The Pea Ridge Blackhawks 2016 football schedule has seen a marked upgrade from previous seasons. The upcoming season will see the 'Hawks taking on two new non-conference opponents which are decidedly stronger than the two that were discontinued.
For several years, the 'Hawks have opened the fall campaign against the Elkins Elks. While the series was quite competitive for most of the two teams' history together, the 'Hawks' growth in talent, facilities and depth lately has had the Elks searching for a new opponent in place of Pea Ridge. This fall, the longtime series is over with the 'Hawks hosting the Booneville Bearcats in the season opener with Elkins having Shiloh over to open their season.
At one time both Elkins and Pea Ridge were 3A teams, but while the Elks have stayed in 3A, the 'Hawks have moved up to 4A. Booneville is in the same classification as Pea Ridge (4A) and they are only three years removed from claiming a state championship, which they won in 2013. While the Bearcats aren't as strong as in years past, they usually have had a strong program and expect to win.
There was once a Cargill meat packing plant in Booneville that was the largest employer in the area. After an explosion and fire destroyed the complex, the plant was closed laying off hundreds of workers. Consequently, the student population took a dive, which pushed the Bearcats into the 3A classification the past two years.
The town is making a comeback. City leaders have attracted new businesses and the school population has risen enough to place the Bearcats back into the 4A classification. Back when I was taking my son to road races around the state, we always made it a point to compete in the Booneville 10K. The folks were so nice down there, and the community seemed to be a warm and pleasant place to raise a family.
The other team dropping off the 'Hawks' schedule is the Paris Eagles. The Blackhawks were underdogs when they played Paris in their first meeting in 2014 but the locals whipped the Eagles by 40. Pea Ridge defeated Paris again last year by a 45-0 count and now they no longer have us on the schedule. In their place will be former conference foe Farmington.
The Cardinals were elevated up into the 5A class for the last cycle. Farmington went 5-5 and just missed the 5A playoffs last season. Their highlight of that year was their 28-12 whipping of Prairie Grove in their season opener. The Tigers went on to win their next 13 games before losing in the state championship game.
Pea Ridge had a three-game winning streak over Farmington before the series ended when the Cards left the 4A-1. The 'Hawks will be playing the re-start of the series on the Farmington campus, the last game before the regular season begins.
The only non-conference opponent that the 'Hawks kept are the Green Forest Tigers. Though a 3A team, the Tigers scheduled all 4A teams for their non-league battles. The 'Hawks have been playing Green Forest for a long time and their have been some spirited battles along the way. The 'Hawks won last year by a 49-17 count.
So the 'Hawks have gone from an all-3A non-conference schedule to one that has teams from 3A, 4A and 5A classes.
'Hawks may have toughest schedule in the 4A-1
While perusing the schedules of all the other teams from the 4A-1 District, a case can be made the the 'Hawks will be tackling the toughest non-conference schedule in the league.
Shiloh usually lines up some tough competition in other states but the Springdale boys will be staying in-state this season. They open with Elkins, take on Little Rock Christian, and then finish with Pottsville. Little Rock Christian was one of the top 5A teams in the state last year. However, the Little Rock team returns just one starter back on offense and will be rebuilding this year. Pottsville also was a team that lost heavily through graduation last spring and won't likely be as good as they have been the past few years.
Prairie Grove will again open with Farmington but they will follow that with games against small schools Vian and West Fork. Gravette is playing Ozark and Booneville before taking on Jay in the finale. Ozark lost most their experience last year with Jay not a highly regarded team in Oklahoma.
None of the other district teams are playing any exceptional teams with Huntsville taking on Farmington for perhaps the toughest game in the district's lower echelon.
Is Pea Ridge headed for the 5A classification?
I have had a lot of folks ask me if I think the Blackhawks are destined to be moved up into the 5A classification soon.
My reply was that while the 'Hawks may be looking to move up at some point due to the steady growth the school has maintained over the past few years, they are a long way off at present. First of all, the 'Hawks rank as only the fifth biggest school in the 4A-1 in the most recent official counts.
Huntsville is currently the largest 4A school in the state and would have moved up to 5A this year had not it been for the addition of Bentonville West High School to the 7A West. To divide up into classifications, the biggest 16 schools are 7A, the next 16 are 6A and the next 32 are 5A. Bentonville West's inclusion pushed Huntsville down from being the 5A's smallest school to being the biggest in 4A.
Gravette, Prairie Grove and Berryville are among the biggest schools in all of 4A, and and one or more of them may be moving up in a cycle or two. By the time Pea Ridge gets to 5A, it may well be that most of the 5A West will be former 4A-1 members.
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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. Mr. McGee can be contacted through The Times at [email protected].
Sports on 07/06/2016