Hawks renew football rivalry with Farmington

After a two-year hiatus, Pea Ridge will resume their football series at Farmington with the Cardinals hosting the Blackhawks Friday.

After enjoying a pair of lop sided victories to date, the 'Hawks will be lining up opposite a much stronger opponent in the Cards. Farmington was run over by Prairie Grove in their season opener but came back and crushed Huntsville 43-0 last Friday.

Since 2000, the 'Hawks have been on the losing side of a 6-2 ledger with the Cardinals. However, the two wins the Blackhawks have accumulated against Farmington were the last two times that the teams met, in 2012 and 2013. Indeed, the 'Hawks whipped their now 5A foe by a collective 62-7 in those last two wins.

The series between the bird rivals ended in 2014 when Farmington was moved up into the 5A classification. Before the 'Hawks' last two wins over Farmington, the Washington county team had beaten Pea Ridge six straight times by an average of nearly 30 points per game. The 'Hawks break out year they enjoyed in 2012 turned the tables on the Cards.

After Paris left the 'Hawks' non-conference schedule this year, Farmington was signed to fill the opening. They have had a record of 9-11 since ascending to 5A but most of their wins were against 4A foes. They took care of Huntsville again last week but were outplayed by Prairie Grove 35-14 in their season opener.

In that opener, junior quarterback Trey Waggle had a rough night against the Tigers, going just seven for 17 for a total of 57 yards. He turned that around at Huntsville by going 18 for 23 for 195 yards, throwing to 6'4" receiver Xander Staten for the most damage. Junior tailback Caleb Williams had good night on the ground in the Prairie Grove game, rushing for 107 yards on 19 carries, but wasn't as prolific against Huntsville. But, then again, but didn't need to be. He is the only back, however, with any appreciable yardage totals. Williams is one of the fastest athletes in the 5A conference with a slew of track honors.

The Cards relied on defense for a lot of their point production. Three Huntsville turnovers led to three of the six touchdowns that Farmington put up on the scoreboard.

Farmington returns only a few starters from the 2015 season. They will have the largest roster (63) of any team the 'Hawks will face this year but will suffer from inexperience. They now have the experience of running over an opponent and being run over, so they ought to be somewhat ready to host the 'Hawks Friday.

Perhaps the brightest factoid of their 5-5 season last year was that they were only blown out once among their five losses. The other four losses were by single digits.

I am picking the 'Hawks to prevail in this one as Pea Ridge is a lot more improved than folks may realize. With the emergence of Jakota Sainsbury's incredibly accurate passing touch, the 'Hawks don't always have to win on the ground. All-State running back Zaine Holley is joined by elusive Drew Winn as a potent force on the ground and they are complemented by Ryan Higgins and several others with ball carrying ability. Hayden Holtgrewe, Holley, Higgins and Cole Wright lead an abundance of receivers.

The Pea Ridge defensive line has done a job on opposing offenses. Nearly all of Green Forest's offensive yardage came off one play, and before the subs rotated in the week before, Booneville had nearly zero yards rushing. The Cardinal's advantage of passing over height-challenged secondary defenders won't be a factor this Friday.

Other conference member games

Just three district schools are home this week, the final non-conference games of the 2016 season.

Gentry, Shiloh and Prairie Grove will be homestanding with the rest of the conference hitting the road.

Probably one of the most one-sided contests in the state this week will be West Fork's Tigers visiting the confines of the felines of Prairie Grove. Elkins pounded West Fork 63-6 in a rout that no one saw coming. Meanwhile, Prairie Grove whipped one of the top teams in Oklahoma, Vian, by a 35-14 count. The final score at Prairie Grove this week will be whatever the Tigers want it to be. The 4A-1 Tigers have won 13 of the past 15 encounters with West Fork.

Gentry is hosting undefeated Greenland, a team the Pioneers have beaten but once in the last six tries. Greenland manhandled West Fork in Week No. 1, then overpowered Mansfield 40-20 last week. I'm pulling for a Pioneer win, but I will likely be disappointed.

In a real intriguing game at Shiloh, the Pottsville Apaches are visiting. The two teams have never played and both are ranked in the state 4A Top 10. Pottesville lost to 5A Vilonia 21-6 but whipped a very good Fountain Lake squad 35-21. Shiloh is coming off a come from behind victory over 5A Little Rock Christian, a 44-42 win. LRC took second ranked Warren down to the wire before losing 55-48 in Week No. 1. Always highly thought of in the pre-season, it looks like the private school boys from Springdale have a legitimate contender this year. Pottsville has been the author of numerous upsets in its short football history, but I would not bet against the Apaches.

Shiloh was lucky to come home with a win from Little Rock. A final field goal in the game's closing seconds was inches off the mark for LRC. The ball was so close that both sides celebrated immediately afterward, both thinking the ball had gone their way.

Huntsville is on the road against Elkins, and while they hold a 7-3 edge in their last 10 games with the Elks, they may get surprised. A new coach at Elkins has lit a fire under the Elks and they are a different team. Meanwhile, the Eagles look to be the same old Eagles so I am going with Elkins on this one.

Berryville will be going to Green Forest to face a numbers and size challenged host. Berryville was roughed up by Clinton last week 34-0, and while the Bobcats are 1-1, their win was against lowly Decatur in Week No. 1. Still, I think the 'Cats will have their way with the Tigers in the end.

Lincoln is going to play Mansfield, a team that is 0-2 in losses to Waldron and Greenland by a 85-20 total score. Lincoln has been whipped thoroughly the first two games themselves, but they were beaten by teams you wouldn't call threats. I don't see Lincoln winning a game this year.

Two former 'Hawk stars

in same situation

Two years ago, Mikhaela Cochran graduated Pea Ridge as the top athlete in her class, and last year, Brent Ferguson graduated as a top athlete in his class. Both athletes decided to take their talents north to Bolivar, Mo., where they enrolled at Southwest Baptist University.

They share another similarity as both of them went down in injuries recently. Ferguson fractured a leg and will out sit the football season for medical reasons. Cochran, playing in her first game this year for SBU's volleyball team, went down with an ankle injury only minutes into the first game of the new season.

Besides being excellent athletes, both youths are outstanding in the classroom as well.

CBS/MaxPreps 4A

State Football Poll

The top two teams in the state (Nashville and Warren) continue to be ranked and rated as the best two teams in 4A this season, at least thus far.

Besides, their won-lost record. MaxPreps also displays a power rating, which is their ultimate indicator of where a team should be ranked. This rating is based on a computer algorithm that takes into consideration many different factors in football success. It is rapidly catching on across the United States, and is the official rating service of AAA.

MaxPreps State 4A football poll

School Won-Loss Pwr rtg

1. Nashville 2-0 49.0

2. Warren 2-0 39.7

3. Robinson 2-0 35.8

4. Ashdown 2-0 33.3

5. Shiloh 2-0 33.1

6. Prairie Grove 2-0 32.3

7. Pea Ridge 2-0 25.6

8. Arkadelphia 2-0 23.5

9. Cent. Arkansas 1-1 19.9

10. Dardanelle 1-1 18.8

23. Gravette 1-1 0.0

36. Huntsville 1-1 -10.5

40. Lincoln 0-2 -15.0

42. Gentry 1-1 -18.4

43. Berryville 1-1 -23.9

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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 09/14/2016