The Bearcats will celebrate Homecoming tonight when West Fork comes to town for the 13th meeting between the schools.
West Fork enters the game 3-1 overall and 0-1 in the 3A-1, coming off an 18-14 loss to Mansfield in their conference opener last week. The Bearcats are also 3-1 and 1-0 after a wild win in Hackett to open Conference 3A-1 play.
With their three nonconference wins (Green Forest, Berryville, Paris) West Fork has matched its win total of 2021, when the Tigers were a playoff team.
The Bearcats are led this season by Dax Goff who has 594 yards rushing. Trace Hall has added 425 yards on the ground and fullback Cody Elliott is at 258 yards as well.
Goff also leads the defense with 41 total tackles and nine tackles for a loss. Demari Poole has 28 tackles and a team best 2.5 sacks.
Mascots: Booneville Bearcats; West Fork Tigers
When: 7 p.m., 9-30, at Doug Scheel Field at Bearcat Stadium
Series: Booneville leads 11-1-0 (0.917)
Last Meeting: Bearcats 42 West Fork 0 on 10-4-19
Streak: Booneville has won last 5
First Meeting: Bearcats 35 West Fork 7 on 11-22-1985
Conference Affiliations: Both Booneville and West fork are 3A-1
NOTABLE: The first two meetings between Booneville and West Fork were playoff games.
The Bearcats recorded a safety against West Fork in 2018. There were three safeties by the Bearcat defense that season but there have been none since.
Although West Fork hasn't been on the schedule since 2019, some players are familiar with each other because the schools met in junior high in 2020 as a replacement for a game canceled by Danville as well as in 2019 as conference foes in junior high.
THIS DATE IN BEARCAT FOOTBALL HISTORY: The Bearcats are 9-4-1 in games documented to have been played on September 30, with the most recent being a 14-0 win over Ozark in 2016 when Brandon Ulmer blocked a punt that Grant Rodatz returned for a touchdown.
On September 30, 1977 Mena was on an 18-game winning streak. The other Bearcats (there were only two football playing Bearcats then) had won a state title in 1976 and had their quarterback (the father of BHS volleyball coach Bailey Stringer) Joe Bunch back to try to repeat. The home Bearcats had Ronnie Littleton. Littlton, who ran for 189 yards, and Roy Stiles, who added 146 more, and snapped Mena's streak with a 22-6 win.
On September 30, 2005 Derek Davis ran for 182 yards in a 27-7 win over Ozark.
TONIGHT IN THE 3A-1: Bearcats v West Fork; Cedarville at Charleston: Greenland at Mansfield; Hackett at Lavaca
