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PREP RALLY PLAYOFF: 27 CLASS 3A LAMAR Warriors looking to rebound Lamar opened the season with eight straight wins, but the Warriors will enter the playoffs on a two-game losing streak aer falling to Booneville and Charleston to close the regular season. Despite the two losses, Lamar (8-2) still earned the No. 2 seed in the 3A-1 Conference and will host Atkins (7-3) tonight in a first-round playoff game. "Charleston is a good team," Lamar coach Josh Jones said of the 31-6 loss. "ey played Dardanelle earlier this season to a one-point game, and they beat Ozark, which won their 4A conference." e Warriors are healthy going into the game with Atkins, Jones said. e Red Devils run a spread- option offense led by 6-foot-4 junior quarterback Eli Roberson. Roberson has completed 90 of 186 passes for 1,474 yards and 15 touchdowns with just four interceptions. "He is a big kid, but he's also quick," Jones said. "He's tough to bring down." Atkins closed the season with a 42-0 win against Two Rivers, but the Red Devils had lost three straight games leading into the finale. Atkins has scored 40 or more points in five games this season. Lamar runs various offensive sets including a double-tight formation, but will also shi into a spread, Jones said. "Here lately we've run as much spread as we have under center," Jones said. "We try to mix it up and stay balanced, but we want to run first if we can." Junior quarterback Ike Pelts leads the Warriors' offense, completing 55 of 107 passes for 768 yards and has 362 yards rushing. Jacob Parmenter, a junior running back, leads the team in rushing with 814 yards and 11 touchdowns, and is the leading receiver with 11 catches for 218 yards. Pelts has eight rushing touchdowns. — Chip Souza • @NWAChip GREENLAND High-scoring Pirates ready to go e Greenland Pirates' first-round matchup in the 2018 3A Playoffs is Harding Academy (6-3), a Searcy school that fell at home in its regular-season finale. "I feel good about it," Larkan said. "Harding is a very good team. I'm sure they're extremely well coached, and their kids are gonna do everything they're supposed to do." e Pirates (6-4) are on a three-game winning streak in which they've averaged 39 points a game while giving up only 8, 7 and 6, respectively. Harding senior quarterback Davis Morgan is listed at 6-foot-5, 200 pounds, and he has several tall receivers to throw to, including 6-foot-4 junior Connor McGaha. A big part of Greenland's gameplan will be to keep Morgan from getting too comfortable. On the offensive end, Larkan said he wants the line to set up the running game. "For us, can we run the football? I think if we can run the football, we'll have a shot," Larkan said. "We try to mix it up with the run and pass, but when it comes down to it, we want to run the football." ough the Pirates' final record was essentially even in terms of wins and losses, the team was better than its record indicated, Larkan said. e Pirates were on the losing end of two close games against Mansfield and Lamar, and the winning streak at the end of the year could be a good momentum boost heading into the game against Harding. "We played in a really tough conference," Larkan said. "I'd argue it's as tough as any conference in the state in 3A, so hopefully we'll be prepared for it." e last time these teams played each other was in the 2011 playoffs, where Harding trounced Greenland 42-7 before losing to Charleston in a lopsided game the next week. — Andrew Epperson • Special to the NWA Democrat-Gazette CHARLESTON Ross growing into QB role Charleston coach Greg Kendrick said the game finally slowed down for Brayden Ross last Friday night. e result was a 31-6 Charleston victory over Lamar, which gives the Tigers momentum heading into the playoffs. Charleston (6-4) hits the road to face a tough Clinton team this week in the first round, but Kendrick likes his team's chances coming off that performance. "at was probably as good as we've played in three years," Kendrick said. "If we play like that, we've got a chance against about anybody." e Tigers were ravaged by injuries, including starting quarterback Brayden Caudle, who suffered a shoulder injury in week four and then a torn anterior cruciate ligament in week seven. at forced Kendrick to move Ross from receiver to quarterback. It also forced Kendrick to adjust the offense to fit Ross, who had a different skill set than Caudle. "Just in the last three weeks, it's been drastic watching him grow up in our eyes," Kendrick said. "As a quarterback, seeing him settle in and handling the pressure. He's worked hard. He's a three-sport athlete who works hard. He's different in what he can do and we had to adjust. "We were trying to fit a square peg into a round hole, but we've made changes to adjust game planning to our offensive philosophy based off his skill set." Ross has thrown for 1,057 yards and 10 touchdowns with only four interceptions while completing more NWA DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE FILE PHOTO Charleston coach Greg Kendrick and the Tigers are the No. 5 seed from the 3A-1 Conference and will take on Clinton in the first-round of the Class 3A state playoffs. FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2018