The Lions don’t have the eye-popping numbers of a year ago, but running back Michael Croasdell (119 carries, 641 yards) is a state sprint champion capable to taking it to the house from anywhere on the field.

“We’re going to give it our best shot,” Floyd said. “We’re not playing as well offensively as we’d like. But we’ve done enough to win.”

This week, the Tigers play at Booneville (7-0, 4-0) in a game that could put them in a tie for first place and secure them a playoff spot with a victory.

“We’d love to just get that monkey off our back and get a playoff spot,” Selph said. “But with Booneville, that team is so talented. Ideally, we want to stop the run and defend the pass, but that’ll be difficult. For us, we have to get our running game going to have a chance.”

Lions Keep On Winning

GRAVETTE — Throughout everything, Gravette has continued to do this season what it’s become accustomed to in recent years.

Win.

The Lions, after winning 19 games over the past two seasons, defeated Farmington last week to improve to 7-0 overall, 4-0 in the 4A-1 Conference. Next up comes the game that has served as a barometer in each of the past two seasons — No. 1 Shiloh Christian.

The Saints (6-1, 4-0) have defeated Gravette by identical 49-14 scores in each of the past two seasons.

“We’ve got to play our best game to have a chance to be part of the game,” Gravette coach Bill Harrelson said. “We’re going to have to play our best game.

“We can’t have missed tackles, we can’t have dropped footballs, let alone anything.”

The Lions suffered from nine fumbles against Farmington last week, bringing their total over the past two games to 14. Fortunately against the Cardinals, Gravette only lost one of the fumbles. Harrelson said there will be no room for such mistakes against Shiloh.

“We’ll have to play the perfect game, but like I said, I don’t think I’ll ever say this team amazes me anymore,” Harrelson said.

“We’ll see what happens.”

— KURT VOIGT

Cardinals Look To Bounce Back

FARMINGTON — The Cardinals appeared to be on track against Gravette last week.

Farmington (4-2-1, 3-1) led the Lions 13-7 at halftime, having outgained Gravette 109-31 in total yardage. The Cardinals even forced 9 fumbles by the Lions in the game, thanks in large part to the play of nose guard J.J. Clay, but they only recovered one.

“(Clay) pressured that center all night long,” Farmington coach Mike Adams said. “It’s really frustrating when you have opportunities and don’t cash in on them.”

Despite the early success, as well as the continued strong running of sophomore Jared Martin (111 yards on 26 carries), Gravette rallied in the second half for the win. Next up for Farmington is a key game against a much-improved Huntsville (3-4, 2-2).

“We’ll bounce back,” Adams said. “These kids work hard. They’ll learn from (the Gravette loss) hopefully.”

— KURT VOIGT

Shiloh Dealing With Injuries

SPRINGDALE — Heading into the biggest game of the regular season, the Shiloh Christian Saints could be without two key players Friday when they host unbeaten Gravette at Champions Stadium.

Two-way lineman Samuel Harvil is questionable for the game with a knee injury, said Saints coach Josh Floyd on Tuesday. Floyd said Harvill was injured in the Prairie Grove game two weeks ago and did not practice Tuesday.

“We’re not 100 percent sure if we’ll have Sam or not,” Floyd said. “It’s a knee issue.”

The Saints could also be without running back Garrett Harper, who has been battling injuries for most of the season.

“He hurt his elbow against Gentry,” Floyd said. “He’s probably doubtful for Friday night.”

— CHIP SOUZA

On Farmington’s second play following the touchdown, Gravette’s Nick Hendren intercepted a Chance Hyslip pass and returned it 27 yards for a touchdown and a 27-13 Lions lead with 3:53 remaining.

“There’s a reason they’re 7-0,” Farmington coach Mike Adams said of Gravette. “They’re pretty dang good.

“We had our chances and didn’t get it done, and they did.”

