The Pea Ridge Blackhawk varsity football team will play at home this week after spending the last two weeks on the road. Visiting this week will be Lincoln's Wolves with the teams battling for a 4A-1 conference victory. The 'Hawks are rolling back into town riding a four-game winning streak with Lincoln hoping to improve on their 1-3 record.
While the Wolves are at the door, they may not have as much wind in their lungs as they would like. History has been good to the 'Hawks as the locals have won eight of the nine times the teams have faced off since 2000. They played one another as 3A-1 opponents until the 'Hawks moved to the 4A-1 in 2008. Lincoln stayed 3A until moving up to the 4A in 2012, thus resuming their series with Pea Ridge.
The eight Pea Ridge wins were fairly one-sided victories and the lone Lincoln victory was a 37-7 blowout in 2013, the year the Wolves made it to the third round of the state playoffs. That's also when their outstanding coach Brad Harris left for Bryant (7A) where he is now the head coach and Lincoln hasn't fared well since his departure. The past two years has seen the 'Hawks dominate this Washington County foe 77-27 overall.
The last time I saw their roster posted, Lincoln was down to just 21 athletes on their squad, definitely a major handicap when playing in the 4A-1 when all other rosters have at least 40. With 'Hawks having more than 70 athletes in the pool, a hard fought battle will favor a team with depth like Pea Ridge.
The Wolves are led by senior all-conference quarterback Harrison Swayne who rushed and passed for more than 2,000 yards last year. Sophomore Caleb Lloyd competed as a freshman last year and ran for nearly 1,000 yards. Likely the top receiver for the Wolves is junior Brian Umberson.
Another bright spot for Lincoln is they do have a seasoned, talented offensive line, but they don't have the depth behind them to spell them from time to time. Defensively, they gave up 34 points a game in 2015, and the Wolves have been outscored this year by an average score of 35-12. In the Wolves' 33-0 loss to Gravette last week, Lincoln gained only 84 yards in total offense. I would have to rate the 'Hawks a better defensive team than Gravette, so there you go.
Pea Ridge should win and win easily, but -- the Wolves do have the talent to put points on the board if opponents don't take them seriously. Every single game for the rest of the season has playoff implications so no team should be taken lightly.
First conference week reveals divide
For the past few years, Prairie Grove, Pea Ridge, Gravette and Shiloh have been the clear cut best four teams of the 4A-1 and the first week of district play bears that out once again. Those four played the bottom four teams and the higher ranked teams bettered the lower by an aggregate 177-45 score.
Shiloh had a bit of trouble getting ahead of Berryville in the early going, as they led only 15-12 late in the first quarter. Shiloh finally put the Bobcats down by scoring the last 38 points in the game. Gravette won easily on the road, 33-0 over Lincoln, allowing the Wolves very little offense.
Along with the 'Hawks' pounding of Gentry, Prairie Grove dominated Huntsville in all phases of the game in their 41-12 victory. The 2016 Tigers look a little more like the Tigers of old with their dependence on success in the ground game. The 2015 Prairie Grove had a potent passing attack, the first time in memory that they had such a facet to their offense. Their strong defensive effort is a constant. Like Pea Ridge, with their game in hand they rotated in their reserves liberally thus allowing the Eagles some late scoring opportunity.
The week ahead
Besides the Pea Ridge/Lincoln game, there are three other conference games on the slate.
The game of the week should be the clash between two top four teams, Prairie Grove and Gravette. While Gravette is still among the top four teams in the league, they are probably a notch below the other three.
Gravette was pummeled 44-19 last year by the Tigers, and it would appear that the talent divide between the two teams is a bit worse for the Lions in 2016. Prairie Grove has a 9-5 edge over Gravette in games since the year 2000 and the Tigers will make it 10-5.
Shiloh will take on Huntsville, a team to which they have never lost. Shiloh topped the Eagles 45-7 last season and the Springdale private school boys are better than 2015.
The most competitive game will be played between Berryville and Gentry. Gentry won the battle last year 38-22 and currently own a 10-5 advantage in the last 15 games. The Pioneers demonstrated that they have offensive talent in the game last week, and they will put points on the board against the Bobcats.
Top five state ranked teams
win easily, No. 6 falls
Top ranked Nashville had a battle with former No. 6 Arkadelphia for a while in the first half, leading just 27-20. The second half was all Scrappers as they exploded for 43 more points to win 71-40, dropping the Badgers down just past Pea Ridge in the rankings to seventh.
Former No. 2 Warren beat Crossett 48-27, a game that wasn't even supposed to be competitive but had some drama for awhile. Their surprising difficulty dropped the 'Jacks down to No. 4. Robinson beat a good Fountain Lake team 47-18 and the Senators have looked better than folks thought they would be after losing a super senior class through graduation. They rose from fourth to second in the poll.
Ashdown had to struggle to defeat Mena 13-12 in the super tough 4A-7 District and so dropped two spots to No. 10. Malvern improved their record with a 43-8 crushing of Bauxite and so moved up two places to No. 8.
Shiloh's early struggles with Berryville dropped them from second to fifth in the rankings with Pea Ridge moving up one spot in the poll to sixth after their win at Gentry.
The top 10 teams, though heavily rearranged, remain the same from last week. Among the 48 teams that reside in the 4A classification, only seven of them are still undefeated, including Pea Ridge. One team not among the top 10 but still undefeated is Dover, also at 4-0.
MaxPreps State 4A football poll
Sept. 26, 2016
School^won-loss^pwr^rtg +/-
1. Nashville^4-0^49.3^+2.8
2. Robinson^4-0^36.2^+9.5
3. Prairie Grove^4-0^34.2^-0.2
4. Warren^4-0^33.3^-5.0
5. Shiloh^4-0^34.7^-1.5
6. Pea Ridge^4-0^23.7^-0.8
7. Arkadelphia^3-1^23.3^-2.3
8. Malvern^3-1^19.7 ^+2.2
9. CAC^3-1^17.7 ^+1.9
10. Ashdown^3-1^17.0^-2.8
20. Gravette^3-1^6.0^+4.1
32. Gentry^2-2^-8.3^+1
37. Huntsville^1-3^-11.8^+2.6
39. Lincoln^1-3^-14.6^+4.2
40. Berryville^1-3^-14.8^+4.7
•••
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 09/28/2016