Hawks showing improvement, take on Siloam
Brey Cook’s gridiron Blackhawks are showing improvement weekly, belying their 0-2 start to the 2021 campaign.
The offense played well Friday, with turnovers their biggest setback. However, the Tiger secondary were highlighted in the pre-season as being the best part of their defense and they proved it Friday. To be able to stick to a receiver and be able to keep track of where the ball may be is exceedingly difficult.
Covid protocols continue to plague player availability with the defense hit hard with quarantined players Friday. The defense, to their credit, made a lot of great plays Friday and when the Hawks can get all of their players on the field for a game, they will be a force to reckon with.
Now the Hawks take on Siloam Springs, a 6A squad who had 5A West power Harrison down by two scores until the Goblins rallied for a 35-31 win.
Siloam, being a 6A school, has a deeper, bigger and perhaps faster roster and the Blackhawks are decided underdogs going into that road game this Friday. Still, it isn’t always about deeper, bigger and faster though those things are the building blocks of success.
The game for the hosts on Friday will ride on the arm of Panther quarterback Hunter Talley. The prolific quarterback threw for 294 yards in a narrow loss to 7A Rogers in August, then he racked up 325 yards in a tight loss to Harrison last week. The seasoned signal caller has completed 67% of his passes with well over 90% of them right on target.
He has multiple receivers to throw to with his top three in the persons of Brandon Lashley, Christian Ledeker and Nick Driscoll. A big offensive line gives him time, and if the opposing defensive secondary gives his receivers much space, the yardage will flow. Also fleet of foot, Talley can and will advance the ball on the ground.
Pea Ridge will counter with steadily improving Gavin Dixon. The sophomore field general threw very few inaccurate passes in last week’s contest, and most of those came when he was on the run from defenders. Given the time to throw, he is a threat, especially with two experienced and productive senior receivers to throw to in Will Anderson and Trevor Blair.
Joe Adams’ first game of the season was a success with his averaging over 10 yards a carry in his nine carry run up to 107 yards. He will get better as the season progresses.
The game Friday will end the non-conference season with conference play to begin the week after. First up on the schedule is a home game with Alma, a former state power which has run into some tough sledding recently. The Hawks defeated Alma last season for their lone victory of 2020 and would like to go into league play with a 1-0 record.
Like Pea Ridge, Alma is 0-2, losing 31-20 to Van Buren, then 35-12 against Poteau. Though an also-ran, Van Buren is a 7A school and Poteau is an Oklahoma power team, nearly beating Shiloh recently before losing 27-21.
The 5A West is currently projected to be a two-tier league with four teams ranked in the top eight in the state (Harrison, Vilonia, Greenbrier and Farmington) with the other four ranked in the low 20s (Morrilton, Alma, Clarksville, and Pea Ridge).
A short handed defense never gave up last week and found ways to force numerous punts or turnovers on Prairie Grove. With the squad hopefully fully restored, the team will have a much better result in 2021. Cracking the top four of the leagues finishers by November would be a giant step forward.
The Razorbacks are back — the Horns, not so much
If you saw a lot of low flying clouds around Fayetteville Saturday evening, that would have been the Hog Heaven that settled in around town following Arkansas’ dominant whooping of arch-nemesis Texas.
The Hogs decimated the Texas cattle by a 40-21 count in a game that was not as close as the score appears. The Razorbacks were on top 33-7 headed into the fourth quarter with reserves playing much of the final 15 minutes.
Arkansas racked up 471 yards, with the Horns getting but 256, with a large chunk of that in the final quarter against the Arkansas reserves. The Hogs did their damage on the ground, rushing for 333 yards without a fumble. Five different ball carriers had their number called at least six times. Those six backs averaged right at 7 yards per carry, an amazing statistic.
The game came on the heels of a recent announcement revealing plans for Texas to join the SEC in the very near future. With the announcement came the expected braggadocio from Texas fans declaring how Texas would soon dominate the most powerful collegiate league in America.
A text was on the net from a Texas player declaring how Texas “was back” and how the game at Fayetteville would not even be close. Well, it wasn’t close but not in the way the burnt orange envisioned.
Trelon Smith, a 5’9” junior tailback, led the rushing with 75 yards on 12 carries. Quarterback K.J. Jefferson picked up 73 rushing yards on 10 attempts and he also completed 14 passes for 138 yards.
The Hogs are at home again Saturday hosting Georgia Southern. Southern is 1-1, losing to Florida Atlantic 38-6 last week after beating Gardner-Webb 27-26 earlier. The Eagles lost their veteran returning
quarterback for the first two games due to academic issues, then lost their true freshman backup due to a leg injury early. GS may be a much better team than shown the last two weeks but it should not show down the sky high Razorbacks. Look for them to be 3-0 when they meet Texas A&M in the league opener Sept. 25.
MaxPreps/CBS 5A State Football Poll Top 25
1. Pulaski 2-1
2. White Hall 2-1
3. LR Christian 3-0
4. Harrison 3-0
5. Greenbrier 3-0
6. Vilonia 2-0
7. Camden 2-1
8. Farmington 3-0
9. Nettleton 2-0
10. Maumelle 1-2
11. Wynne 2-1
12. Hot Springs 2-1
13. Texarkana 1-2
14. Valley View 2-1
15. Magnolia 0-3
16. Watson Chapel 0-1
17. Green County 2-1
18. Batesville 0-2
19. Brookland 2-0
20. Lakeside 0-2
21. Morrilton 1-2
22. Alma 0-2
23. Clarksville 0-2
24. Pea Ridge 0-2
25. Beebe 0-3
5A West wins four of seven
Harrison was the big winner last week, coming back to take down 6A Siloam Springs 35-31.
Greenbrier beat back Arkadelphia in a shootout, 55-47 with Vilonia taking down a Top 10 team in
Maumelle, 34-32. Farmington ended their nonconference schedule with a 20-19 edging of Springdale.
Besides Pea Ridge’s loss to Prairie Grove, Poteau hammered Alma 35-12 with Wynne blasting Morrilton 34-14.
Coming up this week, four teams have completed their preconference schedule with four others playing Friday. Vilonia is at Russellville, Alma hosts Rogers Heritage, Clarksville visits Pottsville with Pea Ridge on the road at Siloam Springs.
Current 5A West Records
Harrison 3-0
Farmington 3-0
Greenbrier 3-0
Vilonia 2-0
Morrilton 1-2
Pea Ridge 0-2
Alma 0-2
Clarksville 0-2
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. The opinions expressed are those of the writer. He can be contacted through The Times at prtnews@nwadg.com.