IT'S GAME DAY

There is no “David” Friday night when Booneville hosts Charleston.

Booneville and Charleston, whose high school are separated by just 17.5 miles according to Google Maps, are no strangers to playing for conference titles and when the final horn sounds Friday night at Bearcat Stadium only one will be unbeaten in 3A-1 play.

Over the past five years the schools have combined to win eight conference titles. Bonneville has won five straight starting with a Class 4A conference in 2017. Charleston also won its conference that year.

Booneville won titles in both 2018 and 2019 when they were members of the 3A-1 with the Tigers, and again in 2020 and 2021 while in the 3A-4. Meanwhile Charleston was winning the 3A-1 the last two years.

If you’re looking for similarities there are plenty. Both are 6-1 with their loss coming at home on the same September night. It was Nashville winning in Charleston and Harding winning in Booneville.

Both also beat Ozark in nonconference play and both went on the road in their openers (Dollarway for the Bearcats and Elkins for Charleston) and won. Both have also beaten Greenland, Mansfield,and Hackett in 3A-1 play.

The Bearcats have also beaten West Fork while Charleston has also beaten Cedarville, again with both of those games played on the same September night.

The head coaches are both alumni of the opposing school with Doc Crowley a Tiger graduate and Ricky May an old Bearcat.

There are also differences, of course, with style of play being the obvious, at least on offense. Of course there is also a similarity there in that with the opposing defense, you will likely get hit.

Mascots: Booneville Bearcats; Charleston Tigers
When: 7 p.m., 10-21, at Doug Scheel Field at Bearcat Stadium
Series: Booneville leads 48-12-2 (0.790)
Last Meeting: Bearcats 21 Charleston 7 on 10-25-2019
Streak:Booneville has won last 3
First Meeting: Charleston 39 Bearcats 0 on 10-15-1920
Conference Affiliations: Both Booneville and Charleston are 3A-1

NOTES: Oddly there is little chance of rain. The 2015 game at Bearcat Stadium was played in the rain, as was the 2018 game at the venue. When the schools met in Booneville in junior high in 2019 it also rained.

THIS DATE IN BEARCAT FOOTBALL HISTORY: The Bearcats are 9-7 in game documented to have been played on October 21 with the most recent being a 17-7 loss to Dardanelle in 2016 which was the last conference loss by a Bearcat team.

On October 21, 1947 three passers (Don Dempsey, Orville Lewis, and Robert Ehren) out of a single wing offense combined to complete 14 passes for 201 yards. All were caught by Johnny Chambers, for all 201 yards.

Father and son, Andy and Anthony Napier ran for 164 and 178, respectively against Waldron on October 21 in 1983 and 2011.

TODAY IN THE 3A-1: Bearcats vs Charleston; Cedarville at Greenland; Hackett at West Fork; Lavaca at Mansfield