Bearcats to battle Leopards in home opener

By Jay Bunyard

The first football game ever played in Mena was on Nov. 23, 1912. De Queen was the opponent, and MHS prevailed with a 20-6 victory. To put the history of this rivalry into proper perspective, 1912 was the year that the Titanic sank. The game was played at the Polk County Fairgrounds, which at that time was located on nine acres, where now Union Bank, Kentucky Fried Chicken, and Diamond Bank are among the businesses located. It was at Pickering Avenue and U.S. Highway 71. Teams had to play games near the Kansas City Southern railway for travel purposes, since roads were practically non-existent in 1912.

Since that initial contest back in 1912, Mena and De Queen have battled 85 other times on the gridiron. The Aug. 25 renewal of this old rivalry will be the 87th meeting between the two schools at 8 p.m. in Mena.

De Queen leads the all-time series with 51 wins. Mena has 30 victories. There have been five ties over the past 12 decades.

The two schools have played annually since 1948. Mena and De Queen on the gridiron was a Thanksgiving Day tradition in the late 1940’s through most of the 1950’s.

Beginning in 1960, the two schools opened the season for one another. That tradition ended in 1998, when the Leopards moved into the Bearcats conference. The season-open- ing tradition resumed in 2010 as again, the Bearcats and Leopards are non-conference opponents.

Last year at Leopard Stadium in De Queen, the Bearcats pulled out a thrilling 16-14 victory on a 22-yard field goal by Jair Hernandez as time expired. After the Leopards had tak-

The Mena Bearcats had their 2023 fall scrimmage at Mansfield on Tuesday, Aug. 15. Coach Bentley stated, “It was a tough night overall for us. Defense played well, but not very disciplined… we have to clean those things up or it will hurt us quickly.

“We could not get into any kind of rhythm on offense. Anything that could go wrong, seemed to go wrong. Our staff has identified points of emphasis to work and correct these issues and, thankfully, it’s something that I know our kids will attack head on and get better from.

en a 14-13 lead with only 49 seconds to play, quarterback Gabe Corcoran moved the Bearcats 55 yards in six plays to set up the winning kick. On the night, Corcoran completed 10 of 18 for 161 yards and a touchdown. Colby Davis led the tackle charts for Mena with eight stops.

The last time the Bearcats and Leopards squared off in Mena to open the 2021 season, Mena throttled the Leopards 42-7. The Bearcats scored with four seconds to play in the first half on a 23-yard touchdown pass from Austin Rose to Blake Brown to take a 15-0 lead and all the momentum into the locker room at intermission. The Bearcats outscored the Leopards 21-0 in the third quarter to pull away.

Despite the fact De Queen leads the all-time series, the Bearcats have won nine of the last 13 meetings between these two, including the last six in a row.

“No one wins or loses a scrimmage, but we can sure learn from it. There is nothing that we cannot fix, which is encouraging. This football team has a great chance to be explosive on offense and defense. I have full confidence we will see growth from this scrimmage.”

The Bearcats open regular season play at 8 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 25, at Bob Carver Bearcat Stadium against the De Queen Leopards.

“This is an important game for both communities, two long-time rivals. We love the fact that we get to open up the season at home. De Queen always plays tough, physical football. For us to be successful we have to be the most physical team on the field... limit mistakes, play disci-plined defense and find our footing offensively. Our kids are more than capable of all of these things, and I’m excited for them. We have a lot more work to put in before Friday. We look forward to a great crown Friday night.”

During the Labor Day holiday period, including the end of summertime and the busy holiday weekend, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) will be working alongside law enforcement in Arkansas to decrease impaired driving. From Aug. 18 - Sept. 4, Arkansas law enforcement will be participating in the Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over high-visibility enforcement campaign.

During this time, you’ll see officers working together to take drunk drivers off the roads in support of law enforcement’s dedication to protecting the lives of residents in their communities. No matter how you plan to celebrate the end of summer this year, make sure you plan to do it safely.

For this year’s campaign, the National Park Service (NPS), and NHTSA Region 7, which includes Arkansas, Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, and Iowa, are again partnering to emphasize the importance of driving sober and saving lives on America’s roadways in and around our region’s National and State Parks.

There will be an increased presence of state and local law enforcement officers along with NPS rangers during this campaign, whose expanded efforts to protect against impaired driving will be conducted in a fair and eq- uitable way. Campaign activities will be highlighted by NHTSA at a press conference in St. Louis, Missouri at the Gateway Arch on Aug. 25. Law enforcement officers in all regions will be participating in the Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over campaign throughout the Labor Day weekend.

According to NHTSA, 13,384 people were killed in drunk-driving crashes in 2021 — that’s one person every 39 minutes. On average, more than 11,000 people were killed in drunk-driving crashes each year from 2017 to 2021. This is why Arkansas law enforcement officers are working together with NHTSA to remind drivers that drunk driving is not only illegal; it’s a matter of life and death. As you head out to festivities during the end of summer and Labor Day weekend, remember: Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over.

“We want our community members to understand that it’s our first priority to keep people safe, so we’re asking everyone to plan ahead if they know they’ll be out drinking,” said Colonel Mike Hagar, Arkansas Public Safety Secretary, and the Governor’s Highway Safety Representative. “In addition to enforcement, the Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over campaign is an awareness effort to get the message out that drunk driving is illegal and it takes lives. Let’s make this a partnership between law enforcement and drivers− help us protect the community and put an end to this senseless behavior,” he said. the ages of 18 and 34 who were killed in crashes over the Labor Day holiday period in 2021, 48% of those drivers were drunk, with BACs of .08 or higher.

No one should mix drinking and driving, and no one is immune to the effects of drinking. If you find yourself drunk and stranded with your vehicle, give your keys to a sober driver who can safely drive you home. Remind your friends to never get into a vehicle with a drunk driver. If you have a friend who is about to drive after drinking, take away their keys and help them get home safely.

Most importantly: Always have a plan before you head out for the evening. If you wait until after you’ve been drinking to figure out how to get from one place to the next, you will already be too impaired to make the right choice.

During the 2021 Labor Day holiday period (6:00 p.m. Sept. 3 to 5:59 a.m. Sept. 7), there were 531 traffic fatalities nationwide. Of these 531 fatalities, 41% (216) involved a drunk driver, and more than a quarter (27%) involved drivers who were driving with a BAC almost twice the legal limit (.15+ BAC). Among drivers between

So remember, this Labor Day weekend and all year long: Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over. It could save your life.

For more information on impaired driving, visit www.nhtsa.gov/ risky-driving/drunk-driving or call the Arkansas Highway Safety Office at 501- 618-8136. For more on Arkansas’ ongoing Toward Zero Deaths campaign to eliminate preventable traffic fatalities, visit www.TZDArkansas.org