State football playoffs are upon us, and the Class 3A brackets will begin play this Friday night. For the Charleston Tigers, undefeated conference champions from the 3A-1, play will begin tomorrow night at Alumni Field at 7 p.m. when they host the Gurdon Go Devils. Charleston, a number one seed in the brackets, will play at home for the duration of the playoffs. The state final will be held in Little Rock in December at War Memorial Stadium. The Tigers have a great shot to make their appearance in Little Rock, but more so than ever, it is strictly a “one game at time” proposition in the playoffs. Every opponent is good, and every week could potentially be the last time a great Charleston senior class will take the field. So for the top-seeded Charleston Tigers, it will be time to bring everything they have against a very talented Gurdon team.
Gurdon is a five-seed in the brackets, but don’t be deceived. The Go Devils are very talented and are one of the best five seeds in the tournament. I asked Charleston head football coach Ricky May for his impression of Gurdon after watching video on the Go Devils, and he said, “They (Gurdon) are a few plays away from being at least a number two or three seed in the playoffs. They have several good running backs that they share the ball with, and who have different running styles. They run the ball well, and play-action pass off of the run well. They may have the best line we have played against. Their defense runs to the ball very well. They are very quick.”
The Go Devils offense is led by sophomore Rhett Ledbetter. Ledbetter, who carries a perfect 4.0 grade point average in the classroom, was a star player on last year’s junior high team. Another sophomore, Jamari Williams, leads a bevy of good running backs in the Gurdon backfield. The young and talented Go Devils will have their hands full with a stingy Charleston defense that has been dominant all season.
Gudon is playing in Class 3A this year after moving up from Class 2A a year ago. Last year as a 2A program, Gurdon finished the 2021 season with a 7-5 record. In last year’s state playoffs, Gurdon defeated Junction City 26-22 and lost to Des Arc in the second round by the score of 42-12.
Gurdon plays in the 3A-5 conference and was predicted by Hooten’s Arkansas Football publication to finish second in the conference to Prescott. The 3A-5 conference final regular season standings were:
Prescott 5-0
Fouke 3-3
Smackover 3-2
Junction City 2-3
Gurdon 2-3
Parkers Chapel 0-2
Horatio 0-5
The Go Devils finished the 2022 season 6-4 overall, having won their first four games of the regular season. The game-by-game season results for Gurdon were:
vs Lafayette County 55-20 (W)
at Foreman 42-6 (W)
at Dierks 44-32 (W)
vs Murfreesboro 18-13 (W)
vs Prescott 42-7 (L)
at Fouke 20-19 (L)
vs Horatio 35-8 (W)
@ Smackover 27-8 (W)
vs Junction City 31-0 (L)
The November 3 loss to Junction City moved the Go Devils to the fifth seed, tying Junction City in the conference win column at 2-3. Junction City moved to the four seed based on the tie-breaking, head-to-head win over Gurdon.
The weather forecast in Charleston is calling for rain during the day with falling nighttime temperatures. Both teams feature a strong rushing attack that could be beneficial in rainy weather, but the Tigers’ All-State, dual threat quarterback, Brandon Scott, could once again prove to be the difference for Charleston. Rain is supposed to be reduced to a 20% chance by kickoff, so, hopefully football fans will have a nice, cool night for some great playoff football at Alumni Field tomorrow!
Good luck to the Tigers and all of the River Valley teams that will be playing in the state football playoffs across all classifications! It is the greatest time of the year, and RNN Sports will see you in Charleston tomorrow night to bring you coverage of the Tigers and the Gurdon Go Devils.
See you tomorrow night, and bring your coats!
