Osceola has enjoyed a two-game homestand but will soon have to dust off their road jerseys. They will take on the Booneville Bearcats at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.
It can be hard to translate regular season success to the playoffs, but Osceola had no problem doing just that on Friday. They simply couldn't be stopped as they easily beat Fouke 64-0 at home. The game was all but wrapped up at the end of the third, by which point Osceola had established a 56 point advantage.
Osceola's win was a true team effort, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Tyler Bell, who threw for 156 yards and two touchdowns while completing 85.7% of his passes, and also punched in a rushing score. The team also got some help courtesy of Jeremiah Jacobs, who rushed for 157 yards and a touchdown while picking up 8.7 yards per carry.
Meanwhile, Booneville entered their tilt with Drew Central with seven consecutive wins but they'll enter their next game with eight. Booneville blew past Drew Central 56-14 at home. Given Booneville's advantage in MaxPreps' Arkansas football rankings (they are ranked 43rd, while Drew Central is ranked 147th), the result on Friday wasn't entirely unexpected.
Osceola's win was their third straight at home, which pushed their record up to 4-8. They've been dominating during the matchups in that stretch too, as they've won by an average of 42 points. As for Booneville, their win bumped their record up to 9-2.
Things could have been worse for Osceola, but things could have been a whole lot better as they took a 35-20 loss to Booneville when the teams last played back in November of 2022. Can Osceola avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
