Football Game Preview: Lamar Warriors vs. Dardanelle Sand Lizards

The Lamar Warriors will square off against the Dardanelle Sand Lizards at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Both come into the matchup bolstered by wins in their previous matches.

Lamar is headed in fresh off scoring the most points they have all season. They breezed past Dover to the tune of 42-7 on Friday. The Warriors haven't had any issues with the Pirates recently, as the game was their fifth consecutive victory against them.

Eli Jones

Rushing Yards

10/10/25 @ Dover	144
09/19/25 vs Heber Springs	123
09/26/25 @ Clinton	107
08/29/25 @ Huntsville	54
10/03/25 vs Mena	39
+ 1 more games

Eli Jones produced another solid effort rushing for 144 yards and a pair of scores on only 13 carries, while also throwing for 112 yards and two touchdowns while completing 77.8% of his passes. He has become a key player for Lamar: the team is 2-1 when he posts at least 80 rushing yards, but 1-2 otherwise. Ayden Sanders was another key player, gaining 114 total yards and two touchdowns.

They were just one part of a punishing run game: Lamar was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 331 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 176 rushing yards in seven consecutive contests dating back to last season.

On the other side of the ball, a lot of the credit has to go to Lamar's defense and their four sacks. The team can thank two different players for their defensive prowess: Rylan Mendez and Kasen Humphrey, who each picked up 1.5 sacks apiece. Lamar got some further help from Mendez: he picked up 1.5 sacks and made ten total tackles (2.0 for loss).

Meanwhile, Dardanelle is still undefeated this season after their game against Clinton on Friday, but Clinton came as close as anyone has to beating them. The Sand Lizards sure made it a nail-biter, but they managed to escape with a 26-24 win over the Yellowjackets.

Dardanelle's victory bumped their record up to 6-0. As for Lamar, their win was their first in the conference, bumping their conference record up to 1-2 and their overall record up to 3-3.

Lamar was dealt a bruising 51-14 defeat at the hands of Dardanelle in their previous meeting back in October of 2024. Will the Warriors have more luck at home instead of on the road? Check MaxPreps after the match for a full breakdown of the game, commentary, and other football content.