CAMDEN — By PATRIC FLANNIGAN
Sports editor
The Camden Fairview Cardinals (4-3, 3-1) will host the Hope Bobcats (1-6, 1-3) at 7 p.m. on Friday at Cardinal Stadium.
CF and Hope have engaged in several historic battles since both teams landed in the 5A South in the fall of 2005, but the Cardinals have dominated the series on the field, only losing two times since 2002.
Hope new head coach Philip Turner already has his team going in the right direction, breaking a 25 game losing streak that dates back to a 78-44 playoff loss to Pulaski Academy in 2015. Hope defeated Hot Springs 26-21 in September to move out of last place in the conference standings.
The Bobcats run a multiple offense that aims to get speed in open space with a lot of screens and short passes to receivers out of the backfield. It returns a junior quarterback in the 6’2 Hunter Hellums who saw action as a sophomore and participated in several camps over the summer. Powerback Laymon Howell is hard to tackle and is described by Turner as the best blocker on the team after playing guard in 2017. The team also has a big play threat in Nikorian Muldrew who owns 4.4 speed at wide receiver.
On defense, Hope is young and relies on a solid line backing core. There are a couple of first-year players on the defensive line that are athletic.
Since C.F. Head Coach Jake Monden arrived to the Camden in the spring of 2015, CF hasn’t lost to Hope. However, Monden isn’t overlooking the Bobcats and said his team shouldn’t either.
“Coach Turner is doing a good job with them over there,” Monden said earlier this week. “They broke their losing streak. I don’t think they are a bad opponent at all. I think they are a team that can score points and they are getting better weekly. Just watching the film that we have on them, their big kids are getting better. We are going to have to have a good week of preparation to win that game here at home.”
Hope is average 17 points per game. After giving up 53 points per game in non conference and excluding a game on the road with McClellan (62-15), the defense has improved to only giving up 30 points per game.
CF enters the game against Hope after a big game on the ground last Friday. Gabe Rucks and Erik Hall both had more than 100 yards on the ground and combined for 5 touchdowns.
The Cardinals also improved in penalties with only 8 - five of them came on “effort” plays such as a block in the back on special teams or an inadvertent face mask.
The Cardinals are tied for second place in the 5A South. With a win Friday, the Cardinals will surpass its win total from 2017.