PEA RIDGE — The high school football game down at Elkins last Friday, while a loss, was nonetheless encouraging.

With athlete numbers on the decline, with the pronounced lack of experienced players on the 2009 roster, and with the head coach position vacant for a time this summer, things looked bleak for this season. The aforementioned facts led nearly every football forecaster in the state to rank Pea Ridge to be the cellar dweller of the 1-4A District. Hooten's ranked the 'Hawks as 45th best in a field of 48 among 4A schools in Arkansas. Every game this season will see the 'Hawks rated as the underdog, at least for the time being.

There are things that are encouraging, however. The couple of times that I have gotten to speak with new head coach Tony Travis has left me impressed with, not only his ability and knowledge, but his class as well.

After the game with Elkins Friday, I asked him about a couple of plays that I thought were improperly called, from my vantage point in the press box. One was the holding call that was called on a Pea Ridge defender when he tackled a Elk who faked taking a handoff. I believe a play like that is not holding, at least according to the way I read the rule book. That call prevented a fourth down

for the Elks with their good fortune eventually leading to a touchdown instead of a punt.

The other time was when the 'Hawk ball carrier fumbled which led to a touchdown for Elkins. After the fumble, one Elk defender held our ball carrier down when he went back for the ball so that another Elk teammate could scoop it up, which he did, running it back to the 1-yard line.

Those two plays led to 14 points, a most important fact in an 8-point loss.

Coach Travis asked me not to mention those incidents in my game story, a request I honored. The last thing coach Travis wants to be known for is making excuses. As he pointed out, "While I may not agree with some referee's decisions, those kind of things happen and you just have to move on."

Players play, coaches coach and referees ref. All being human, they all make mistakes. Elkins made some mistakes, as did Pea Ridge, and, as I think, did the referees. Do I think the refs were biased? No, just mistaken.

I have seen and have

heard about the hard work that our football 'Hawks have been putting in this year to try and erase the unpleasant memories of 2008. However this season turns out, I have no doubt that it will be the best that it could have been.

I also believe that for teams that work hard and play hard, that good and bad things even out. Over the long haul, I believe that for every bad break that plagues your way, there will be a good ones to smooth your way.

Did the Elkins game bug you?

The best thing about writing football stories is that you get to have a place in the press box. No going early to get a seat, no people standing up in front of you obscuring your vision, and not worried about the weather with a secure place with a roof.

At the half of the Elkins game, I decided to leave the press area and walk on over to the Pea Ridge side for a few minutes. I didn't stay long as I haven't seen that many bugs at a ball game since I covered football stories in the Delta lands to the east.

I swallowed at least a couple of bugs before I retreated to the relative calm and unbugged-ness of the Elkins side of the field.

If I didn't know better, I would almost swear that the Elkins side was sprayed with bug repellent while the 'Hawk side was sprayed with bug "attractant."

Cross country team in action Saturday

The Pea Ridge cross country teams will be in ac tion this Saturday at Elkins. (I'm glad it's not a night race.) This will be the first time in several years that Pea Ridge will field junior high and senior high boys and girls teams. They did back in the 1980s and were quite successful with the boys taking a state title.

You really can't build a future state challenger if your runners don't start until the ninth grade.

The Elkins race will feature Lady Elks Grace Heymsfield, who I believe is a senior this year, never having lost a race to another Arkansan. She is the current all-time 1,600-meter run record holder, and is the only high school girl in the state to ever run the mile in under five minutes.

She was a reluctant runner in junior high, with Elkins coach Mabry correctly seeing a wealth of track talent residing in this now "Hall of Fame" runner. After finally being convinced to go out for track, it has been lights out for the Elkins super star. She has numerous colleges lined up to offer her scholarships, though I hope she casts her lot with the Razorbacks.

Sports, Pages 8 on 09/09/2009