Several Blackhawks are among the conference leaders in statistics amassed by the Arkansas Activities Association.
Junior Hayden Holtgrewe leads the district in punt return average, covering 15.2 yards per return. The defensive back/receiver speedster also leads on kickoff returns with a 28.5 average. Another stat in which he ranks No. 1 is total interceptions, a lead he shares with teammate Britton Caudill with both having three. Holtgrewe is also the leading receiver in the district with 650 yards, nearly double the second best player. To finish things off, Holtgrewe is second in the conference with 12 touchdowns scored, and is third in total scoring with 78 points.
Two other 'Hawks are among the leaders having second best totals. Senior Zaine Holley has rushed for 700 yards to rank second with Jakota Sainsbury passing the 1,000 yard mark at 1,014 yards to also rank second.
Defensively, Brett Kirby is third in the district with three quarterback sacks this season.
Conference playoff seeding starts to jell
The playoff seeding is starting to firm up a little but there are still plenty of uncertainties that make the league race interesting.
The only certainty is that Gentry is out of the running for a seed with an 0-5 record. An almost near certainty is that Prairie Grove will gain the No. 1 seed. If they can beat either Berryville (1-4) or Lincoln (1-4) in their last two games, they have the championship.
The number No. 2 seed in the 4A-1 will come down to the Pea Ridge/Shiloh game a week from Friday. It probably doesn't even matter if either team wins this Friday, it will still come down to next week. If the Lions could beat Shiloh this week, there could be a three-way tie possibility but that is not realistic. Pea Ridge and Shiloh hold their destiny in their hands. Win out and get the No. 2 seed. The Pea Ridge/Shiloh loser will get the No. 3 seed.
Gravette will end up with the fourth seed but they will have to beat Gentry in the league finale to be assured of that. Gentry could muck up things with an upset and they are certainly capable of that. Upsets always place teams into ties with others, but unless it is a three-way tie, it is not hard to break the tie for seeding purposes.
The team with the inside track on the fifth and final seed is Huntsville. They will probably be up one game over Berryville with the Bobcats on their schedule in the final game. Lincoln could tie Huntsville this week with a win over Gentry, but they finish their season facing Prairie Grove, not a bright scenario. Berryville could beat Huntsville and get a playoff spot for the first time in a long time. Hey, the Cubs are in the World Series -- it could happen.
The playoff picture, it would seem, for the top seed Prairie Grove, is that they may play Mena in their first game. Mena is ranked No. 10 in state. The next game on the Tigers playoff schedule would then be either No. 3 ranked Robinson or No. 7 ranked Ashdown and that will be decided this week. If the Tigers survive that gauntlet, they would take on No. 4 ranked Warren, who is still undefeated at 8-0, for a return trip to the state championship.
The second seed of the 4A-1 will probably host No. 11 Malvern. The winner of that game then most likely gets to travel to Nashville to play the defending champion. The winner of that game will probably play No. 8 Hamburg for a semi-final spot.
The third seed from our district will host either No. 24 Monticello or No. 27 Crossett and then travel to play at No. 22 Heber Springs. The winner of that contest will probably play No. 9 Dumas for a semi-final slot in the playoffs.
Our league's fourth seed will travel to No. 12 Central Arkansas in Little Rock and then the winner has a good chance to play at No. 8 Hamburg.. The fifth seed from the 4A-1 will be playing at No. 14 Dardanelle with the winner playing at No. 3 Robinson or No. 7 Ashdown. The survivor of all that could play Prairie Grove.
If it seems that the playoff structure is a bit lopsided, it is because it is. Currently, the top 11 teams play in half of the six districts (the 4A-1, 4A-7 and 4A-8 districts). The other three districts are distinctly weaker than the top three. Because of that, the playoff schedule for our 4A-1 teams favors the No. 3 seed in terms of strength of opponents.
Of course, any team that is looking to win it all isn't much concerned with who they play or win. You will play the best sooner or later. At least the No. 2 and No. 3 seeds, if they win their second round game, will earn a home game for the third round.
