NORTHWEST ARKANSAS — Pea Ridge will have retooled look this year but MaxPreps/CBS ranks them fourth among the eight schools in the 4A-1.
Ranked first is currently the Gravette Lions who are off to a 3-0 record. Ranked second is Shiloh which boasts great size in their lineup this year. Farmington is rated third just ahead of the Blackhawks. Berryville is out of the cellar, ranking fifth with Ozark ranked sixth, Gentry seventh and Prairie Grove ranked eighth.
The ’Hawks will play in the Northwest Arkansas Invitational this week with the Southwest Holiday Classic coming up during the holiday break. I haven’t missed the Classic since head coach Charley Clark began his coaching tenure here but sinceI will be spending a lot of my vacation in Mercy Hospital undergoing a spinal operation, then convalescing at home for a good bit of time, I likely won’t make it this year.
In any case, good luck to Clarks’ charges this season and into the conference battles in 2012.
Conference member in state semi-finals
The Farmington Cardinals are the last men standing in the 4A-1 football playoffs as they dispatched the favored McGehee Owls 26-23.
The Cards got into a 16-0 bind in the first half against the previously 10-1 Owls. Farmington scored before the half to cut the lea to 16-6 at the break. Midway in the third quarter, the Cardinals scored again to get to within 3 at 16-13, then not long after that, a Farmington defensive back swiped an Owls pass, returning it all the way for a touchdown and 19-16 lead.
It seemed that the Cardinals stopped the Owls on the next possession but a fake punt fooled the Washington County team and it led to another score forMcGehee, which retook the lead at 23-19. The Cardinals scored the winning points with about four minutes left on an 80-yard march that put them up 26-23.
McGehee got their own drive going, marching into Cardinal territory before a fourth down play left them just inches short of a first down thus sealing the win for the Cards.
This week the Cardinals take on the Malvern Leopards, the new No. 2 stateranked team in some polls.
Malvern’s most notable game to date was their 47-16 loss to No. 1 Pulaski Academy. Their game was the most competitive one the Pulaski Bears have had this year in 4A. Pulaski won their quarter-final game 65-13 over a good Pottsville team.
As has been the case through much of the season, the Cardinals depended on their ground game and a solid defense to get the edge on their opponents. My money’s on Farmington winning this week to make the trek to Little Rock next week to take the field against 7A - er - I mean 4A power Pulaski. As a matter of fact, Pulaski is ranked overall higher than all 5A and all 6A teams with the only team in the whole state of any class ranked ahead of them being national power Bentonville.
Bentonville will be traveling to Little Rock - again -playing conference rival Fayetteville, again. It’s a replay of last season except the Bulldog quarterback is a different Allen. Brandon Allen has since gone on to play for the Razorbackswith younger brother Austin now calling the signals for Fayetteville. Austin is said to be better than his brother and that they will be the ones to dethrone Bentonville this year or next. Myself, I don’t think so. The Tigers are loaded, a lot of players are coming back and their junior high teams both beat every other member of the conference this year, most often decidedly. Bentonville may be reloading next year but they may be picking up more weapons than it is graduating.
With only Farmington still at play this season, here are the final Max-Preps/CBS Arkansas 4A football rankings. A victory by Farmington may well push them up into the No. 2 slot before next week.
4A-1 Conference District and State rankings District State Team Record 1st 4th Farmington (10-2) 2nd 7th Ozark (9-2) 3rd 9th Gravette (10-3) 4th 16th Prairie Grove (8-4) 5th 25th Shiloh (5-6) 6th 30th Pea Ridge (4-6) 7th 42nd Gentry (1-9) 8th 46th Berryville (0-10) Razorbacks a couple of sure hands away from title game?
The game last week in Baton Rouge had the host, No. 1 in the nation Louisiana State Tigers, suiting up against the No. 3 nationallyranked Razorbacks with the winner of the battle seemed destined for a spot in the national championship game this coming January.
It still seems true as LSU won the game to solidify their hold on first with theseeming likely opponent to play in the BCS national championship game being the Alabama Crimson Tide.
The Tide lost earlier this season to LSU by a field goal in overtime, the most narrow of losses.
Commentators commented that yes, Arkansas had a good team but that they were outmatched and had no real chance to surprise the Tigers and win in LSU’s famed “Death Valley.” Actually, I beg to differ.
The Hogs have been in Baton Rouge before and won and they whipped LSU the last year that LSU won the national championship.
So did Arkansas really have no chance?
The Hogs were up 14-0 in the second quarter and after LSU finally scored, the Razorbacks’ vaunted offense was driving again.
An excellent pass on third down to one of Arkansas’ usually sure-handed receivers was flat out dropped.
The catch would have put the Hogs in field goal range and they might have gone on to score a TD, making the score possibly either 17-0 or 21-0. Instead, a poor punt with little hang time came down well short of the goal line, allowing the Tigers to set up a good return and a good return it was as they ran it all the way back to tie the score at 14-14.
Seemingly undaunted, the Hogs got their offense cranked up again and were on the move quickly after the LSU score. A great run by an Arkansas back netted Arkansas 8 yards and a first down on the LSU 30. The back landed on his back with the ball rollingoff his chest which was quickly covered by an LSU defender. The field referee ruled that the ball was dead on the running backs hitting the turf as a fall cannot cause a fumble. However, some official upstairs ruled otherwise, stopping the Hogs’ march and handing the ball to LSU. As the Hogs were moving well, it was quite likely they would have scored again or at least had a field goal. Instead, the scant time remaining in the half was just enough for the charged-up Tigers to gain a third TD and a 21-14 lead.
So, instead of Arkansas leading at the half 20-7 or perhaps even 28-7, they trailed 21-14. The turn of events was just what the Tigers needed to pump them up like Macy’s balloons and just enough to deflate the Razorbacks just like Macy’s balloons on the day after.
After the intermission, the game was over.
Yes, the Hogs could have won but didn’t. Next year?
The Hogs continue to get better and their offense is one of the best, if not the best, in the country. What they lack is a defense which is as good as the offense.
When the defense finally comes around to the level of play as the offense, then you might just see Arkansas finally playing in the BCS final game for all the marbles.
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Editor’s note: John McGee is the art teacher at Pea Ridge elementary schools, coaches elementary track and writes a regular sports column for The Times. He can be contacted through The Times at prtnews@ nwaonline.com.
Sports, Pages 7 on 11/30/2011