IT'S GAME DAY

Booneville won the first six times they faced off with West Fork. Since West Fork won in 2008, the Bearcats have won the next six.

After a brutal nonconference schedule the Bearcats (2-2, 1-0) opened Conference 3A-1 play last week with a 46-14 win over Hackett. West Fork (1-3, 0-1) lost 38-8 at Mansfield to open 3A-1 play.

Last Friday fullback Rylen Ray ran for a season high 82 yards last week and was one of six Bearcats to score touchdowns in a spread-the-wealth game that saw nine Bearcats gain a season best 426 yards on the ground.

The Bearcats owned third down last week, converting 8-of-10 themselves and limiting Hackett to 4-of-15, of which 2-of-11 was in the first half.

• Mascots: Booneville Bearcats; West Fork Tigers
• When: 7 PM, September 29, at Tiger Stadium in West Fork
• Series: Booneville leads 12-1-0 (0.923)
• Last Meeting: Bearcats 48 West Fork 21 on September 23, 2022
• Streak: Booneville has won last 6
• First Meeting: Bearcats 35 West Fork 7 on November 22, 1985
• Conference Affiliations: Both are 3A-1

TODAY IN BEARCAT FOOTBALL HISTORY: The Bearcats are 9-3-1 all time in games documented to have been played on September 29. Trent Goff was the quarterback who directed 98- and 90-yard drives in a 14-12 win over Mena on September 22, 1995. Jeremy Thomas scored both touchdowns and ran for 144 yards but it was a Glen Holt blocked field goal that preserved the win.

Dustin Blankenship returned a kickoff 90 yards for a touchdown for the difference in a 7-6 win over Greenwood on September 29, 1989. Greenwood led 6-0 after a second field goal when Blankenship had his kickoff return touchdown. The Bearcats had one first down all night, but got five turnovers with John Weaver, Bryan Wooldridge, and Joel McDonald recovering fumbles and Blankenship and Tommy Halford intercepting passes.

NOTES: The first two of the 13 meetings of the series between the Bearcats and Tigers were playoff games. Both were at Bearcat Stadium. For the first one Dale Man was on the staff at West Fork. He once said that as soon as the canon went off he looked at his kids and thought they might as well get back on the bus. Fast forward to 1988 and Mann was on the home sideline when West Fork earned another trip to Booneville and lost 36-0. The starting quarterback for the Tigers that night was Rodney Selph, who had been Mann’s junior high quarterback in 1985. Tonight Selph is the Tiger’s head coach, now in his second stint with his alma mater.