MCGEE: Wolves at the door, ’Hawks host Lincoln
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 2720. 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 struggled 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.