LITTLE ROCK – With the end of the regular season in Arkansas high school football, we know now which teams have made the playoffs, and who hasn’t. Here are the pairings for our River Valley area schools.
Class 7A
Fort Smith Northside @ Springdale Har-Ber – The Grizzlies needed to win by thirteen points or more over arch rival Fort Smith Southside to become the fifth seed out of the Class 7A Central division. They rose to the occasion, and now their reward will be a trip up I-49 to take on Springdale Har-Ber at Jerrell Williams Bulldog Stadium. Har-Ber didn’t do too badly in 2017, going 7-3 on the regular season. Early wins included two out of state teams including shutouts over Jefferson City, Missouri and noted powerhouse Jenks, Oklahoma. Their three losses came consecutively to Bentonville, Bentonville West, and a six-point shootout with reigning 7A champion Fayetteville. The Wildcats haven’t allowed an opposing team to score since that week eight loss, shutting out both Van Buren (34-0) and Rogers Heritage (48-0). The winner of the matchup will face North Little Rock, who has a bye week.
Fort Smith Southside @ Fayetteville – With the loss last night against Fort Smith Northside, Southside becomes the sixth seed out of the Class 7A Central division. At 3-7 overall, the Mavericks enjoyed wins over Rogers Heritage, Little Rock Central, and Little Rock Catholic. The rest of the season, they struggled. Taking a look at the Purple Dogs, they are not the same team this year that won the state championship last year under former University of Tulsa Coach Bill Blankenship. After the native Oklahoman bolted for an opportunity at Owasso, Oklahoma, Fayetteville plucked noted football miracle worker Billy Dawson from the Russellville Cyclones. There was some brief grumbling aftr they were slow to get going after a 1-4 start, but Dawson seems to have righted the ship, peeling off four wins in a row over both Rogers schools, both Springdale schools, and the hapless Van Buren Pointers. Southside will have to fire on all cylinders to pull off the upset next Friday. The winner of that ballgame will face Bryant, who has a bye week in the opening round.
Class 6A
Greenwood (Bye Week) - Nobody has even come close to the Greenwood Bulldogs this year, and as well as they have been playing, there could be a chance that nobody does. The Bulldogs have shut out three different opponents this year, and have recorded double digit wins over everyone they have played. Next Friday, they will have the opportunity to scout out their first opponent, which will be the winner of the Texarkana Razorbacks-Marion Patriots game to be played in East Arkansas.
Russellville vs. Jonesboro – The Cyclones will meet the Golden Hurricane for the first time in recent memory next Friday. Russellville dropped from being last year’s Class 6A State Champion, to compiling a 5-5 record this year. With their losses coming to Benton, Greenwood, and El Dorado, they’ve been tested by the best in Class 6A. Now they take on a Jonesboro team with the same overall record, but one who struggled in their conference. Losses included Pine Bluff, West Memphis, Searcy, and Marion when the games started counting.
Class 5A
Alma vs. White Hall – The Airedales are the River Valley’s lone representative in the Class 5A playoffs, and they’ll have to get their house in order after losing a shootout to Maumelle Friday night. The Airedales are 6-4 this year under Head Coach Doug Lougheridge, and did will in their own conference racking up a 5-2 record in the games that count. White Hall had a three game losing streak in the middle of the season falling to Camden Fairview, Hot Springs Lakeside, and Watson Chapel. The rest of the year, they’ve been golden, ending the regular season with a 28-10 win over the DeQueen Leopards. It could be anyone’s game next Friday.
Class 4A
Booneville (Bye Week) - Booneville ran into a buzzsaw in week one with a 29-19 loss to Pea Ridge, but they never looked back from there, compiling a 9-1 record and keeping that tradition of Bearcat excellence. They’ll get a break from the action this week, but they won’t be able to rest for long. The tradition laden Nashville Scrappers take on the Billies from Monticello, and either one of those teams could pose a potent threat in week two of the playoffs.
Pea Ridge vs. Waldron – Waldron comes into the first round of the playoff as the number five seed, after compiling a 5-5 record on the season. They might be discouraged from a 42-6 loss to the Dardanelle Sand Lizards Friday night, but they’ll have to get past the despair quickly as they’ll take on an angry Pea Ridge team that went 9-1 on the year. Their only loss? A shootout Friday night where they fell to Shiloh Christian 17-14. The winner gets home field advantage in week two against Pocahontas or Hamburg.
