By Anvil Welch

awelch@joplinglobe.com

Webb City High School naturally hopes a real football game under its belt will prove to be an advantage tonight in its home opener.

Season-opening Rogers, which belongs to 7A West and is one of 16 teams in Arkansas in that class, visits for the 7 p.m. game at Cardinal Stadium.

Rogers has another high school this season — also 7A — with the debut of Heritage. The split has produced two small schools for the largest classification in Arkansas.

Webb City, ranked third in Class 4 by the Missouri Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association, won its opener 27-21 last Friday night at Harrisonville.

The Cardinals exchanged video of their game and the Rogers scrimmage the same night at North Little Rock.

“Physically, we’ll have a hard time matching up,” Webb City coach John Roderique said. “They have talent at the ‘skill positions,’ too.

“They’re balanced between running and passing,” Roderique said of Ronnie Peacock’s Mountaineers. “Now, they’re more of a running team.”

Webb City defeated the Mounties in 2000 and 2001 en route to unbeaten seasons.

“It’s only film, of course, but their linemen appeared very good,” Roderique said. “They are big and physical.”

Rogers is coming off a 6-4 season after finishing runner-up in 2006.

Rogers, hampered by penalties and missed opportunities, posted just one touchdown during the two-hour scrimmage at North Little Rock.

“Our execution was not exactly what you would want it to be but obviously it’s the first scrimmage,” Peacock told Tom Glave in the Benton County Daily Record. “I think the kids can see that it’s something we can correct. Obviously, if we correct it we have some good things going for us.

“I thought it was a really good scrimmage for us,” Peacock said. “I believe we’re going to become a better team because of it.”