Conference games
Of course, the 'Hawks will be invading Huntsville this Friday to take on the Eagles. The biggest school in the 4A classification has won three games against five defeats this season. They whipped Green Forest in their season opener 28-0, lost the next four in blowout losses, they came back to defeat Gentry 28-14 and then slip past Lincoln 36-34 in a game both needed to win to get into the playoffs. Gravette ended whatever hopes the Eagles had in taking the No. 4 seed in a 19-14 loss to the Lions last week.
Pea Ridge will be using the game as a final tune-up for the battle with Shiloh a week from Friday. The Blackhawks completely crushed Shiloh two years ago in a 32-6 victory that gave them their first ever undefeated season. The 'Hawks opened last year's game by falling behind 21-0 in the early stages of the game. In one of the greatest, if not the greatest, comebacks in the history of the school, Pea Ridge shut the private schoolers out the rest of the way and scored 24 to win and earn the No. 2 seed. The 'Hawks went on to win three straight in the playoffs before losing to eventual state champion Nashville.
In other games this week, Berryville will be going to Prairie Grove in what will be a one-sided affair and Gravette will be going to take on Shiloh. Gravette has shown flashes of talent this season, but has pretty much played to their ranking. They have not been upset, and they have not upset anyone. They are very short on depth but their playmakers they have could make it hot for the Springdale boys.
The schedule rounds out with Lincoln going to Gentry. Gentry has no hope of a playoff spot and the Wolves chances are faint at best. This game will be for pride and Gentry could break out and win this for their first league win of the season.
4A-1 league standings
Oct. 24, 2016
Prairie Grove 5-0 8-0
Pea Ridge 4-1 7-1
Shiloh 4-1 7-1
Gravette 3-2 5-3
Huntsville 2-3 3-5
Berryville 1-4 3-5
Lincoln 1-4 2-6
Gentry 0-5 2-6
4A games across Arkansas
No. 2 Nashville put the hurt on No. 10 Mena last week. No. 7 Ashdown took down hard luck No. 15 Arkadelphia 39-29. Arkadelphia has got to be the highest ranked team ever with an 0-5 conference mark. The truth is, the Badgers could be the champion of the 4A-2, 4A-3 or 4A-4 districts, but they play in the loaded 4A-7.
No. 14 Dardanelle surprised me with a 17-7 win over No. 16 Booneville. I thought the Bearcats were primed to win, but I was wrong.
No. 11 Malvern is back rolling again with a 56-19 pounding of No. 34 Fountain Lake. Fountain Lake is a member of the 4A-7 and was ranked near the top of 4A at one time. No. 8 Hamburg took a 27-21 win over Crossett in a game that was closer than expected.
This week we will see how good Malvern has gotten itself when they go to Nashville. The game of the week in the state has to be the matchup of No. 3 Robinson and No. 7 Ashdown. It will be at Robinson and though Robinson is favored, Ashdown is explosive at times.
MaxPreps/CBS
State 4A football poll
Oct. 26, 2016
For the first time this season, the top 10 teams did not change their order. With the battles coming this week, there won't be many changes to the list unless a team plays poorly enough to depress their score.
Only Gravette (+0.1), Berryville (+1.2) and Gentry (+2.3) improved heir power ratings. The team with the biggest drop in power ratings was Prairie Grove which slipped 2.7 points. However, it still has a 1.6 edge on Nashville to retain the No. 1 ranking.
State poll
School won-loss pwr rtg +/-
1. Prairie Grove 8-0 42.1 -2.7
2. Nashville 8-0 40.5 no chg
3. Robinson 7-1 31.9 no chg
4. Warren 8-0 28.1 -3.4
5. Pea Ridge 7-1 24.6 -1.9
6. Shiloh 7-1 21.8 -2.7
7. Ashdown 6-2 21.1 +1.1
8. Hamburg 6-2 15.8 -1.7
9. Dumas 5-2 16.9 +2.5
10. Mena 5-3 13.6 -0.3
17. Gravette 5-3 6.6 +0.1
32. Huntsville 3-4 -6.7 -1.0
35. Lincoln 2-6 -12.0 -0.5
38. Berryville 3-5 -14.1 +1.2
41. Gentry 2-6 -15.7 +2.3
•••
Editor's note: John McGee is an award-winning columnist and sports writer. Opinions expressed are those of the writer. Mr. McGee can be contacted through The Times at [email protected].
Sports on 10/26/2016