Booneville is in a playoff bracket for a state co-leading 49th time. The program was one behind Rison coming into the season but, in a rarity, the Wildcats did not earn a postseason berth, so it is now a tie at 49.
The Bearcats are 85-43 all time in the postseason, a .664 winning percentage.
Bearcat Stadium is set to host a playoff game for the 67th time Friday. The Bearcats are 53-13 in postseason games played at home (.803), including wins in the last 11 elimination games on Doug Scheel Field.
Omitting seasons in which they had a bye Friday marks the 25th time the Bearcats have played a first-round game in which there were 30 teams in their playoff bracket. They are 19-5 in those games.
While a number of Class 3A and 4A teams across Arkansas has at least a moderate playoff history with the Bearcat program, that is not true of Quitman, the 2025 opening round opponent.
• Mascots: Booneville Bearcats; Quitman Bulldogs
• When: 7 PM, November 14, at Doug Scheel Field at Bearcat Stadium
• Series: Teams have never met
• Streak: Teams have never met
• Last Meeting: Teams have never met
• First Meeting: Teams have never met
• Conference Affiliations: Booneville is 3A-1 and is less than a 2-seed for the first time since 2016. Quitman is 4-seed from the 3A-2.
TODAY IN BEARCAT FOOTBALL HISTORY: The Bearcats are 7-5 all time in games documented to have been played on November 14. Half of those are playoff games, in which the Bearcats are 4-2 and 2-0 at home.
The greatest of those is undoubtedly the November 14, 2008 game at Malvern, a 30-29 Bearcat win.
Malvern went in front 29-27 with an improbable 2-point conversion with 17 seconds left after Booneville spent all of their time outs to try to influence a go-ahead PAT try.
After the kickoff Brock May threw a 54-yard pass to Chase Carolan to get the Bearcats to the Malvern 4-yard line and, after center Doug Cagle got everyone to the line of scrimmage, May spiked the ball with 0.3 seconds to play. Juan Rios then kicked a 21-yard game winner.
Carolan ran for 111 that night in addition to the reception to set up the winning field goal and Colton Waters ran for 119.
There is also a father-son rushing attack on November 14ths. In 1986 it was Rusty McDonald running for 115 yards in a 20-0 win at Berryville and in 2003 it was Jeremy McDonald running for 136 in a first round game.
On November 14, 2014 Josh Smith ran for 140 yards in a 45-7 win over Barton.
FOUR QUARTERS: 1st quarter: Hunter Warren is 33 yards away from the 2,500-yard career mark. 2nd quarter: Quitman is the 64th different playoff opponent in program history. 3rd quarter: With sacks by Sadler Miller (21, shown), Conner Mayor, and Seth Wilson, the sack count for the season has climbed to 21 and the interception mark is at 13 with one by Brendan Hubble. 4th quarter: Class of 2026 players picked up their 30th win as senior high players, though the count is actually 35 for those who played as freshmen.
THEME: The pep rally theme is black out.
BEARCATS SET FOR PLAYOFFS FOR STATE LEADING 49TH TIME
