The first round of the Class 4A State Football playoffs is complete with 16 teams left to battle this week for a berth in the quarter-finals.
The first round had one forfeit, one low scoring game, one high scoring back and forth affair, two byes, and 12 other blow out games with very little drama.
West Helena Central wound up forfeiting to Arkadelphia 2-0 when their team buses were involved in a pile up on I-30 in Little Rock while they were headed south to take on the Badgers. The interstate was back up for hours before the major thoroughfare resumed normal traffic. Though several students were said to have been taken to hospitals, none were known to have serious injuries.
Hamburg (8-4A) was involved in a low scoring battle with Jonesboro Westside before pulling away to win 20-7. The Lions were trailing Westside 7-0 at the half before scoring twice to take a 12-7 lead in the third quarter. Hamburg blocked a punt to score the final 8 points and put the game away.
Hamburg will play the Blackhawks for the third time in their last 13 games, having their 2016 season ended by Pea Ridge, then losing again to the 'Hawks to start the 2017 campaign in the Hooten's Classic in Conway.
Gravette was involved in an incredible back and forth game with Heber Springs, but lost the final by a 49-46 count. The Lions actually outplayed their guests in except in one very important area, special teams.
Heber's Jacob Bremmons ran an incredible three kickoffs back for touchdowns with another Panther running an interception back for a touchdown. Heber's offense only accounted for three of their seven scores, and most importantly, they converted all their PATs. Gravette failed to convert after three of their seven touchdowns which turned out to be the margin of victory for their guests. Austin O'Brien rushed for 334 yards during that game, putting him well over 2,000 yards for the season.
Beside idle Arkadelphia, Booneville and Robinson did not play as they had the "luck" to get a first round bye. Only 30 teams make the playoffs in a 32-team bracket, so two teams every year don't play. Booneville has the misfortune of playing a increasingly hot Nashville who did play the week before.
Prairie Grove surprised no one with a 56-21 pounding of Pottsville. Shiloh was slightly favored in their trip to Stuttgart but it was not to be as the Ricebirds ran over the Privateers 28-7. Gentry ended their season in Batesville was they lost to the Southside Southerners 42-13.
Pocahontas surprised a lot of people, including me, with their 56-16 manhandling of Dumas. Dumas was rated to win but it wasn't even close. Gosnell also raised some eyebrows with a 61-24 routing of Malvern, a member of the tough 7-4A. This was couple of games involving strong football programs from the south as opposed to two teams from the northeast, a relatively weak corner of the state.
Nashville continued their rise back to prominence as they destroyed Monticello 47-7, their sixth win in a row. The Scrappers had won 26 straight games until Pea Ridge ran rampant over them in Nashville last season to end their campaign. They then lost three of their next five games before righting their ship. They could well be on the road to Pea Ridge to return the visit if the two teams get past the second round.
Powerful Ashdown wound up with only the fourth seed from the 7-4A, but they advanced with a 28-7 drubbing of Trumann, a team that had a 9-1 mark headed into the game. The last blowout of the evening was defending state champion Warren running over Highland 48-14. Highland had to drive likely five hours on mostly two lane roads to get to Warren. Highland is on the Missouri border with Warren not all that far from Louisiana.
This weeks matchups will in all likelihood be much closer battles than the first week action.
This weeks matchups
Of course, most important to area sports fans is the Blackhawk encounter (once again) with the Hamburg Lions. Of the eight games on the schedule, this one is the most likely to be one sided. Hamburg has had a series of really good teams for the past several years, but have struggled to get to a 6-5 record thus far in 2017.
The 'Hawks romped past them 50-30 in the season opener and the Lions are currently ranked 23rd. Having said that, any team that has the positive playoff experience that Hamburg has, possesses the potential to have a good game and maybe spring the upset. The Lions went 5-5 during the regular season, failing to beat any team that had a winning record. Their win last week, however, was over a 7-3 Westside team so perhaps they are having a late season comeback.
Prairie Grove (No. 7) will have their hands full with a streaking (No. 6) Stuttgart team. The Ricebirds were sinking early on, losing three of their first four games. They snapped out of it though, winning their last contests by large margins. They are visiting the Tigers and the game will be a toss-up. Stuttgart is a bit higher ranked but are on the road.
