In the 4A-1 District, things went according to the odds, with the top four squads in the conference putting some distance between them and the lower tier in the competition.
The Pea Ridge/Berryville game was all Blackhawks as they drubbed their rival to the east to the tune of 48-0. Though the 'Hawks have thoroughly beaten the Bobcats over years, at times, Berryville has risen up and pulled the upset on occasion, the last time in 2013. Though Berryville has a larger enrollment than does Pea Ridge, the 'Hawks have been bigger and deeper the past few years. The facilities upgrades have also helped in the Blackhawks rise to prominence.
Prairie Grove ran roughshod over Gentry by a 42-0 count, with the Pioneers losing three key skill players prior to last Friday's battle. The Tigers are just a game away from claiming the conference crown and the No. 1 seed in the 2015 playoffs. That game will be at Berryville this Friday, with the 5-0 Tigers battling the 0-5 Bobcats. Don't expect an upset.
Gravette and Shiloh both posted wins Friday and are set to battle each other this week. Shiloh throttled Lincoln 40-0 while Gravette kept on top of the Huntsville Eagles, winning 24-3.
With both Shiloh and Gravette tied at 4-1 in the district standings, whoever wins Friday will get the No. 2 seed into the playoffs, regardless of what happens in week No. 10. The winner will own the tiebreaker so even if this week's winner loses next week, it won't change the seeding.
Another seed to be settled Friday will be the winner of the Lincoln/Gentry game. Lincoln is ahead of Gentry with a 2-3 league, and if the Wolves win, they ice the fifth seed. If Gentry wins, however, the fifth seed contest gets a little murkier. With the Pioneers crippled with injuries, it would appear that Lincoln is in good shape, but then again, this is high school.
Meanwhile, the 'Hawks will be hoping to get a shot at the third seed, with great odds to get at least the fourth. Should the 'Hawks whip the Eagles this Friday, they will clinch at least the fourth playoff spot. They could better their lot if Gravette beats the private school boys this week and Pea Ridge beats them the following week. That scenario would land them a first round home game which the third seed from our conference gets this year.
The top two seeds of our district will open their playoff season, hosting games with the fourth and fifth seeds from the 4A-3 district. It will likely be Truman and Jonesboro Westside to fill those slots. Neither team is highly regarded.
Our league's third seed is a host this year in the first round, likely playing possible third seed Dover from the 4A-4. Actually, the third, fourth and fifth seeds from our district will take on the first, second and third seeds from the district just south of our area.
Our fourth seed will probably travel to Little Rock to play Robinson, a once -beaten team in everybody's top 10. Our fifth seed will be going to Dardanelle to take on the state's Hooten's top ranked team, undefeated at 8-0
Thirty teams will suit up on Nov. 13 for the 4A state playoffs with 16 teams to settle into the second round. Two teams have a bye week in the first round.
4A-1 conference standings
1. Prairie Grove 5-0
2. Gravette 4-1
Shiloh 4-1
4. Pea Ridge 3-2
5. Lincoln 2-3
6. Gentry 1-4
Huntsville 1-4
8. Berryville 0-5
Shake-ups in state rankings
A few shakeups happened this week, with Warren fighting off an upset and a couple of top 10 teams biting the dust.
Warren, who I think is the best team in 4A (well, I used to anyway) was tied 21-21 with Monticello and had to come up with a late score to stay undefeated in 4A competition, posting a 28-21 win. Top 10 Gosnell was hammered by Pocahontas 40-0, which wasn't really surprising if you know the history. Another top tenner no longer ranked there is Fountain Lake, a 52-34 victim of Malvern, a team that can put points on the board if they are on, any given evening.
In another key game, Hooten's 4A top ranked Dardanelle played the 4A third ranked team in Robinson, but it wasn't much of a contest with the Sand Lizards beating Robinson 44-20.
Perennial state contender and MaxPreps No. 1 Nashville continues undefeated, their most recent conquest a 44-0 pounding of Mena. They will play dangerous Malvern this week and finish their season with Bauxite, a team they have never lost to.
The local 4A-1 District has Prairie Grove cracking the top 5, coming in at the fifth spot.
MaxPreps/CBS 4A state rankings
1. Nashville 8-0
2. Dardanelle 8-0
3. Warren 7-1
4. Robinson 7-1
5. Prairie Grove 7-1
6. Pocahontas 8-0
7. Ashdown 6-2
8. Central Arkansas 7-1
9. Malvern 6-2
10. Hamburg 7-1
14. Shiloh 5-2
18. Gravette 6-2
19. Pea Ridge 6-2
35. Huntsville 3-4
36. Lincoln 3-5
38. Gentry 3-5
44. Berryville 2-6
'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 hover boards, 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.
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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 and writes a regular sports column for The Times. He can be contacted through The Times at [email protected].
Sports on 10/28/2015