On the football field, every matchup is key. But for tonight’s 6A playoff game between El Dorado and Jonesboro, the battle lines will be drawn up front.
Specifically, the Wildcats’ offensive line vs. the Hurricane’s front four on defense will be crucial.
El Dorado (4-6) travels to Jonesboro (7-3) tonight.
The Hurricane features one of the better players in the state in Jashaud Stewart, a 6-2, 224-pound defensive end who has committed to the University of Arkansas. Stewart projects to linebacker at the collegiate level.
“He’s very explosive. He’s not a huge defensive lineman but he gets off the ball, probably, better than anybody we’ve seen this season,” said El Dorado coach Steven Jones.
“As far as his motor and how he gets off the ball, I think he is one of the better defensive players we’ve seen this season.”
Stewart had nine tackles, including four quarterback sacks in last week’s 34-25 loss to Marion.
He won’t be the first outstanding defensive lineman El Dorado has seen.
The Wildcats see two of the best every day in practice in Quentin Frazier and Jacoby Hankton. But Jonesboro’s defensive line could be the difference in advancing in the playoffs or heading into the off-season.
“I think the strength of their team is their defensive line,” said Jones. “They’ve done a great job of stopping the run. They’re outstanding pass rushers. A lot of the times that we’ve seen the defensive line being dominant, a lot of times they were going up against an (offensive) line that was average. We feel like up front, we match up with them.
“We feel like we have two of the better tackles in the state. When we go up against a team with two good defensive ends, the game plan doesn’t change. We just have to go out and execute.
“There’s a good player on the other side of the ball but we have good players, too.”
Before last week’s loss, the Hurricane had won 5-of-6 games, beating Sylvan Hills (31-7), Searcy (44-34), Pine Bluff (37-14), Jacksonville (51-14) and Mountain Home (32-7).
The other league loss was to West Memphis (24-21).
In the losses, Jones said West Memphis pounded the ball in the Single Wing while Marion had success throwing the football.
“What we do is going to come down to matchups. We’ll take what they give us,” Jones said.
The Wildcats would love to establish a ground game with Alex Hicks. Easier said than done against Jonesboro, which focuses on stopping the run with its base 4-3 alignment.
“Yeah, up front our offensive line has to have their best game of the season,” said Jones. “They’ve been very focused in their preparation. We feel like we have a very motivated group. We have a group that wants to go out and compete and wants to prove they are one of the better (offensive) lines in the state. They’ve got an opportunity to do that this week.”
The Hurricane will have the best overall defensive line El Dorado has seen this season. Jones said the rest of the defense is sturdy as well.
“At linebacker level, they do a better job of getting in pass drops than most teams we’ve seen. I think that’s attributed to the four guys up front being so physical that the linebackers are able to play in space a little bit more, so they don’t have to load the box up when they have four down linemen that are pretty solid,” he said. “In the secondary, they have some lengthy guys back there that can make plays.”
Offensively, Jonesboro will lean on junior quarterback Cross Jumper.
A dual-threat, he passed for 222 yards and a pair of touchdowns last week. Dryden Bartels had five receptions for 131 yards.
“I think their (offensive) line does a pretty good job. They want to run the football. Their quarterback is a guy that likes to scramble and make plays. They run a lot of quarterback-designed runs with him as well. He does a good job for them this season,” said Jones.
“(Bartels) is a very explosive player at wide receiver. He is their leading receiver. They have a couple running backs that rotate in and out. I know one of their backs is over a thousand yards for the season. They’ve done a good job of getting the ball to their playmakers.
“Offensively, they’re very similar to what we like to do as far as scheme. You’ll see some spread sets and then some fullback-oriented sets. We feel like that could be an advantage in that we see that every day in practice.”
El Dorado’s defense is coming off four solid performances, dating back to the loss to Benton. Jones said he likes the confidence his defense has shown recently.
“It’s understanding responsibility and maybe playing a step faster, too. I feel like now with their reads, when they see something, they react a little bit quicker than they did at the beginning of the season, specifically at linebacker,” he said.
“The defensive line has been key, too, in just making plays. It’s a good thing when you have three guys up front who can all get off the ball and force attention towards them and they can make plays.”
As far as special teams, Jonesboro returned two kickoffs for touchdowns against Searcy. Jones believes his team has solved its punt game issues.
El Dorado enters the playoffs with just one victory (Camden Fairview) over a team with a winning record. The Wildcats will face a Jonesboro team that was one win away from a top-seed and a first-round bye.
“We’re playing a team that if they would’ve beat Marion on Friday, they would’ve been the one seed,” said Jones. “We’re excited to play great competition. If we want to make a run in the playoffs, we have to compete and beat some of the better teams. We feel like that’s who we’re matched up against, one of the better teams in the state.
“The team has really come together. In our locker room, there’s a sense of urgency in proving to the rest of the state that we are a good football and we can beat anybody we play.”