McCRORY, Ark. — The McCrory Jaguars open their season Friday, but it won’t be against the Barton Bears.
McCrory will instead host Lake Village, a late replacement for Barton after the Bears announced midweek last week that they were converting from 11-man football to eight-man football.
“We found I think it was Wednesday before the start of week zero,” said McCrory head coach Cade Campbell. “It’s an unfortunate situation with Barton, but we were lucky enough to find a game. We were able to fill it with Lake Village. That’s a plus. Our guys need to get out on the field and play and we were fortunate to be able to find a game.”
Campbell is entering his fifth season as the McCrory head football coach. He replaced Chris Kennon in 2022 after Kennon retired following McCrory’s 2021 state championship.
Campbell was the Jaguars’ quarterback during their 2015 state championship run.
Lake Village has a game under its belt, beating Carlisle last week 42-28. That game enabled the Jaguars’ coaches to scout their opponent.
“I’ve got some guys that can run. They do a great job of getting those guys in space and making it hard on the defensive side of the ball,” Campbell said. “We’ve got to be physical. We’ve got to come up and play. We’ve got to want to tackle, want to get in the middle of things. I think if we choose to do that, then we’ll be in the ball game and see what happens.”
The McCrory-Lake Village game will kick off at 7 p.m. Friday at Joe Dan Hart Jaguar Stadium.