The Cardinals (4-2, 3-1) outgained Gravette 109 yards to 31 in the first half, led by big plays on defense. The Lions aided in Farmington’s cause, fumbling the ball nine times in the game but only losing one.

“We had to tackle,” Adams said. “In the first three quarters, we tackled and in the last one, we didn’t.

“We had a good plan against them, and for three quarters we executed it and in the fourth quarter, we didn’t.”

Sophomore Jared Martin rushed for 111 yards on 26 carries to lead the Cardinals.

Gravette travels to Shiloh Christian next week, while Farmington hosts Huntsville.

GRAVETTE 27, FARMINGTON 13

Farmington    0    13    0    0
Gravette    6    0    7    14
First Quarter
Grav — O’Brien 54 pass from Moorman (kick failed), 3:42
Second Quarter
Farm — Clay 2 pass from Hyslip (Magana kick), 7:31
Farm — Martin 7 pass from Hyslip (kick failed), 4:24
Third Quarter
Grav — Eden 27 pass from Moorman (Montee kick), 1:57
Fourth Quarter
Grav — Moorman 2 run (Montee kick), 4:32
Grav — Hendren 27 interception return (Montee kick), 3:53

Farm    Grav
First Downs    14    10
Rushes-Yards    42-103    33-50
Passing Yards    126    157
Comp-Att-Int    11-24-2    6-9-0
Punts    4-26    4-34
Fumbles-Lost    4-1    9-1
Penalties-Yards    6-30    6-45

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING—Farmington, Martin 26-111, Clay 6-26, Boudrey 1-(minus 7), Hyslip 9-(minus 27). Gravette, Strzelecki 2-30, Croasdell 10-28, Moorman 16-27, Greenhaw 1-0, Eden 2-(minus 1), TEAM 2-(minus 34).
PASSING—Farmington, Hyslip 11-24-2-126. Gravette, Moorman 6-9-0-157.
RECEIVING—Farmington, Clay 4-52, Edwards 1-28, Boudrey 3-27, Martin 2-16, Ryan 1-5. Gravette, O’Brien 1-54, Eden 3-37, Croasdell 1-36, Hendren 1-30.
MISSED FIELD GOALS—None.

Perhaps the biggest factor in tonight’s game is the winner will have four conference wins, which is enough to secure a playoff spot. Both coaches said their players have kept that in mind this week during practices.

“The game is so important for so many reasons, but the fact that the winner will get to four wins, that’s huge,” Adams said. “It’s certainly a motivation for all of us. Hopefully, we can play well enough to limit what Gravette does and come away with a win.”

Adams said he’s hoping senior quarterback Chance Hyslip, who has passed for 431 yards and four touchdowns, can continue keeping Farmington’s offense effective on every possession.

Running backs Jared Martin and Deon Clay have also combined for 776 rushing yards and six touchdowns.

“This game is always a battle, it’s just always been that way,” Harrellson said. “We’re expecting Farmington’s best shot, we’ve been preparing for that all week.”

“He ran the ball hard tonight and had two interceptions on defense,” Harrelson said. “I’m sure he was upset with himself on that fumble, and rightly so. But Michael has just don’t a great job.

“He had a huge night.”

While Huntsville limited Croasdell’s yardage, Gravette quarterback Colt Moorman made the most of his 19 carries. The senior gained 87 yards and also threw for 111 yards and a pair of touchdowns.

Despite falling behind as far as 28-7 in the third quarter, Huntsville rallied with two second-half touchdown runs by senior Wilson Phillips. His second touchdown cut the Gravette lead to 28-19 with 8 minutes, 13 seconds remaining, but a failed two-point conversion kept the Eagles two scores behind.

“We just cannot finish plays,” Huntsville coach Ken Harriman said. “In so many ways, we’re better. In so many ways, we’re still just a click away.

“I know it’s frustrating for (the players), and it’s frustrating for (the coaches).”

Huntsville quarterback Cody Stevens passed for 245 yards on 16 of 29 passing.

