MARION, Ark.-The second season in high school football begins tonight in the state of Arkansas.
Arkansas High (5-5, 3-4) will travel to Northeast Arkansas to take on Marion (5-5, 4-3) in the first round of the Conference 6A playoffs.
"I think how you travel is important," Arkansas High head football coach Barry Norton said. "In the playoffs, you always get on the road and go. It doesn't bother me at all. As long as our kids our good and our plans our good. If we go perform well and play well, we'll have a chance to win the ball game."
The Hogs are led by juniors wideout Irijah Price and Jordan Hall offensively. Price has 38 grabs for 794 yards and eight touchdowns, while averaging 20.8 yards per catch. Hall has 655 yards on 123 carries and averages 5.3 yards per rush.
Junior Drake Browning will also play a vital role in the AHS offense, whether its at receiver, punter, quarterback or running back. Browning has 387 yards on 75 carries and three touchdowns rushing, while snagging 14 passes for 223 yards. Browning has also thrown nine touchdowns this year.
The Hogs defense has also been a mainstay in this year's group.
Juniors Tre Cleveland and Demetrias Charles are the leaders of this bunch. Cleveland has a team-leading 115 tackles this season and Charles has 10 sacks.
"Cleveland had quite a few tackles in the ball game last week," Norton said. "Cameron Collier did a good job for us last week as well. Defensively, I thought we played well but we played too much. We're lighter than most defensive fronts, which makes us more productive. We can't play from behind, and we have to give our offense more opportunities. More offensive production will keep our defense off the field and refreshed."
Cleveland, Charles, Collier and the rest of the Hogs defense will have the daunting task of attempting to contain Marion's dual-threat quarterback senior Jacob Green. Green has passed for 2,080 yards and 17 touchdowns in the air, while rushing for 311 yards on 114 totes.
"Marion is a team that I don't know much about," Norton said. "I've seen film on them and they have a good football team. The quarterback is very dynamic. He's a scrambler, who is streaky passing. When he gets hot, he's really hot. Our defensive line will have to stay in their lane and follow their assignment. We have to stop the run and not let the quarterback beat us scrambling around."
Arkansas High is the fifth seed out of the Conference 6A-West and Marion is the fourth seed from Conference 6A-East.
"They're really aggressive defensively and they can run," Norton said. "It'll be a great challenge but, if we play our best, I believe we can win. We have to find a way to maximize our effort and play our very best this week."
Texarkana leads the series over Marion, 1-0.
Kickoff is at 7 p.m. at Patriot Stadium.