What a season for Junction City.
The reigning Class 2A champions, buoyed by a 250-plus yard game from running back Jakiron Cook, are returning to the state championship game this week in Little Rock.
The Dragons, winners of 11 consecutive games, will take on a Fordyce squad that’s had a tremendous season of it’s own, winning 12 games. Junction City can be confident — they defeated the Redbugs once already this season — but the stage (a state title game) and the previous margin of victory (14-12) mean Saturday’s matchup should be a hard-fought one.
Win or lose, the Junction City players should be proud of their accomplishments. Winning 11 games is difficult. Playing for a state championship is incredibly challenging. It’s an accomplishment that’s only achieved through hour after hour of hard work, planning and dedication. Kudos to these students who have sacrificed and practiced and battled to get to this point and are now on the verge of another state title.
High school football is often bigger than the result on the field. Football teams have a way of bringing communities together, and the Dragons are no exception. A visit to Junction City on a Friday evening during football season demonstrates that quickly enough, as cars fill the parking lots outside the stadium, people fill the stands and the chairs they’ve brought ring the sidelines and cheer for their team.
Congratulations to Coach Brad Smith, who had big shoes to fill when JC alum Steven Jones, who led the Dragons to a state title last season, left for El Dorado. He’s done so admirably. Smith has been with the Dragons since 2003, and has played an important role in all seven of Junction City’s previous state titles. Here’s hoping he brings home the eighth in his first season as head coach.
The game is set for noon on Saturday at War Memorial Stadium. Go Dragons! We’re rooting for you.
The News-Times editorial board is comprised of general manager Rita Haldeman and managing editor Caleb Slinkard. To contact the board, email [email protected].