4A-1 Conference

GRAVETTE 28, HUNTSVILLE 19

Huntsville    7    0    6    6    —    19
Gravette    7    14    7    0    —    28
First Quarter
Grav — Croasdell 48 pass from Moorman (Montee kick), 8:36
Hunt — Neal fumble recovery (Escobedo kick), 3:45
Second Quarter
Grav — Croasdell 1 run (Montee kick), 10:39
Grav — Croasdell 21 run (Montee kick), :55
Third Quarter
Grav — O’Brien 27 pass from Moorman (Montee kick), 5:38
Hunt — Phillips 2 run (kick failed), 2:09
Fourth Quarter
Hunt — Phillips 1 run (pass failed), 8:13

Hunt    Grav
First Downs    18    16
Rushes-Yards    38-95    44-187
Passing Yards    245    111
Comp-Att-Int    17-30-2    6-9-0
Punts    3-29    2-23
Fumbles-Lost    1-1    5-2
Penalties-Yards    7-60    5-45

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING—Huntsville, Hoskins 17-54, Phillips 11-29, Neal 1-9, Gurley 1-6, Wages 1-6, Stevens 2-(minus 9). Gravete, Moorman 19-86, Croasdell 16-46, Strzelecki 3-54, Eden 2-5, O’Brien 1-(minus 2), TEAM 3-(minus 3).
PASSING—Huntsville, Stevens 16-29-2-207, Phillips 1-1-0-38. Gravette, Moorman 6-9-0-111.
RECEIVING—Huntsville, Willcutt 6-108, Furr 7-104, Kirk 3-24, No. 21 1-9. Croasdell 2-64, O’Brien 2-38, Hendren 1-18, Strzelecki 1-7.
MISSED FIELD GOALS—None.

GRAVETTE — It will be the high-octane offense of Huntsville against the stingy Gravette defense when the two teams collide in a 4A-1 Conference game in Gravette tonight.

Gravette (5-0, 2-0 4A-1) is giving up just eight points a game and the Lions have posted two shutouts. Huntsville, meanwhile, is averaging more than 30 points a game and the Eagles (2-3, 1-1) are fresh off an impressive 35-14 victory against Berryville last week.

Huntsville quarterback Cody Stevens passed for 314 yards and two touchdowns last week. Receivers Sean Furr and Jake Kirk are Stevens’ top targets and both had more than 100 yards receiving last week.

Huntsville can run the ball too, as running back Wilson Phillips ran for a pair of touchdowns last week

“We have good balance,” said Huntsville coach Ken Harriman. “We have run for about a 1,000 yards and Cody Stevens has passed for about 600 yards. We spread the ball around.”

All that offense has Gravette coach Bill Harrelson dizzy from watching film of the Eagles.

“Huntsville is the best 2-3 team that I have ever seen,” Harrelson said. “Offensively, they present a challenge as far as their balance. They have thrown for 300 yards in some games this year and in other games they have run for over 300 yards. You never know what you are going to get from Huntsville.

“Our defense has played so well but this is going to be another level.”

And that alone, Harrelson said, should have the Lions focused on Huntsville and not looking ahead to a showdown with Shiloh Christian in two weeks.

“We are not in a position to look ahead and I don’t think that should be a problem,” Harrelson said. “You can’t look ahead in this conference.”

Gravette also has a knack of putting points on the scoreboard. Running back Michael Croasdell has rushed for 676 yards and seven touchdowns while quarterbacks Colton Davis and Colt Moorman have combined for 592 yards passing and five touchdowns.

Fullback Travis Eden doesn’t show up in boxscore all that often but Harrelson said the senior has been a key cog in the offense.

“Travis is such a great lead blocker and he does a good job of leading Michael and Michael is smart enough to follow him,” Harrelson said.

GRAVETTE — A couple of defensive adjustments proved critical for Gravette (5-0, 2-0) on Friday.

