WHO MADE THE LIST?

Jonas Higson doesn’t lack for confidence. Need proof? Just look at his shoes, the ones with golden crowns laced to the top.

The immaculate white cleats feature a gold design that matches extremely well with his gold-tinted visor on his Bentonville West Wolverine helmet. Higson is of the belief that in order to play well, you also have to look well.

He checks both boxes.

Higson, a senior jack-of-all-trades player for Bentonville West, is seemingly everywhere for the Wolverines. That’s because basically coach Bryan Pratt plays him here, there and everywhere. He may line up in the backfield; he might slide over to inside receiver. Mostly you’ll see him on defense where he recorded more than 120 tackles and multiple sacks last season. And he also plays on special teams.

Higson, who has offers from multiple schools including Air Force, headlines The List, the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette’s list of the top 11 players in the 12-county coverage area.

The 2019 version of The List is receiver-heavy with more than one-fourth of the group coming from that position. And it is ultra-talented.

Fayetteville seniors Connor Flannigan and Beau Stuckey are arguably the state’s most talented 1-2 combination. The numbers speak for themselves. Last season the two combined for 165 catches, 2,686 yards and 33 touchdowns. And the high-flying Bulldogs don’t plan on slowing down anytime soon.

Springdale Har-Ber also has a 1-2 punch it’s quite proud of in seniors Hunter Wood and Micah Seawood. Although the numbers are not astronomical like Flannigan and Stuckey, make no mistake about either one. They each caught 29 passes last season — numbers that are assuredly going to climb much higher in 2019.

But it’s not all about players who catch the ball. Senior quarterback Ethan Stovall of Mansfield is on The List after leading the Tigers to their best season in a long time last season by passing for 2,600 yards and 26 touchdowns. Stovall is planning for a big encore in 2019 although the Tigers compete in the toughest 3A conference in the state.

We did not leave out the running backs. Preston Crawford of Bentonville and Gabe Huskey of Harrison are two of the state’s best. Last season Crawford pounded out 956 rushing yards and 11 scores, while Huskey led Harrison to its best season in two decades after rushing for 2,135 yards and 33 total touchdowns.

No list would be complete without defensive stalwarts, and The List has them. Cole Joyce of Bentonville, who also sees a little time on the offensive side, leads the Tigers’ defense as an inside linebacker. Bentonville West’s Nick Whitlatch slammed down 125 opponents last season at linebacker, and Fayetteville’s Quade Mosier is a tackling machine with almost 120 tackles in 2019 to go along with 16 tackles-for-loss.