Dardanelle vs. Riverview – After ending their regular season with an encouraging win over Waldron, the Sand Lizards end the regular season with a 7-3 record. Their only losses came to the usual suspects – Charleston, Booneville, and Ozark. In weeks six and seven, they shut out West Fork and Subiaco Academy by a combined 101-0. Now Riverview comes to Yell County, with that same 7-3 record. They beat Lonoke Friday night 21-7, so they’ll be ready to build on that momentum. Look for a great game in Dardanelle Friday night, with the winner facing Pulaski Robinson who earns a bye week.
Ozark vs. Crossett – The Hillbillies lost twice this year. Once to Charleston, and the other time to Booneville. After the loss to the Bearcats, they’ve reeled off five wins in a row to compile an 8-2 record in the regular season, capped by a 49-14 win over the Dover Pirates Friday night. Crossett will come to town having barely pulled a playoff chance together. They are 3-7 on the season with their only wins coming DeWitt, Pine Bluff Dollarway, and Friday night’s 23-14 win over Star City. Look for the winner to play either the Warren Lumberjacks or the Highland Rebels in round two.
Pottsvile @ Prairie Grove – Pottsville was discouraged by a three game skid in the middle of the season, but other than a loss to Ozark in week eight, they’ve been fairly solid. The Apaches will travel to Northwest Arkansas to face the 9-1 Tigers, whose only loss has come to a very good Pea Ridge team in week seven. The winner takes on either Stuttgart or Shiloh Christian, and you know Prairie Grove would love another shot at the Saints.
Class 3A
Charleston vs. Mountain View – Two teams have come close to the Tigers this year. Dardanelle lost by six, and the Paris Eagles came close to an upset falling 29-26, but Charleston survived and racked up a perfect 10-0 record heading into the playoffs this weekend. They’ll take on the Mountain View Yellowjackets, who they have played once in program histoy and won. Mountain View is 3-7 and was blown out by Clinton in the final week of the season. The winner goes on to face either Barton or Paris in week two.
Paris @ Barton – Speaking of Paris, you know the Eagles would like another shot at Charleston. But first they’ll have to beat Barton, and they’ll have to travel to a destination that is literally halfway to Jackson, Mississippi. Paris is 4-6 on the season, and lost pretty badly to Lamar in their regular season finale Friday night. But it will all depend on which Eagle team shows up this week. Barton is legendary, they are 9-1, and their only loss came to the Mayflower Eagles in week four. They will spend this week celebrating a forty point win over Rose Bud to round out the regular season.
Lamar @ Smackover – The Warriors beat Paris 48-20 Friday night, and their performance as of late isn’t really that of a team that went 5-5 on the regular season. They’ve beat their opponents by double digits the last three weeks, and will carry that momentum on a trip to South Arkansas Friday night. Smackover is 6-4 on the season, and their only conference losses come to Junction City and McGehee, both stout opponents. The winner of this one goes on to face #1 seed Mayflower.
Atkins vs. Yellville-Summit – The Red Devil Pride has to be through the roof this year, with Atkins going 8-2 on the regular season, and their only losses came to Charleston and Dover. Now, they take on a 5-5 Yellville-Summit that didn’t win a game until the halfway point of the season. The winner of this ballgame will face either Elkins or Fordyce in the second week of the playoffs.
Class 2A
Danville vs. Poyen – The Littlejohns lost once and never looked back after week one against Conway Christian. They have one advantage over the Poyen Indians, and that is that they’ll actually have a week of rest as they had an open date Friday night. Poyen has had three wins on the season, and has had a three game losing skid including a 40-27 loss at England to round out the regular season. The winner of this game takes on the winner of the Rison-Magazine game.
Magazine @ Rison – Speaking of the Rattlers, they have to travel. But they’ll do so with the momentum of an exciting 14-12 overtime win over Western Yell County on Friday night. They carry a 5-5 record to Rison, whose Wildcats have one loss on the season.
Lavaca @ East Poinsett County – The Golden Arrows are 4-6 on the season, and travel to face an East Poinsett County team that has only three losses on the season. The winner of the ballgame faces #1 seed Camden Harmony Grove next week.
Hackett @ Magnet Cove – Hackett is 6-3 as the result of an open week that was scattered in the middle of the season. They beat Johnson County Westside Friday night in a convincing fashion, and will take that momentum to Magnet Cove who is 6-4. The winner of that ballgame faces either Hazen or Parkers Chapel in the second round of the playoffs.
Mountainburg vs. England – Mountainburg has one loss on the season, and had the benefit of an open week Friday night. They’ll take on the England Lions who are 5-5 on the season. The Dragons are 0-1 against England over the history of their program. The winner takes on the winner of the Conway Christian-Cross County matchup a week from Friday night.
