Blue Devils look to complete 10-0 perfect regular season on the road against Mountain Home Bombers

Blue Devils look to complete 10-0 perfect regular season on the road against Mountain Home Bombers

West Memphis can lock up top seed in the East, homefield advantage with win Thursday night

WM School District The objectives are all now in sight for the West Memphis Blue Devils, and after checking off one of their boxes last week they are ready to check off two more this week.

With the No. 1 seeding from the 6A-East Conference secured after last week's 24-23 victory at home over Pine Bluff, the Blue Devils can, with a victory Thursday night at Mountain Home (0-9, 0-6 6A East), clinch the conference championship outright and at the same time become the seventh team in school history to finish undefeated in the regular season.

The undefeated teams in school history include 1958, 1988, 1996, 2005, 2008 and 2009. The '58 and '08 teams had one tie each in their respective seasons.

Kickoff at Mountain Home Thursday night is set for 7 p.m.

The team's ultimate goal, as is most any team's before the season begins, is to win the 6A state championship, which would be the first in school history.

But first things first.

A conference championship would be the school's first since head coach Lanny Dauksch's 2011 team, which was Dauksch's eighth straight league title.

But it sounds like, from current head coach Billy Elmore's comments, that the undefeated regular season would be the most coveted between that and the conference championship.

'It means a lot,' Elmore said of the undefeated season. 'It's one of those things that puts you into history. It's not like a state championship, but it will make people talk about you for a long time.

Honestly, I think it would mean more to me than it would our players. I don't think they fully grasp the meaning of an undefeated regular season.'

'I've never been on a team, playing or coaching, where my team has gone undefeated,' Elmore added. 'Hopefully, we've raised the bar on the standard that we as a program we want to reach. I think it's a big deal to win conference championships and I definitely think it's a big deal to go undefeated in the regular season.'

While the Blue Devils are busy trying to run the table in the regular season, the rest of the East Conference will be playing for playoff seeding. The most important game on Thursday night will take place in Jonesboro as the Hurricane take on Marion in a game that could force a threeway tie for second place.

West Memphis (9-0 overall, 6-0 in the conference) will be overwhelming favorites to beat Mountain Home, which is winless on the season. The Bombers are winless in their last 11 games and their last victory came on Oct. 20 with a 49-6 decision over Little Rock Hall.

Mountain Home's closest game this season was a 2215 loss to Jacksonville.

Still, Elmore is well aware of the kind of problems Mountain Home could pose to his Blue Devils.

The reason is simple.

The Bombers' tripleoption offense can be hard to defend.

Elmore stated last year after Mountain Home gave his team fits in the first half before the Blue Devils charged back for a 42-23 win, that his defense may always have trouble defending a triple option.

'It's so different,' Elmore said of the triple option. 'I think we're probably better suited to play this year than we were last year.

Playing Mountain Home is very similar to playing Wynne. They're going to be big. They're going to run right at you. In their offense a three-yard gain up the middle is what they'll take every time. It allows them to go for it on fourth down, whereas normally your defense gives up a three-yard gain and you're like 'that's a good play for the defense.' You've got to be very disciplined to defend a team like Mountain Home.'

The last time West Memphis visited Mountain Home, the favored Blue Devils were allowed just six offensive possessions for the entire game, and they scored on four of them, but three of the touchdowns got called back because of penalties and the Blue Devils ended up losing 14-7.

'I think we'll be dialed in this time,' said Elmore.

By Billy Woods