Zero Week adds to scheduling options

The 2017 high school football season is still two months away, but coaches already are looking ahead to the 2018 season for scheduling purposes.

The Arkansas Activities Association passed a proposal last year adding a “Zero Week” to the nonconference schedule, allowing schools to schedule games a week earlier than before. This proposal gives teams four dates instead of three to schedule three nonconference games.

Schools can still only schedule 10 games in a season, meaning teams won’t have a game one of those first four weeks.

The added week is meant to give coaches more flexibility in scheduling nonconference games, but some schools are not finding it any easier. Coaches at several Northwest Arkansas schools are still struggling to fill at least one nonconference date.

“It’s still tough because there are so many different philosophies,” Alma coach Doug Loughridge said. “Then you have to match up with those coaches who think the same way. You’ll have some that want the open date right before conference, then there are those who don’t want a break between games.”

Loughridge said Alma will not have a Zero Week game in 2018 or 2019. Instead, the Airedales will continue what they started last year — their Week 1 game will be held on a Tuesday night against Van Buren, which also gives Alma some extra practice days before its Week 2 game against Springdale High.

Bentonville West coach Bryan Pratt, however, jumped at the opportunity for an earlier game and agreed to play a Zero Week

game against Owasso, Okla. — now coached by former Fayetteville coach Bill Blankenship. The Wolverines have also agreed to a game against Fort Smith Southside the following week, and Pratt has reached out to other schools for a game the next week so his team can have an open date prior to 7A-West Conference play.

“We feel like it’s an advantage to get to start early,” Pratt said. “With practices starting Aug. 1, we have about four weeks before our first game. I like the idea of shortening that practice time, playing a 0-1-2 schedule and use Week 3 to rejuvenate and get ready for conference play.”

Another benefit to those teams that wish to play Zero Week games is they are allowed to move their benefit games up a week. Benefit games are controlled scrimmages held before the start of the season to which tickets are sold.

That’s something Springdale Har- Ber coach Chris Wood liked about the new proposal. The Wildcats will

have a Zero Week game at home against Pulaski Academy in 2018, and they have also agreed to a Week 3 game at Pine Bluff.

As far as Har-Ber’s other nonconference game, Wood said he’s keeping his team’s options open in case the Wildcats want to schedule an out-of-state opponent and hit the road. Oklahoma schools started playing Zero Week games two years ago, and Missouri schools will also

begin games on Zero Week in 2018.

“With everything we do over the summer, we don’t

need a month of practices before the season starts,” Wood said. “So we’re going to take advantage of this new rule and start the season quicker. This gives us more flexibility in our schedules and more options to look around for games.”

Pea Ridge coach Stephen Neal knew about Zero Week while he was an assistant at Tulsa (Okla.) Union, and it instantly became beneficial because it helped fill the Blackhawks’ nonconference schedule. He was able to schedule a game against Harrison to go with two other games against Class 5A schools — Maumelle and Farmington.

“It helped out so much,” Neal said. “We were really struggling to find a nonconference game, and we were wanting to find some quality Class 5A teams since we know we’re probably going up there in the next (202022) cycle.

“This is going to help some schools with the travel and the problems they have had scheduling.”

Shiloh Christian coach Jeff Conaway said his team doesn’t have any nonconference games finalized right now since Oklahoma won’t announce its school classification status until July. That will have an effect on two of the Saints’ nonconference games, and those games could affect Shiloh’s third nonconference game, according to Conaway.