The Arkadelphia Badgers are back on track in the 7-4A conference after defeating Joe T. Robinson 28-27 in last Friday's state championship game rematch. Arkadelphia now sits with a 1-1 conference record, but it has the perfect opportunity to advance to 2-1 with a visit from Fountain Lake in the Arkadelphia High School homecoming game on Friday night.

Fountain Lake has yet to win a conference game and has only won one game this season, a 56-0 victory over Dover in week 3. The Cobras have lost their two opening conference games against Robinson and Nashville by a combined score of 102-26. As the Badgers have faced two opponents from Class 6A, a top-five opponent from Class 5A, and two top-five opponents from Class 4A this season, a matchup against Fountain Lake, currently ranked the 41st-best team in Class 4A should not be too worrisome.

Fountain Lake will attack Arkadelphia from a wing-T offense. Kenny Shelton brings back the offense as the Cobras' third head coach in three years. The run-heavy offense is not highly effective for the Cobras, however, as they are averaging only 136 yards per game in their four losses this season and have scored an average of 12 points over those games. In addition to a faulty offense, the Cobras only field 22 players, meaning they are at a distinct numerical disadvantage to the more than forty players who will be on the Badger sideline.

Arkadelphia will have a definite challenge of its own to overcome against Fountain Lake, however. Senior quarterback Cannon Turner will likely miss Friday's game as he suffered a shoulder injury in the second quarter of last week's victory over Robinson. Turner has started 46 consecutive games for the Badgers dating back to his freshman season. Turner had rushed for 446 yards and three touchdowns before succumbing to the injury. Taking over for Turner will be Braeden Thomas, a junior who normally starts at slot receiver for the Badgers. Thomas rushed for two touchdowns in the second half to clinch victory for the Badgers over Robinson and has 322 total rushing yards this season. In the air, Thomas has completed 4 of 10 passes for only 52 yards.

While Fountain Lake won't be a huge challenge to the Badgers this Friday night, the Cobras could still strike if the Badgers come out of the gates making mistakes. Thomas will have to perform well at quarterback with a week of practice at the position under his belt. But if all things go right for the Badgers, fans should expect a victory on homecoming night.