Blackhawk football fans will get a glimpse into what the 2018 varsity football team will look like when the locals travel to Siloam Springs to take on the 6A Panthers.
The game will be the first one played into the newly renovated/rebuilt Panther Stadium at Siloam Springs, a multi-million dollar upgrade that will be a big improvement on their own field.
Along with the facility upgrade will be the debut of new head coach Brandon Craig, who comes to skipper a team that averages one conference victory a year since moving into the 6A classification for the 2012 football season.
Coach Craig is, of course, coming to the job after a lengthy and successful career as an Oklahoma high school coach. His last nine years were at Oologah High School in northern Oklahoma where he won more than 70 percent of his games and guided his team to three state championship games.
With the worsening financial crisis gripping Oklahoma, more and more of their top coaches have left and are leaving the the Sooner state for jobs in better paying states like Arkansas. Most of the current high school head coaches in Benton County, Ark.,were once plying their trade in Oklahoma.
The football atmosphere has greatly improved at Siloam since the arrival of Craig in the spring with corporate sponsorships up and ticket sales improving.
Siloam Springs was greatly victimized by the decision of the AAA to have the Panthers play in the 7A West when they were first elevated to 6A. Since there were no 6A schools close to Siloam Springs, the AAA thought it best to have the Panthers play in a league of powerhouses, but to make up for that, they were then allowed to make the 6A playoffs.
Playing in a series of weekly beat-downs had this predicted effect of diminishing team morale and though Siloam had been playing decent football with some obvious enthusiasm when they played in the 5A class, the upgrade has been a bridge too far.
The Blackhawks played the Panthers last year at home in the benefit game (which doesn't count, incidentally) and while the host 'Hawks outplayed their guests, the boys from west county did have their moments.
While Siloam has roughly the same number of players on their roster as Pea Ridge, the 'Hawks have a few more seniors than their counterparts.
Siloam is ranked the 68th best team in the state of Arkansas overall counting all classes with the Blackhawks checking in at 53rd.
The game at Siloam this week will not be counting officially, it will go a long way on determining how things may go when the season starts in earnest next week on the road at Harrison.
Harrison is ranked 52nd overall in Arkansas, just one spot ahead of Pea Ridge. The 'Hawks' second opponent will be Maumelle, who ranks 57th overall. The 'Hawks have never played either team and this will mark the first year that the 'Hawks have played up in classification for their non-conference games. Their third non-com game will be against long time foe Farmington, whom they have beaten the last three times in a row. The Cardinals are ranked 106th overall in Arkansas, but the Farmington/Pea Ridge battles have always been good ones.
Statewide chat rooms and discussion pages have been pondering the mystery that is Pea Ridge this season. With such a senior heavy team last season on offense, there are those who see a down year for the Blackhawks even though the various media types have also been recognizing the defensive prowess that the boys from the Ridge are likely to demonstrate this year.
Strong defenses give their offensive side more chances to have the ball and do something with it. There is an old saying that offense wins games but defense wins championships. Truth be told, you gotta have both if you are going to have a lot of success but a great defense will improve a teams offense.
Well, I will be at the game Friday night to see transpires. The Panthers have some big boys (one of them checks in at 6'6" 350 pounds) and it will be a great dust up to get the team ready for Harrison.
'Hawks debut at No. 13 in MaxPreps State Poll
The football boys start out at the 13th spot in MaxPreps/CBS State 4A Football Poll.
The 'Hawks were ranked fourth in the Hooten's Poll which is often mostly based on what happened last year. The computers at MaxPreps headquarters in California use all sorts of data fed into algorithms that make up their rankings.
With the huge loss of senior talent from 2017, I expected the 'Hawks to be down a little from the top 7 or 8, and 13th it is. Prairie Grove is the top ranked 4A-1 team in seventh overall, with Gravette surprisingly coming in ahead of Shiloh with the 24th ranking. Shiloh was the 26th ranked team in the initial polling.
Robinson is the No. 1 ranked team in the first poll, ahead of defending state champion Arkadelphia. The lowest ranked team in the state is first time 4A class member Green Forest, a new member of the 4A-1. The Tigers have been long time 3A members.
The complete MaxPreps/CBS Poll is:
MaxPreps State Top 25 Poll
1. Robinson
2. Arkadelphia
3. Warren
4. Rivercrest
5. Gosnell
6. Stuttgart
7. Prairie Grove
8. Ashdown
9. Ozark
10. Bauxite
11. Southside
12. Nashville
13. Pea Ridge
14. Pocahontas
15. Heber Springs
16. Dardanelle
17. Hamburg
18. West Helena
19. Truman
20. Westside
21. Malvern
22. Elkins
23. Dumas
24. Gravette
25. Riverview
26. Shiloh
27. Brookland
28. Pottsville
29. Mena
30. Fountain Lake
31. Harmony Grove
32. Dover
33. Bald Knob
34. Star City
35. Highland
36. CAC
37. Mills
38. Crossett
39. Lincoln
40. Lonoke
41. Dewitt
42. Monticello
43. Waldron
44. Gentry
45. Cave City
46. Berryville
47. Subiaco
48. Green Forest
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Editor's note: John McGee, an award-winning columnist, sports writer and art teacher at Pea Ridge elementary schools, writes a regular sports column for The Times. He can be contacted through The Times at [email protected].
Sports on 08/15/2018