Facing the king of the mountain
Cedar Creek will look for its first win over Ouachita Christian since 2017 in a home matchup on Friday. If the Cougars are to be successful, the defense will need to create turnovers. Photo by Darrell James
William Parkerson knows not many people believe Cedar Creek ( 3-3) can upset No. 2 Ouachita Christian (6-1) on Friday.
The odds seem stacked against the Cougars on paper. OCS has not lost an in-state matchup in over a year and is the reigning Division IV Select state champion, with four straight seasons playing for a state title. Cedar Creek, meanwhile, has not defeated the Class 1A giants since 2017 and has fewer than 28 players on its roster.
But if the Cougars are going to accomplish what some consider the near- impossible and take down OCS, Parkerson has told his team all they can do is prepare themselves to take the fight to the Eagles and not let the past dictate their focus.
“We’re going to have to play to our potential and see how that stacks up,” Parkerson said. “We gotta go make plays, and we gotta be physical, and we gotta be aggressive and see where we stack up.”
But he doesn’t believe his team should bet on catching OCS off-guard after the Eagles lost to Harding Academy in Arkansas last week and might view the Cougars as a get-right game.
“I don’t think we can count on that,” Parkerson said. “ I would say OCS is the premier small-school program in the state. It’s something we want to get to. I got nothing but respect for the way they coach and the way they play, and we’ll see where we stack up. Nobody’s expecting us to beat them, so if we could do it, we’d shock everybody. We got nothing to lose.
“That’s what I told them, ‘Play free of burden. Let’s go out there and play and see how we stack up,’” he continued.
The Cougars have won three-straight games, including a 48-0 win over Lafayette Renaissance Charter Academy last week thanks to the performances of Gray Worthey and a stingy defense. Worthey has 12 carries for 172 yards and 4 touchdowns over his last two games, leading a Creek rushing attack that has averaged 5.82 yards per carry during its win streak.
“It’s a new offense to everybody, and I feel like they’re getting more confident,” Parkerson said. “ Got a young offensive line that’s growing up and the quarterback, man, everybody’s just gotten better. It would have been easy to tuck tail after an 0-3 start and they didn’t, and they kept working and they’ve gotten better each week, and we need to continue to get better this week. I think we’re getting more confident. I think we’re still building. There are a couple phases that we haven’t touched yet and when those finally happen then we’ll be able to say we reached our max potential.”
Defensively, the Cougars have taken the ball away five times over the last two games and eight times over their win streak. But OCS has remained careful with the ball this season, totaling three turnovers through seven games.
Reflecting on his high school playing days, Parkerson said he’s been in a similar spot before of facing a perceived juggernaut – and coming out on top.
“My senior year in high school we knocked (Edna) Karr out of the 3A playoffs, and it was the last game Karr played as a 3A school and they’ve been dominating 4A and 5A since,” Parkerson said. “I think they had 13 guys sign, and we had two. We scored with 27 seconds left to beat them and so yeah, I’ve been a part of it.”
And if that were to happen for Cedar Creek on Friday?
“You change the mindset of your program forever,” Parkerson said. “We got on the bus that day thinking we could beat them, and we did it. Belief is a heck of a thing. If you believe you can do it, then you have a shot.”
The last time Creek hosted OCS in the regular season in 2021, the Cougars took a late lead before surrendering a big-play touchdown pass and a turnover and late touchdown in a 33-22 defeat.
Creek (3-3) hosts No. 2 Ouachita Christian (6-1, 1-0 district) Friday at 7 p.m. at Cougar Stadium.
