It's not often that a team rises in the polls after dropping a game, but that's exactly what White Hall has done within the past week.
   The then fifth-rated Bulldogs pushed unbeaten, second-ranked Monticello to the limit before finally falling by 12-6 in a classic 5A-Southeast Conference bout here last Friday. Two days later, coach Mike Vaughn's Dogs advanced to fourth while Monticello remained No. 2 in The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette state ratings.
    White Hall, which slipped to 3-1 in the league and 5-2 overall, now must dramatically alter its mindset. From hosting Monticello – which appears en route to a “three-peat” as conference champion – the Dogs hit the road Friday for a date at cellar-dweller Little Rock McClellan, which is coming off a near upset of Beebe.
    Beebe is tied with White Hall for second in the loop.
    McClellan's Lions are 0-4 and 1-6 after frightening the Badgers in a 46-41 loss.
    Vaughn said the Lions' performance against Beebe concerns him.
    "Two weeks ago, Monticello beat Beebe 37-6," he pointed out. "And then McClellan scored 41 against Beebe. I realize Monticello may have taken some of the air out of Beebe's sails, but McClellan scored more against Beebe than Monticello did.
    "That indicates two things to me. First, McClellan's offense, which has been showing steady improvement, may be peaking. And secondly, McClellan realizes it's got to change its fortunes now if it's going to maintain any hopes for a playoff spot.
    "We can't erase our loss to Monticello, but we've got to let it go except to build from it while we get back on track. Our total focus has to be on McClellan.
    "The rest of our season starts there Friday night."
    The Lions staged an impressive rally against the hosting Badgers (3-1, 3-4). Beebe led by 22-6 after a quarter, 30-12 at intermission and 46-18 entering the fourth period. McClellan suddenly erupted for three touchdowns and 23 points behind respective TD receptions of 12 and 52 yards by Darrien Mackey and Terrence Ingram and a 40-yard scoring run by Calvin Moore.
    McClellan's Nicholas Coo-per put on a pass-catching exhibition with nine receptions for 138 yards and a touchdown.
    Ingram shares quarterbacking duties with Everett Hargrow. Mackey, Devonte Lane and Cleo Gray are the Lions' top runners. Thin up front, the Lions are maturing behind seniors Brandon Foley and Fred Oliver, who have a combined weight of over 500 pounds.
    The strength of the McClellan defense is found in the front wall with 295-pound Marcus Bohannon, 280-pound Dominic Williams and 240-pound Cameron Harris.
    "I sincerely believe McClellan is a better team than its record shows," said Vaughn. "They hadn't been able to put everything together but they may have finally found themselves against Beebe.
    "If a hungry team gets on a roll, it's sometimes hard to stop. I can promise you that McClellan isn’t afraid to line up against us."
    The White Hall-Monticello clash turned out to be more of a defensive match than anyone had anticipated.
    Monticello's defense allowed White Hall only 139 total yards. Running back Larry Walls, who scored the Dogs' only points on a 14-yard touchdown run just before halftime, was White Hall's top rusher with 77 yards on 14 carries.
    The Bulldogs' best chance for a second touchdown came in the first minute of the third quarter after Quinton Walls prompted and recovered a Monticello fumble and advanced it to Monticello's 6-yard line. But the Billies stiffened and pushed White Hall back to the 13, where a 30-yard Heath Heinrich field goal try was off.
    White Hall had little offensive punch afterward.
    Following a scoreless first period, Monticello broke to a 10-0 second-quarter advantage behind quarterback Joe Carmical's 10-yard TD run and Tyler Paschal's 18-yard field goal and point-after kick.
    Monticello (4-0, 7-0) capp-ed the scoring with a safety late in the game.
    Pacing White Hall's defensive effort were Tyler Robinson with 15 stops and Nathan Lee with 10 plugs. Robinson is among the state’s leading tacklers.
    Dion Young notched eight stops, including three for losses and a pair of sacks, and he forced a fumble. Brad Bethea, Spencer Lybrand and Q. Walls each had seven drops. Ray Lewis counted six.
    Tyler Richmond forced a fumble and Tim Cook recovered a Billie bobble.
    Vaughn said that while the Dogs made mistakes that contributed to their loss, the team staged a "remarkable effort."
    "Monticello obviously has a great defense, but I'm not so sure everyone knows how strong they've been offensively," said Vaughn. "They had been averaging over 40 points a game, and had played some tough competition.
    "Holding them to just 12 points and less than 200 total yards is a real accomplishment. We had a great defensive scheme and our kids executed it to perfection."
    Vaughn praised defensive coordinator Wade Reynolds and assistants Skip Carr, Porter Taylor and Scooter Vaughn for their work in helping to contain the Billies.
    "I've got a great staff," said Vaughn.