Junction City ready to face Blytheville

During football games, it’s not uncommon for a quarterback to call an audible and change the play.

This fall, coaches across the state have had to make audibles with their schedules due to the coronavirus pandemic or teams not having enough players forcing cancellations.

The latter was the case for Junction City, who was slated to play at England tonight, but late last week, Junction City coach Brad Smith got word that the game wasn’t going to be played.

“England called us last Thursday (Sept. 17) and said they were canceling our game,” Smith said. “They said they were going to try and play the next night against Melbourne, and were sure they wouldn’t have enough bodies to play us.”

Having had a bye week last week following their 30-12 win over Foreman two weeks ago, and with another bye week coming up next week leading into their Oct. 9 showdown with Fordyce, Smith said his team could not be idle for three straight weeks.

“We needed to play a game,” Smith said. “We can’t be down three weeks. We lost the Haynesville (La.) game. We went ahead and thought that, ‘OK, we can use this time to get better ourselves.’ We thought we would play a game this week with England.

“When they called, it was scramble time. We tried two or three others and couldn’t make anything work. We tried a couple for the Oct. 2 week, but couldn’t make anything work.”

Enter Blytheville, a 4A school that is over 300 miles away from Junction City, and who will be hosting the Dragons (2-1) tonight.

Game time is set for 7 p.m.

“Blytheville was about the only thing open,” Smith said.

The Chickasaws (1-2) had a lengthy road trip themselves last week, falling 28-0 at McGehee. The Owls’ defense smothered Blytheville’s offense, holding the Chickasaws to 32 yards rushing.

For Smith, he is expecting a very physical game, and the Dragons will also have to fight the depth Blytheville has.

“It’s going to be a tough test. A very physical football game,” Smith said. “When you play somebody that’s got a bigger talent base, the sheer numbers will tell you that they’ll have more for sure. I don’t know about better, but definitely bigger.”

Junior quarterback Jeremiah Northern guides Blytheville’s offense.

Northern has completed 46 percent of his passes for 374 yards with one touchdown and three interceptions.

He also has 74 yards rushing on the season with one score on the ground.

Junior John Bruin has 30 carries for 109 yards and a touchdown, and sophomore Dee Wells averages 6.6 yards per carry with 92 yards and a touchdown on 14 carries this season.

At wide receiver, senior Kylen Wells has nine catches for 174 yards and a touchdown, while junior Ty’Quan Love has 12 catches for 92 yards.

Defensively, senior Maki Rainer leads the team with 32 tackles, including 10 solo stops in Blytheville’s 25-24 win over Osceola three weeks ago.

“They’re very talented,” Smith said. “They’ve got a quarterback who looks like he weighs about 215, 220, and he threw one 55 yards on a rope. It wasn’t floating. They’ve got two great running backs. Their linemen are really big. It’s what you would expect to see out of a good 4A program.”

Smith said the Dragons continued to hone their craft during their bye week.

“Just getting more continuity,” Smith said. “That’s why we have to play a game. You can only practice so long. You have to do it in real speed, real time with somebody trying to stop you from doing it. That’s when you see how far you’ve come along, what improvements you’ve made and what more that you have to make for the rest of the year.”

Smith said the Dragons will be making a few stops along the way to Blytheville.

“You always cut a trip up like that because you get stiff and lazy sitting on the bus,” Smith said. “You get out and shake off a few cobwebs, go find a good place to eat, eat a good meal and rest on in for the rest of the trip.”

If the Dragons are to come away with a win on the road, Smith said avoiding mistakes and forcing turnovers would be crucial.

“Not commit the dumb penalties and take advantage of field position when you get it,” Smith said. “We’re going to have to hold on to the football, and we’re going to have to get the football away from them a couple of times.”

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