule, and this week's game could be the one that vaults the Blue Devils back on track.

Hall, a perennial state basketball powerhouse, is anything but in football. In fact, before this season, the Warriors hadn't won a football game since Sept. 16, 2011 when they defeated Arkadelphia 35-21.

Before starting the year 20 this season with wins over Little Rock Fair and Little Rock Mills, Hall had lost 42 straight games.

The Blue Devils (3-2 overall, 1-1 in the 6A-East Conference) can get back on the winning track after losing a heart-breaker to Searcy last week 27-20.

But a key issue to think about before anyone starts planning on a Blue Devil runaway: The Warriors trailed defending state champ Pine Bluff by only 16-6 at halftime on Sept. 23 before losing 52-6.

'We try to preach it doesn't matter who you play, you try to play your best,' said West Memphis head coach Billy Elmore. 'That game against Pine Bluff was on the road. We're playing them at home. So, it would be easy to be sucked into the idea that Hall will be easy. It won't.

They've won a couple this year and they played Pine Bluff really hard.'

Hall has given up a lot of points this year, but the Warriors' offense has shown flashes of explosiveness. They averaged over three touchdowns per game through the first three weeks of the season.

For the Blue Devils, an offensive clean-up will be the focus after fumbling five times in the loss last week to Searcy.

'We addressed the fumbles, and our kids accepted the accountability,' said Elmore. 'We worked on ball security this week.

With the type of fumbles we had (last Friday) I don't think you can work on that type of ball security. It was just a bad night as far as hanging onto the football.'

Only 11 points and maybe a play or two separate the Blue Devils from a 5-0 start this season.

'We feel like we're knocking on the door,' Elmore added. 'We have the opportunity to be a real good football team. There are several elements of our team that are real strong.'

One of them rounding into shape is the receiving corps, which dazzled last Friday night. Junior Steven Stone caught two touchdown passes in traffic and along with Joshua Hinton and Jonathan Craig and rangy sophomore Marcus Whitaker, it looks like it will be a strength of the team.

In the meantime, the focus will be on Hall.

'They run and they throw a little bit,' Elmore stated.

'Obviously, they are very athletic. Their quarterback makes things happen and they've got a couple of receivers who do a good job. They scored right off the bat against Pine Bluff and forced Pine Bluff to punt on its first possession. They have the ingredients to put it all together. You just see a few rough edges.

You just hope they don't get all those rough edges polished up. This is the kind of game that scares you to death.'

By Billy Woods