Two playoff slots are all set with Prairie Grove clinching the conference championship with their 55-8 dismantling of Berryville to grab the top seed with Lincoln whipping an undermanned Gentry squad 33-12 to take the fifth and last playoff spot from the 4A-1. Meanwhile, Gravette, Pea Ridge and Shiloh have clinched playoff spots but could be playing in three different places next week, depending on the outcome of one game Friday.
The two other seeds, second and fourth, will be determined by the outcome of this Friday's game in Springdale with Pea Ridge invading Shiloh's Field of Champions. Currently, Shiloh is alone in second place at 5-1 with Gravette and Pea Ridge tied for third at 4-2.
I was amiss in last week's column when I stated that the Gravette/Shiloh winner would be getting the second seed, but that is not the case. Should Pea Ridge beat the private school boys this week, there would be a three-way tie for second among the aforementioned schools.
Under AAA rules, if teams are tied after all conference games are finalized, a tie-breaker system comes into play. The three games among the three teams would have their point differential count towards seeding distribution. Gravette beat the 'Hawks by 10 points, while Shiloh beat the Lions by 12. If Pea Ridge loses Friday, they will be the fourth seed going to Little Rock to play Pulaski Robinson next week.
If the 'Hawks win Friday at Shiloh but if it is by 10 points or less, they will be second in the district (tied) but they will still get the fourth seed on point differential. However, if they win by 11 points or more they will vault up into the second seed, almost certainly hosting Jonesboro Westside in the first week of the playoffs. If Shiloh takes the second seed, Gravette will get the third, but if Pea Ridge takes that position, the Lions will wind up with the fourth seeding.
In last week's Shiloh game at Gravette, the Lions were leading in the second half 21-20 but Shiloh scored the last 13 points of the game to take the win. Pea Ridge whipped Huntsville 40-16, expanding a 15-0 halftime lead to 40-0 before reserves went in to mop up. The 'Hawk victory raised their won-loss record for the current two-year cycle to 17-3, quite an achievement. There are at least two games to go in the season, with up to six possible should they make the state final.
The conference schedule this week, beside the Shiloh/Pea Ridge game, has Gravette going to Gentry, Prairie Grove hosting Lincoln with Berryville finishing their season at Huntsville. With Gentry suffering with numerous injuries, the two teams record against each other since 2000 will likely expand to 13-2 in Gravette's favor. Lincoln is 0-10 against Prairie Grove while Berryville has little success against Huntsville, going 2-9 against the Eagles over the past few years.
4A-1 conference standings
1. Prairie Grove 6-0
2. Shiloh 5-1
3. Pea Ridge 4-2
Gravette 4-2
5. Lincoln 3-3
6. Gentry 1-5
Huntsville 1-5
8. Berryville 0-6
MaxPreps/CBS 4A state rankings
The top three teams in the 4A classification remained unchanged with the rest of the top 10 teams shuffling to new rankings.
The 4A-1's Prairie Grove rose a notch to fourth after previously fourth-ranked Robinson was beaten last Friday. Robinson dropped to sixth with former sixth-ranked Pocahontas moving up one place. The biggest gainer was Pottsville who jumped into the top 10 for the first time this season, debuting in the eighth spot.
Shiloh, Gravette and Pea Ridge were unchanged from the previous week with the team moving up in the district besides Prairie Grove was Lincoln, who moved up two spots to 35th. Huntsville, Gentry and Berryville all moved down from last week.
MaxPreps Top 10 Nov. 1, 2015
1. Nashville 9-0
2. Dardanelle 9-0
3. Warren 8-1
4. Prairie Grove 8-1
5. Pocahontas 9-0
6. Robinson 7-2
7. Central Arkansas 8-1
8. Pottsville 6-3
9. Ashdown 7-2
10. Malvern 6-3
13. Shiloh 6-2
18. Gravette 6-3
19. Pea Ridge 7-2
35. Lincoln 4-5
37. Huntsville 3-6
39. Gentry 3-6
45. Berryville 2-7
'Back to the Future' almost got it right
A big "Back to the Future" fan when the movie trilogy came out in the 1980s, I remember the second movie which was situated far into the future -- 2015.
The society of 2015 had flat screen TVs and hoverboards, a couple of things that have since been realized. A joke in the movie related to a big screen sports story which reported the World Series Champion Chicago Cubs, a team that hasn't actually won a World Series in 108 years, last winning the title in 1907.
With the Cubs coming on strong in 2015, I thought that maybe the Michael J. Fox movie was prescient, perhaps that part of the movie was also going to turn out to be true. They had the third best record of any team in the majors, beat the Pittsburg Pirates, baseball's second best team in the wild card game. They then took out baseball's best team in the St. Louis Cardinals in the next round of playoffs, which led folks to think, maybe, just maybe, this year was the year to break the curse.
After all, they just had to get past the New York Mets to get into the fall classic opposite the Kansas City Royals. They beat the Mets seven out of seven games this season so things were looking exceedingly good. That is, until the Mets swept them in four straight games to take the National League crown. The curse lives on.
Kansas City takes World Series in royal style
The Kansas City Royals, featuring a number of former players from the Northwest Arkansas Naturals, came from behind in classic fashion to win their first World Series title since 1985. Kansas City bested the New York Mets 7-2 Sunday, to win four of five games.
Trailing 2-0 in the top of the ninth in game No. 5, the Royals used their speed to score twice with only a walk and lone hit. Both runs were scored on ground ball outs.
The speed of the American League champions was on display on the first pitch of the Series. On that pitch, Alcides Escobar dropped a hit between two New York Met outfielders and raced all the way around to score an inside the park homer. That opening run was all the score the Royals could muster for awhile, trailing 3-1 until a rally late in the game gave them the victory. After splitting games No. 2 and No. 3, the Royals trailed 3-1 late in game No. 4, with the Mets prepared to even the series at 2-2. Another Royal rally led to another come from behind victory in that game. In the five game series, Kansas City went into the late innings with a lead only one time, winning two games in extra innings.
They played the same way in the playoffs, besting the Toronto Blue Jays four of six games, many of them late inning rallies, to win their second straight American League title.
Kansas City catcher Salvador Perez was named the World Series Most Valuable Player, batting .364 and having a hit in the Royals 5-run rally in the top of the 12th in the series ending win Sunday night.
The Royals won the first game in 14 innings, and the final game in 12 innings, both games with Edinson Volquez the starting pitcher. Though pitching well, the Kansas City ace didn't get a decision in either contest, and had to battle personal tragedy when his father died the day the series opened in Kansas City.
The Royals racked up the best record in the American League this year and with a fairly young roster, they could be ruling the American League for some time to come.
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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].
Sports on 11/04/2015