Top-ranked Robinson will begin their playoff march by hosting No. 13 Dardanelle. The Sand Lizards are outgunned by the Senators from the state capitol, who have picked up quite a few new starters this season from other Little Rock high schools. The other game involving teams from the side of the bracket opposite Pea Ridge involves No. 4 Warren and No. 14 Ozark. Warren has had the misfortune of playing in a very weak district this season and hasn't been in a close battle since their opening game loss with Little Rock Christian.
No. 9 Booneville is hosting rising Nashville which has shot to the third ranking in the 4A after their late season rush. If Booneville can turn back the Scrappers, they will host the quarter-final game against the winner of Pea Ridge/Hamburg. Should Nashville win, they would travel to Pea Ridge if the 'Hawks take care of Hamburg.
A very interesting game will the matchup of No. 2 Arkadelphia visiting No. 10 Batesville Southside. Southside won the 2-4A with Arkadelphia settling for second in the 7-4A. The Badgers did not have their all-state quarterback in the game with Robinson, which they lost in a close game. The 'Hawks beat Arkadelphia last year in the closest battle of the four games leading to the championship game, winning by just 6.
No. 5 Ashdown will be taking on No. 18 Pocahontas. Ashdown was once the top-ranked team in the state with a highly regarded quarterback leading the way. That quarterback went down with a season ending injury and they haven't been the same since, though they are still a very potent squad. Ashdown is the fifth ranked team in the state, but entering the playoffs as the fourth-ranked team from their district, the 7-4A.
Two top 16 ranked teams that didn't make the Sweet 16 include Trumann and Shiloh.
MaxPreps/CBS State 4A football rankings
The rankings were scrambled quite a bit from week No. 10 of the 2017 football season to week No. 11. The computer rankings that MaxPreps employs weights playoff games higher than regular season encounters. Even the teams that did not play this past week saw their rankings go up or down. This was due to having teams they played earlier in the season do well, or poorly. Interestingly, Cave City escaped the overall last ranking by jumping one spot ahead of current last place team West Fork. Both teams have identical 0-10 records, but the teams in Cave City's schedule did better than the teams in West Fork's schedule.
Pea Ridge's current power ranking is around 35, not having changed all that much since they were ranked as high as No. 1 and No. 2 earlier. The 'Hawks slipped to No. 8 after the other seven teams ahead of Pea Ridge in the polls had significant gains in their power rankings.
But, as I have often said, the only poll that really counts is the one at the end of the season.
1. Robinson^10-0
2. Arkadelphia^10-1
3. Nashville^8-3
4. Warren^10-1
5. Ashdown^8-3
6. Stuttgart^8-3
7. Prairie Grove^10-1
8. Pea Ridge^10-1
9. Booneville^9-1
10. Southside^10-1
11. Heber Springs^8-3
12. Gosnell^8-3
13. Dardanelle^8-3
14. Ozark^8-3
15. Shiloh^7-4
16. Trumann^9-2
17. Bauxite^4-6
18. Pocahontas^6-5
19. Fountain Lake^4-6
20. Bauxite^4-6
21. Riverview^7-4
22.West Helena^6-5
23. Hamburg^6-5
24. Dumas^6-5
25. Westside^7-4
26. Malvern ^3-8
27. Pottsville^6-5
28. Mena^3-7
29. Star City^4-6
30. Lonoke^3-7
31. Monticello^5-6
32. Brookland^5-5
33. Waldron^5-6
34. Dover^5-5
35. Highland^3-8
36. Gentry^5-6
37. Lincoln^3-7
38. Crossett^3-8
39. Harrisburg^3-7
40. Central Arkansas^1-9
41. Huntsville ^2-8
42. DeWitt^2-8
43. Dollarway^0-10
44.Baptist Prep^0-10
45. Subiaco^2-8
46. Berryville^1-9
47. Cave City^0-10
48. West Fork^0-10
•••
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. The opinions expressed are those of the author. He can be contacted through The Times at [email protected].
Sports on 11/15/2017