The Southside Mavericks host Conway today in 7A-Central play. So far, so good.

The Mavericks opened 7A-Central play last week with a win over Bryant. Southside (6-3, 1-0) will host Cabot on Thursday as well.


Coach Jeremy Davis has a number of returning lettermen, including nine starters.

"Some early keys for us is to stay healthy and as (stay) as fresh as we can for conference," he said. "The 7A-Central conference is a very tough conference, (so) you better be ready to play every time you step on the field. There are no off nights in this conference."

Because of the extensive travel in the 7A-Central, Davis scheduled a lot of matches close to home during nonconference. The Mavericks have already played Greenwood twice. They also beat Poteau and Van Buren.

"Being in the central, the travel and late nights can take a toll on you," Davis said. "We tried to set it up where we only traveled great distances for conference games."

Southside's girls are off to a hot start as well, boasting a 6-1 overall record and a 1-0 league mark.

Kelly Carson leads the way with seven goals and two assists, and Rachel Smith and Diana Guerro have six and five goals, respectively. Smith leads the team with five assists.

"We are off to a good start," Davis said. "The girls are playing very hard, we just have to keep the intensity up going into the meat of conference play."