Rivalry game puts spotlight on St. Jude
WM School District A trip to St. Jude Children’s Hospital, a program hosted by ASU Mid-South and a press conference.
The West Memphis-Marion football game has gone beyond its normal forcefulness this year thanks to several local entities.
The Blue Devils and Patriots, both with identical records heading into their 6A-East Conference opener, tangle for the 16th time in history on Friday night at 7 at Hamilton-Shultz Field.
And if you think two sub.500 records will temper excitement among the fan bases, then consider what Fred Leonard and Grandon Gray have already done on behalf of this year’s game.
Those two were the brainchildren of the Hometown Showdown, which began Tuesday with four players from both teams, their head coaches, their cheerleaders, representatives from both schools and more benefactors melded together for an entire day of celebration of the biggest sporting event in Crittenden County.
Leonard and Gray headed up the St. Jude Day of Service, which found the players and school reps spending an entire morning touring St. Jude Children’s Hospital.
The reps were then driven back to West Memphis and the campus of ASU Mid-South, where the school and the Sonny Weems Foundation sponsored a program celebrating the big game and then an honest-to-goodness press conference, which featured media from both sides of the rivalry.
And the pre-game activities don’t end there.
In the last five to six years West Memphis-Marion pregames have increased in size and activities, but they will all pale in comparison to Friday night’s Hometown Showdown, which Leonard said will feature music and live entertainment as well as more food than in previous years.
The teams’ visit to St.
Jude was especially memorable for the players, three of whom had never experienced.
“We pass by it all the time when driving to Memphis, but to actually see all the buildings and facilities it really brings it home,” said Blue Devil quarterback Owens McConnell.
“The people there are very special.”
One Blue Devil, senior offensive lineman Chris Morris, actually had visited St. Jude before.
“I’ve been before, but it just gets even more special,” he said. “Our tour guide was asking questions and I knew some of the answers. That was pretty cool.”
The Patriots will be looking to defeat the Blue Devils for the first time in history. They’ve been blown out on a few occasions, but they’ve also just missed on upsetting the Blue Devils, particularly last season when West Memphis held off Marion when Curtis Hill knocked away a two-point conversion pass by Patriot QB Daedrick Cail with 3:39 to play in the fourth quarter.
The Blue Devils held on for a 22-20 victory en route to their 6A-East Conference championship and undefeated regular season.
Despite their record, the Patriots are not without big-time firepower, particularly with Cail, who returns as a junior this year. Cail is one of the top overall athletes in Arkansas after being tabbed the state’s Sophomore of the Year in both football and baseball. “I think it’s his ability to not do anything to beat them that is most impressive,” said West Memphis head coach Billy Elmore.
“Cail has the ability to beat you with his arm or his feet, and he gives his team a good chance to win each week.”