Gentry jumped on Gravette for an early 14-0 lead but the Lions’ defense regrouped and only gave up a second-half field goal in a 30-17 victory.

Gravette has given up just 39 points in five games and for Bill Harrelson that has been one of the biggest surprises of the season.

“Our defense has played so well,” Harrelson said. “They really have been a surprise, a really pleasant surprise. I didn’t expect to have two shutouts and we are giving up less than eight points a game.

“They have done a good job running to the football. They did a great job Friday night after we made some adjustments to shutdown Gentry. Gentry has a powerful offensive team.”

Gravette hosts Huntsville Friday night.

GRAVETTE — In August, Gravette coach Bill Harrelson wondered what Lions players would step up and fill the void left by the graduation of quarterback Ethan McKinzie and running back Teddy Selby.

McKinzie accounted for more than 5,000 yards of offense in his three seasons in a Gravette uniform while Selby rushed for almost 1,300 yards a year ago.

Harrelson, however, dropped a big hint when he said expected senior Michael Croasdell to eclipse the 1,000-yard rushing mark and then some.

So far, Croasdell hasn’t disappointed Harrelson or his teammates as the 5-foot-10, 175-pound speedster has carried 94 times for 576 yards and six touchdowns for 5-0 Gravette.

But what has impressed Harrelson the most is that Croasdell has been effective inside and outside. Breaking long runs wasn’t a big concern for Harrelson as Croasdell has been clocked at 4.5 in the 40 and he won the Class 4A 100-meter dash last spring.

“We knew he could out-run people,” Harrelson said.

But Croasdell can also run over people and last week was a case in point. With Gravette trailing rival Gentry 14-7, Croasdell followed fullback Travis Eden through the left side of the Pioneers defense and didn’t stop until he reached the end zone 83 yards later.

Gravette would go on to win the game 30-17 to move to 2-0 in the 4A-1 Conference.

“I’m really impressed with the way he is running it up inside,” Harrelson said. “He is showing tremendous toughness carrying the ball 20, 25 times a game. Just an unbelievable job showing some moves he hasn’t shown before.”

Croasdell said it was difficult sitting on the sidelines the past two seasons when the Lions had the ball.

“It was tough because I wanted to run a lot more than I got to,” Croasdell said. “I did get to get in quite a bit and it was fun to run behind Teddy because he is a good friend of mine.”

Harrelson saw Croasdell’s potential coming out of junior high but knew there wouldn’t be a whole of carries to go around with Selby as the Lions’ bell cow. Croasdell was also a starter in the Lions secondary, as he is this season, in 2008 and that limited his junior varsity carries because Harrelson couldn’t risk Croasdell getting hurt.

“Michael never got a chance to get many carries and Michael is just now learning how to run the football again,” Harrelson said. “He is really running it tough inside.”

Croasdell said learning to find the holes opened up by the Lions’ offensive line has been the biggest obstacle in regaining his running form.

“I had a hard time with my vision, seeing the hole and seeing what people are going to do,” Croasdell said. “But things are going better because our offensive line is real good this year. I’m very proud of our offensive line because we have had some people step up.”

PLAYER PROFILE

Michael Croasdell
SCHOOL: Gravette
YEAR: Senior
POSITION: Running back/defensive back
HEIGHT: 5-10
WEIGHT: 175
NOTABLE: Croasdell has rushed for almost 600 yards this sason and has scored six touchdowns … also plays defensive back and has been clocked at 4.5 in the 40.

SPRINGDALE — Following last week’s lopsided 27-6 loss against Farmington, Gentry coach Brian Little told his players to simply let it go. As tough as it was, Little said the Pioneers had no other choice but to look ahead to their next opponent (Gravette) and start preparing like it was the first week of the season.

“It’s tough, but you can’t afford to look behind in this league, especially after a tough loss,” Little said. “No matter what, you have to keep looking forward, or before you know it, you’ll just find yourself in a worse situation.”

