Big night in 4A-1 football looms Friday with top 4 teams

Perhaps the biggest night in the 4A-1 football campaign will transpire this Friday with the top four teams in the league doing battle with one another. Shiloh, No. 4 state ranked, will be hosting No. 5 state-ranked Prairie Grove while No. 6 state-ranked Pea Ridge will be visiting No. 23 state-ranked Gravette.

Pea Ridge will be invading the Lion's Den in Gravette hoping to win their 13th consecutive regular season road win and third straight at Gravette. The 'Hawks were 5-0 in 2014 when they visited Gravette and came away with a close 21-19 victory on their way to a perfect 10-0 regular season campaign, their first one in history.

The 'Hawks came in to the Gravette game last year with the same 5-0 ledger but suffered a 22-12 setback. They lost the next game to Prairie Grove but came back and defeated Shiloh in the season finale to claim a three-way tie for second in the final league standings with Shiloh and Gravette.

The Lions lost several quality players through graduation but head coach Bill Harrelson always seems to get the Lions ready the next year. Gravette is 3-2 with a 21-7 loss to Booneville before getting crushed by Prairie Grove 35-0 last week.

The offense is led by senior Kilby Roberts who has had some success in the passing game this season. His favorite target is Brady Moorman, the brother of last year all-conference quarterback Bryce Moorman. Several backs are in the mix for starting roles but none have extensive experience. They mustered but 44 yards rushing offense against Prairie Grove last week.

The Lions have 13 seniors on their 50-man roster but lack much experience from 2015. They do have considerable size and strength in their lines. They have about half their defensive starters back from last year but only a couple back on offense.

The hosts will likely have major problems running against the 'Hawks' stout ground defense but Roberts will have his chance to do some damage through the air. Whatever weaknesses the 'Hawks have shown defensively have been in pass defense, though they have improved from week to week.

If the 'Hawks can penetrate the Lions' front line and pressure the quarterback, Gravette will be hard pressed to find the end zone.

I predict Pea Ridge will prevail in a close battle, setting up a big showdown with Prairie Grove the following week.

It will be Air Force versus Army when Prairie Grove comes to Shiloh.

Prairie Grove ground out 326 yards with their punishing ground game against Gravette while Shiloh was enjoying 382 yards of offense on passing plays in the first half alone in their 44-7 thumping of Huntsville last week.

Though Huntsville strove mightily to get to starting quarterback Connor Reece, the Shiloh offensive line kept him safe as he completed 22 first half passes for four touchdowns. Shiloh used seven different receivers to throw to. Prairie Grove did most of its damage on the ground against Gravette but the Tigers did get a 72-yard touchdown pass for their second touchdown of that game. Their first option is to run the ball but they can put it up into the air if necessary.

Prairie Grove had their best season ever in 2015, claiming the state runner-up trophy as well as a 62-33 walloping of Shiloh at Tiger Field last season. In games since 2000, they have split them for a 5-5 mark against each other.

Huntsville will visit Gentry this week in an important game to determine perhaps the fifth seed from the conference for the state playoffs, Huntsville holds a 5-4 edge over Gentry in games played this millennium after the Eagles 35-34 win over the Pioneers in overtime last season. Gentry might have too much offensive power for Huntsville to deal with this year so the host ought to win.

The fourth league game will see Berryville visiting Lincoln. Lincoln holds a 5-4 edge in their last nine games together. Lincoln won the 2015 contest 41-21 but Berryville came up with some surprising numbers in their 52-44 conquest of Gentry last week. Berryville didn't win a conference game last year but now only need to perhaps beat Lincoln and Huntsville to earn a playoff berth, someplace they haven't been in a long time.

4A-1 league standings

Pea Ridge 2-0 5-0

Prairie Grove 2-0 5-0

Shiloh 2-0 5-0

Gravette 1-1 3-2

Berryville 1-1 3-2

Gentry 0-2 2-3

Lincoln 0-2 1-4

Huntsville 0-2 1-4

4A games across Arkansas

The Arkansas 4A game of the week, likely the month, and maybe the season will be No. 1 Nashville playing No. 2 Robinson in a 4A-7 league game.

The always tough 4A-7 District became even tougher this season when the Arkansas Activities Association moved football power Robinson into the conference. It is quite rare for any conference to have both the No. 1 and the No. 2 teams in the same district.

Robinson entered the second round of the playoffs last year with a 10-1 record, having lost but a single game and that by a single point, 28-27. They came to Pea Ridge and lost their second game of the year, also by a 28-27 count. Their disappointment was palpable and I had the feeling they may come back this year with great determination to make up for last season.

So far the Senators have done that, but now the have to take on the defending state champion and currently No. 1 ranked Nashville Scrappers. Both teams have high octane offense with lots of speed so it could well be a high scoring affair. I would have to go with Nashville on this one.

No. 11 and still undefeated Dover (5-0) is seeking respect but they might not get it if No. 17 Booneville has anything to say about that. Booneville is a very young team who took a 40-19 beating by Pea Ridge in the season opener. They are 2-3 but suffered very close losses to Vilonia and Pottsville. They will be pretty good, maybe even very good by the end of the season. I pick the Bearcats to pull the upset.

No. 9 Ashdown will take on No. 14 and former Top 10 team Malvern in another 4A-7 contest. I'm picking Malvern.

Besides having the defending state champion, the 4A-7 district has had six of their eight teams ranked in the top 10 sometime this season. Right now, four of the top nine teams in the state are in their league (Nashville, Robinson, Arkadelphia and Ashdown).

MaxPreps/CBS

State 4A football poll

Oct. 3, 2016

School won-loss pwr rtg +/-

1. Nashville 5-0 44.3 -4.9

2. Robinson 5-0 40.8 +4.6

3. Prairie Grove 5-0 34.7 +0.5

4. Warren 5-0 34.7 +1.4

5. Shiloh 5-0 31.9 -2.8

6. Pea Ridge 5-0 22.8 -0.9

7. Arkadelphia 3-2 19.1 -4.2

8. CAC 4-1 18.0 +0.3

9.. Ashdown 4-1 15.7 -1.7

19. Gravette 3-2 6.2 +0.2

33. Berryville 3-2 -9.1 +4.7

36. Huntsville 1-4 -12.4 -0.6

38. Lincoln 1-3 -15.0 -0.4

40. Gentry 2-3 -15.5 -7.2

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Editor's note: John McGee is an award-winning columnist and sports writer. Mr. McGee can be contacted through The Times at [email protected].

Sports on 10/05/2016