Prep RedZone Arkansas Fort Smith Northside Vs Southside

Over the years, the Northside-Southside matchups have always been a must watch. Both teams finished the 2020 season by making the playoffs. However, Northside finished with a 5-5 record whereas Southside finished the season with a 2-9 record. We are going to give a preview of what to look out for with both teams on Thursday night. What better way to open the season than against your traditional rival? Looking first at the Northside Grizzlies. The Grizzlies have an offense that can hurt you with the run and the pass. Quarterback [player_tooltip player_id="75122" first="Walker" last="Catsavis"] is an extremely talented athlete. Catsavis can hurt you throwing, running, and catching the football. Catsavis has a good arm and is incredibly elusive. Look for plenty of versatility being the name of the game for Catsavis. The rushing attack for the Grizzlies will see [player_tooltip player_id="180296" first="Ty" last="Massey"] get plenty of carries. The Mavericks defense must account for the strong rushing attack that the Grizzlies will attack with. Massey ran for just under1,000 yards last season and has the potential to top that number this season. Seth Fields is another running back that Southside will need to account. Fields has impressive speed and can be dangerous in the open field. The rushing attack has the potential to wear opposing defenses down, The receiving corps for the Grizzlies has several reliable weapons to rely upon. Not only is Catsavis an impressive quarterback he is also an extremely productive wide receiver. However, when Catsavis is not split out wide, the Grizzlies lean on [player_tooltip player_id="190897" first="Joseph" last="Maffei"] to make big plays in the passing game. Southside will need to account for Maffei. Zion Morris is the deep threat and speed burner in the Grizzlies offense. He has the speed to take it the distance from anywhere on the field. On the defensive side of the ball, the Grizzlies are going to lean heavily on R.J. Lester in the secondary to contain the Southside passing game. Linebacker McCade Moody does a great job of always being around the football. Moody does an impressive job in both the run and pass defense and will be leaned heavily this season. Northside has plenty of potential on both sides of the ball and should cause the Mavericks some headaches tomorrow night. Turning our attention to Fort Smith Southside. The Mavericks have a signal caller with a strong arm in the form of [player_tooltip player_id="135307" first="David" last="Sorg"]. Last season, Sorg was impressive, he passed for 1.049 yards and 15 touchdowns. Southside head coach Kim Dameron has a quarterback in Sorg that can spread the ball around and make every throw the Mavericks coaching staff ask of him. The Northside defense will have to attempt to confuse Sorg. The Mavericks’ rushing attack is in the capable hands of Gage Jones and Isaac Gregory. Gregory has excellent speed, and he will be tough for the Grizzlies defense to account. Gage Jones proved last season that he can handle plenty of carries throughout the course of a game. He rushed 24 times against Heritage for just over 100 yards. Getting the ground attack will be key for the Mavericks. The passing game has several weapons that could cause the Grizzlies some headaches. Luke Wyatt is the first playmaker in the passing game. Last season, he racked up 37 catches for 576 yards and 7 touchdowns. Tight end [player_tooltip player_id="135265" first="Dmitri" last="Lloyd"] is a tremendous athlete who can catch anything around him. Lloyd racked up 23 receptions for 309 yards and two touchdowns last season. The Northside defense should be aware where Lloyd is on the field at all times the playmaking potential is terrific. On the defensive side of the ball, the Mavericks are going to depend upon [player_tooltip player_id="135266" first="Zach" last="Medlin"] to contain the talented Northside receiving corps. Medlin does not shy away from making tackles. Medlin accounted for 55 tackles last season. On the defensive line, John Parkinson is going to be a player to watch for the Mavericks this season and will see action against the Grizzlies. Last season, the Mavericks were beaten 35-7 by the Grizzlies. Fans should look for this game to be a closer contest. Stopping Catsavis and the Northside rushing attack is going to be big for the Southside defense. The prediction here at Prep RedZone Arkansas is Northside wins a closer battle 34-21.