By Brad Greer

Second place in the District 1-1A standings will be on the line tonight as The North Delta School travels into the state of Arkansas for the third time this season to tangle with the Marvell Eagles.

Both teams are currently 2-1 in the division standings and trail league-leader Desoto by one game. Desoto blanked the Green Wave 21-0 on Aug. 29 and hammered Marvell 31-6 two weeks ago.

Tonight’s matchup promises to be a contrast in styles as the Green Wave’s grind-it-out running game will go up against the Eagles spread option passing attack.

“We basically live and die by the pass and North Delta likes to pound the ball at you with the big offensive line they have got. Not only that, but they are very quick on defense so we have got to do an outstanding job of pass protection,” said Marvell head coach Greg Tibbett. “We like to throw and North Delta likes to line up and run right at you. They are so much bigger than we are and  every year Coach (Lance) Thomas  does a great job with his kids. They are very physical on both sides of the ball. We are going to have our hands full is all I know,” said Tibbitt.

Marvell enters the contest with a record of 5-1 on the season with victories over Tupelo Christian (19-14), Bayou (26-0), West Memphis (32-6), Delta (32-14) and Lee, Ark. (20-7).

The Eagles suffered a major loss in the victory over Lee as starting quarterback Clay Dubach was lost for the season with a torn ACL in his right knee. Before the injury, Dubach had thrown for nine touchdowns in four games. Tibbitt said senior Jordan Treat and sophomore Scottie Patton will alternate the signal-calling duties.

Tailback Clay Harper and Blake Wilkinson are key players the Green Wave will be looking to stop.

On defense, seniors Bryce Skinner and Grant Ligon who Tibbett calls “the heart and soul of our team” will be at the linebacker position.

The Green Wave meanwhile are coming off a pair of come-from-behind district wins over Tunica and Delta in which they were trailing going into the fourth quarter.

Quarterback Bateman Greenlee has been the catalyst behind the North Delta offense by passing and running for four touchdowns to win both of the victories.

Sophomore tailback Tres Brasell rushed for 188 yards and a touchdown while Chris Reeves and Bryan Nickle each hauled in touchdown passes in the win over Delta.

The North Delta defense forced four turnovers in the contest as Geri Lamm and Nickle each picked off a pass while Corbin Baker and Coner Fergurson had fumble recoveries.

“They are by far the best passing team we will face all season,” said Thomas. “They have several formations that they run out of and will spread you out on defense. I feel one of the keys to the game is how well we put pressure on the quarterback. They also run a lot of speed sweeps out of the shotgun and that is one thing I am impressed by is their team speed. We have played teams that run the spread offense but Marvell runs it very well.”

Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m.