Sports

WHITE HALL PLAYING FOR SEED AT MCCLELLAN

By Troy Schulte/OF THE COMMERCIAL STAFF
Friday, October 23, 2009 12:49 AM CDT

Tonight’s game at Little Rock McClellan doesn’t hold the same stakes as last week’s home game against Monticello, but White Hall has found ways to get up for its latest 5A-Southeast Conference contest.

The motivation for the Bulldogs, who most likely missed out on a chance to win a conference title with the 12-6 loss to the Billies at Bulldog Stadium, lies in the possibility that it can earn the conference’s No. 2 seed in the state playoffs.

Coach Mike Vaughn thinks a win at 7 p.m. tonight would ensure a playoff spot and any win after that will just improve the Bulldogs’ seed.

“We’ve got to take care of business and see what happens,” Vaughn said. “Right now, our goal is to win out and have a home (playoff) game.”

Vaughn said he and his players were still pretty disappointed on Friday night and even into Saturday following the loss to the Billies. But by Sunday, and especially once practice began on Monday, he said the Bulldogs (5-2, 3-1) had put that behind them, and all their focus had turned to McClellan.

McClellan (1-6, 0-4) enters tonight’s game at Lions Stadium having lost five straight games. But the Lions are coming off one of their most promising games of the season. They lost last week to Beebe 46-41, in a game in which coach Anthony Chambers said his team scored more points than in any game since current Arkansas State star Reggie Arnold was a Lion.

The end result was disappointing, yes, but Chambers said it allows his players to enter with a certain degree of confidence.

“We’re still pretty young and we’re growing up a little bit,” said Chambers, who added his team has just eight seniors. “My thing is, to just tell them to continue to fight. If they continue to fight, you never know what is going to happen.”

The Lions used a passing attack to post their best offensive output in more than four seasons as quarterback Terrance Ingram threw a pair of touchdowns to sophomore Nicholas Cooper, who caught nine passes for 138 yards.

Vaughn isn’t too worried after he watched what his defense did last week. The Bulldogs limited the conference’s premier offense to just one touchdown.

White Hall’s defense, other than a 47-14 loss to Watson Chapel on Sept. 11, has played well all year. It has done that with a consistent pass rush from defensive end Dion Young and sure-tackling from linebackers Tyler Robinson and Spencer Lybrand. Also, his team staying mostly healthy, other than a dislocated kneecap that sidelined quarterback/linebacker Matt Taylor for three games, has made it so Vaughn has worried too much about the number of players he has playing both offense and defense.

“We’ve gotten better each week,” Vaughn said. “That’s a sign of a good football team and a sign of a good coaching staff. These guys have done a heck of a job.”

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