'Hawk football over the horizon

We are into July and that means that high school football is just around the corner.

While the boys will be sweating and working this month on getting stronger and more physically fit for the season ahead, August will be the official starting time for having actual football practices in preparation for the season opener here against Elkins on Sept. 8.

The official schedule has been released with the 'Hawks opening the regular season at home and closing it at home as well on Nov. 7 with Shiloh coming to town for the occasion. Three teams from the 2013 schedule are gone with two old foes and a new one coming in to take their place.

The Farmington Cardinals are gone, having moved up to 5A and I will kinda miss them in that the 'Hawks laid the wood to them the past two years in a pair of unexpected blowouts. Ozark is also gone, moving back in with their 4A-4 District brothers. The 'Billies had competed in the river valley district for a lot of years and their inclusion into the 4A-1 was not a good fit, creating a tremendous increase in travel time (and expense) for conference members. Of course, no school had the travel time and expense problems like Ozark did.

The third past opponent missing from this year's schedule is non-conference opponent Greenland. The Blackhawks have had their way with the Pirates the past few years, to the point that the Greenland coach pretty much hollered "No mas," and did not wish to renew the long-time rivalry. During the 2012 season, Pea Ridge hung over 40 points on the Pirates in a game that quickly turned into a route. In his postgame interview with the media that year, the Pirate coach exclaimed: "They are just not that much better than us!" when the reality for at least that season, the 'Hawks actually were.

The Pirates are being replaced on the non-conference schedule with 3A-4 member Paris. The Eagles were 6-4-1 last year, making the 3A state playoffs but getting smacked by Smackover 41-19 in the first round. They are ranked fourth in their league and 11th overall in the 3A state in the pre-season, but the state's first-, second- and fourth-ranked teams are all in their district. While they have a quarterback with good size (6'2", 200 lbs.), their best receiver and running back are kind of on the small side in that they are both 5'8" tall and 150 pounds.

Moving back into the good ol' 4A-1 is long-time member Shiloh and a brief two-year member, Huntsville. Huntsville's Eagles, long-time 5A members, dropped down into 4A for the 2008 and 2009 seasons but bounced back up into 5A these past six campaigns. They now rank as the second largest school in the 4A class.

Shiloh voluntarily moved up into the 5A class as they were certain they could conquer that size of school, but found out otherwise. Had Shiloh chosen to remain in 5A, Morrillton would have moved down into 4A and we would likely have kept Ozark as a district member.

The schedule will be challenging as there is a five-week span in mid-season with but one home game in the mix. Three of the first four conference games are on the road.

As it is, Pea Ridge is expected to be a playoff team and how much they improve from 2013 and how much they improve during the length of the season will determine how high a seed they get and how far they get into the playoffs.

The schedule for the 2014 football season is:

2014 Pea Ridge Blackhawks

Sept. 5 - Elkins at home

Sept. 12 - Green Forest at home

Sept. 19 - @ Paris

Sept. 26 - @ *Gentry

Oct. 3 - *Lincoln @ home

Oct. 10 - @ *Gravette

Oct. 17 - @ *Prairie Grove

Oct. 24 - *Berryville @ home

Oct. 31 - @ *Huntsville

Nov. 7 - *Shiloh @ home

'Hawks start the season ranked 30th

Although near certain to improve their ranking by season's end, the Blackhawks will begin the season tabbed as the 30th best team in the state in the 4A classification.

The state's top-ranked team is Warren's Lumberjacks, last year's state runner-up. They will be the top returning team from 2013 as last year's state champion Booneville moved down to the 3A class this cycle. Warren will have most of their starters back from a year ago, and the Jacks have always been known for their speed and skilled athletes. They play in the 4A-8, a district that boasts three of the state's top six teams, with Dollarway in the third ranking while Star City starts out with the sixth ranking. They lost a narrow 14-12 decision in last year's championship game.

The state's top 10 as well as 4A-1 district rankings:

4A STATE RANKINGS

1. Warren Lumberjacks

2. Malvern Leopards

3. Dollarway Cardinals

4. Lonoke Jackrabbits

5. Nashville Scrappers

6. Star City Bulldogs

7. Newport Greyhounds

8. Gosnell Pirates

9. Hamburg Lions

10. West Helena Cougars

12. Shiloh Saints

14. Prairie Grove Tigers

22. Gravette Lions

30. Pea Ridge Blackhawks

31. Huntsville Eagles

35. Berryville Bobcats

37. Lincoln Wolves

45. Gentry Pioneers

The more things change...

The top two football teams, overall, in the state of Arkansas are -- drum roll -- the same as they seemingly always are. Bentonville is slated, again, to be the best team overall for the fifth straight season. Right behind them -- Fayetteville, of course.

Since 2007, with but one exception (Springdale HarBer in 2009), either Bentonville or Fayetteville has reigned as the state champion. Fayetteville won it in 2007, Bentonville the following year (2008), and again in 2010, followed by a pair of Fayetteville wins in 2011 and 2012, with Bentonville back on the winners' platform last season in 2013. Both Fayetteville wins came in years that Bentonville was ranked to win it all and actually whipped the Bulldogs during the regular season.

Things will likely change when Bentonville splits in two with Bentonville West High School slated to come into being in a couple of years. That would leave Fayetteville as the only non-split 7A high school in northwest Arkansas. Maybe their turn to dominate is coming.

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Editor's note: John McGee is an award-winning columnist 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 contacted through The Times at [email protected].

Editorial on 07/09/2014