Football season ends and playoff s begin

In a season where the Blackhawks could have qualified for a return trip to the playo◊s, sadly, it was not to be. Two 4A-1 schools that haven’t been in it for a spell have qualifi ed plus the three schools that seem to make it just about every year are back in the mix when the playo◊s get started o◊this Friday.

Prairie Grove fi nished the conference season 7-0 by whipping Gravette by a 28-7 count, thereby earning the No. 1 seed for the fourth year in a row. Gravette, by virtue of Ozark’s 28-20 loss to Gentry, snagged the No. 5 seed and will keep their season alive.

In the battle for the No.

2 seed of the 4A-1, Lincoln came out on top of Farmington. The Wolves were cruising by the Cardinals 28-7 in a score nearly identical to the crushing the Blackhawks visited on the Redbirds the week before at 26-7. Lincoln fi nished their league slate at 6-1, with Farmington falling to 4-3.

By beating Ozark, Gentry grabbed the No. 4 seed and their first trip to the playo◊s in a long time.

Once again, it was senior Jared Cousins who did most of the damage in the win over the Billies. The Pioneers finished in a two way tie for third in the league with a 4-3 record , but missed the third seed due to an earlier loss to theCards.

Ozark has played in their last football battle as a member of the 4A-1. They resume membership in the 4A-4 in 2014, where they were previously long time members.

No member of the 4A-1 received a bye this year with Prairie Grove and Lincoln serving as hosts this Friday with the other schools hitting the road for long, long trips this week.

The Prairie Grove Tigers carry their top seed and No. 6 state ranking into their battle with Pulaski Robinson. Robinson, the fifth place finisher in the 4A-7, nevertheless had a good 6-4 mark in perhaps the toughest league in the 4A this year. The Senators are ranked 23rd in the MaxPreps poll. The winner of this matchup will likely be taking on Valley View in the next round.

Lincoln will host a storied program that has sent dozens of players to the collegiate level in the Nashville Scrappers.

Nashville finished third in the 4A-7 with a 6-4 record.

They are ranked 13th in the state, just behind Lincoln’s 10th place ranking. While the Wolves have a much better record at 9-1, they will be playing a team that has often experienced success at the highest levels.

Their defense has su◊ered this year, leading to all four of their losses, butthey have a potent o◊ense.

The survivor of this game will likely have a real test the following week with Malvern expected to be the next foe. Malvern is ranked No. 5 in the MaxPreps top 10.

The three traveling members will be burning the fuel with Gentry traveling to Star City in southeastern Arkansas, Farmington going deep south to Ashdown, with Gravette probably getting the longest trip in traveling to Valley View in extreme northeast Arkansas.

Gentry will face a 7-3 Star City squad that fi nished third in the 4A-8.

They boast a 15th state ranking, somewhat better than the 21st slot being polled by the Pioneers.

Farmington will play a team in Ashdown that ended the year at 8-2 and finished second in the 4A-7. Ashdown is ranked eighth in the state in 4A, compared to the Cardinals 20th place ranking.

Finally, Gravette will be traveling to play a Valley View team that su◊ered their first loss of the season last Friday, a 14-10 setback to the 4A undefeated Gosnell Pirates. Valley is ranked the No. 7 team in the state compared to the No. 28 ranking currently listed for Gravette. The trip will either travel interstates all the way through Little Rock on the way toJonesboro, or they could travel a more circuitous route on US Highway 412 for less miles but probably not less time.

Other schools

Of course, Bentonville is back in the mix for 7A supremacy, finishing the 7A West conference schedule with another unblemished 7-0 mark. The Tigers have won their seventh straight league title in a row, but have only two state titles to show for it. On the other hand, Fayetteville had won no league championships in the past seven years, but can boast of three state championships in that same time period.

The Tigers are idle Friday and will play the winner of the Fort Smith Southside/Rogers Mounties game this Friday. Both Rogers schools got in with Rogers Heritage going down to North Little Rock to take on the state’s No. 2 sized school in the Charging Wildcats. Heritage gave the Tigers quite a scare recently in their battle with the Bentonville behemoth, so perhaps all three Benton County 7A schools might make it to the quarterfi nals.

Editor’s note: John McGee

is an award-winning colum

nist and sports writer. He is

the art teacher at Pea Ridge

elementary schools, coaches

elementary track and writes

a regular sports column for

The Times. He can be con

tacted through The Times at

[email protected].

Sports, Pages 8 on 11/13/2013