At 1-3 overall and 0-1 in the 4A-1 Conference, it’s still relatively early in the season. However, Little said Gentry is already facing a must-win this week against Gravette because the schedule doesn’t get any easier.

And the Pioneers certainly aren’t alone.

Out of the four teams (Gentry, Berryville, Huntsville and Pea Ridge) that started the conference season with a loss, all of them have only one win in four games this season, making the sense of urgency a growing concern.

“I know there are a lot of teams that need wins this week, there’s no question,” Little said. “Starting the conference season off with a loss isn’t easy, but teams have to get that win as soon as possible, because it builds confidence, it gets the wheels going in motion and really helps for situations down the road.”

To make things more interesting, this week is also rivalry week for teams in the 4A-1, with Farmington hosting Prairie Grove and Gentry hosting Gravette; Huntsville is also hosting Berryville in a pseudo-rivalry game of Madison County vs. Carroll County.

Prairie Grove coach Danny Abshier said the rivalry aspect of this week can sometimes change team’s approach to the games.

“People can easily focus on negative stuff away from the game, whether it’s rumors that get started or whatever,” said Abshier, whose Tigers are coming off a 49-30 victory against Huntsville, their first victory of the season. “But that’s not smart to do. Like I tell my kids, we keep our mouths shut and we go out and take care of what we need to take care of in order to try and win the game.”

Friday’s Games In 4A-1 Conference

Berryville at Huntsville
Prairie Grove at Farmington
Gravette at Gentry
Shiloh Christian at Pea Ridge

Signs littered the chain-link fences. Cars had the number painted on them. So did the two end zones, a 56 painted on either side of “LDC,” which stands for Lions Destruction Crew. Gravette and Pea Ridge players all stuck 56 decals on their helmets, and the Lions wore black T-shirts with a 56 on them.

Just inside the stadium, several junior and senior girls sold black ribbons for a $1, with the proceeds going to Russell’s family. One of them, 17-year-old Makayla Morrison, said Russell’s death affected so many people because he “was a friend to everyone.”

“You saw that at the candlelight vigil (Wednesday night),” Morrison said. “You saw people from all walks of life out here. He had friends in every group.”

Gravette athletic director Norman Mitchell said Russell could always induce a smile.

“He was kind of the behind-the-scenes jokester of the group,” Mitchell said. “He really was everyone’s buddy. He also was a great football player. He got thrown into the fire last year as a sophomore, started everyone game and performed well.”

Mitchell also commented that the town’s reaction to Russell’s death has impressed him.

“I’ve seen more out of our people this week than any other time,” Mitchell said. “This has been a tough time for the school, but it’s been a character-building time. This is just such a close-knit community.”

Gravette’s players and coaches exemplified Mitchell’s point even after Friday night’s game began. Gravette and Pea Ridge (1-3, 0-1) each started the game with 10 players on the field for the first play, out of respect to Russell.

The Lions put out their usual starting offense minus Russell. Senior running back Michael Croasdell took a pitch from senior quarterback Colt Moorman and darted 10 yards for a first down. After being tackled, Croasdell popped up and sprinted toward Gravette defensive coordinator Duke Mobley, football in hand.

Mobley took the ball, turned and ran toward the Gravette stands. His destination: The seats occupied by Russell’s parents, Blaine and Lori. Mobley jogged up the side stairs, across the front row and up some stadium stairs before handing the ball to Lori.

He embraced Lori and Blaine, as everyone in the stadium stood and clapped — players and officials included.

“I’ve had Casey in football since the 7th grade,” Mobley said. “He was very special to me, his family is very special to me, and it really did mean a lot to me to be able to do that.

“Really I was kind of numb at the time. You want to say something that’s not so much profound, but something that means a lot to them. I just told them how much he meant to me and to this school. I just said that Casey’s gone but he’s certainly not forgotten.”