Bearcats’ 10-0 run at stake

Booneville’s starters have rarely played a complete game this fall, but that figures to change when the Bearcats try to complete their third perfect regular season since 2009 tonight at Maumelle.

“Could very well be,” Booneville Coach Scott Hyatt said.

Booneville (9-0, 6-0 4-4A) can earn its fourth conference championship since 2009 with a victory over Maumelle (8-1, 6-0). Hyatt also led Booneville to 10-0 regular seasons in 2009 and 2010.

“You start making people mad,” Hyatt said when asked to compare teams. “There’s always an argument.”

Booneville has made short work of most of its opponents this fall, outscoring them by a combined 29926 in the first half. Ozark and Mena are the only teams to score in the first half against Booneville, which is allowing 173.2 yards per game.

Maumelle is allowing just 182.6 total yards per game.

“Maumelle is a very, very talented football team,” Hyatt said. “They’re bigger and faster than us. It’s going to be a challenge.”

The Bearcats are ranked No. 6 in Class 4A.

BENTONVILLE Seventh heaven

Barry Lunney won a conference championship at Beebe and eight at Fort Smith Southside, but in nine seasons at Bentonville he has already produced seven conference titles.

The Tigers (7-2, 6-0 7A/6AWest) earned a share of their seventh consecutive conference title with last week’s 38-0 victory over Springdale, coupled with Fayetteville’s 34-31 overtime loss to Springdale Har-Ber.

“Never thought anybody could do that in this league,” Lunney said. “It’s a great accomplishment. Real proud of our kids.”

The 7A/6A-West (formerly the 7A-West) is the state’s dominant conference, accounting for every state champion in the largest classification since 2005.

Bentonville carries a 32-game conference winning streak into tonight’s regular-season finale at Fayetteville (8-1, 5-1). Although the Tigers, top-ranked overall, are already assured a share of the 7A/6A-West title, Lunney said a loss could make them a No. 3 playoff seed under the Arkansas Activities Association’s controversial power rating system used in Class 7A and Class 6A.

“It was something created several years ago, and now it could affect us,” Lunney said.

SHILOH CHRISTIAN Floyd nears milestone

Shiloh Christian Coach Josh Floyd goes for his 100th career victory tonight at Alma.

A victory would give Shiloh Christian (6-2-1, 5-1 5A-West) a share of the conference championship. Alma (7-2, 6-0) has already secured a share of its first conference title since 2004.

Floyd is 99-27-1 at Shiloh Christian since 2004, including 5910 in conference games. Floyd led his alma mater to the Class 3A state championship in 2006 and to Class 4A state titles in 2008-2010.

Floyd, a 1999 Shiloh Christian graduate, threw for a state-record 10,656 yards in 1995-1998. The 1998 team, coached by Gus Malzahn, finished 15-0 and won the Class AA title, the school’s first state championship.

SPRINGDALE HAR-BER Two-sport star

Springdale Har-Ber senior tailback Sain-Thomas Mathew isn’t just a track guy.

Mathew, the state’s top 400 runner last spring, needs 162 rushing yards tonight against Springdale to set a single-season school record. Derek Brinker ran for 1,593 yards in 2008, Har-Ber’s third varsity season.

Mathew, 5-11, 174 pounds, has rushed 199 times for 1,432 yards and 13 touchdowns this fall. He’s run for more than 100 yards six times, including a school-record 307 against Rogers Heritage on Oct. 4.

“He’s a violent runner,” Har-Ber Coach Chris Wood said. “That’s the best way I can describe him. He runs hard until he runs out of gas.”

Mathew ran for only 60 yards as a junior, but Wood said he expected the running back to have a breakout senior season because of his speed and Har-Ber’s seasoned offensive line.

Mathew won the 400 (48.37) at the Meet of Champs on May 11 at Lake Hamilton. Wood said he believes Mathew can play college football, at least on the FCS level, and may be even more coveted by college track and field programs. “He’s got options,” Wood said.

FORT SMITH NORTHSIDE Making progress

Fort Smith Northside Coach Mike Falleur said the Grizzlies (35-1, 3-3 7A/6A-Central) will have to beat Fort Smith Southside (6-3, 4-2) tonight to return to the playoffs for only second time since 2008.

Northside could easily have already clinched its first winning season since 2008 but was tied 31-31 at Pine Bluff on a last-second field goal, lost 30-28 at Rogers on a safety in the final minute and was beaten 31-28 at Little Rock Catholic on a last-second field goal.

“We feel like we should have won three more games,” said Falleur, a 1980 Northside graduate who is in his first season as the Grizzlies coach. “Our inability to find ways to win at the the end of the game has been our nemesis.”

Still, Falleur said he believes the tradition-rich Grizzlies have made progress this fall. He dramatically boosted Northside’s numbers in the offseason, concluding spring drills with 108 players. Northside had one of the smallest rosters in the state’s largest classification last season (64), when it finished 3-7.

“At times, we’ve had eight or nine sophomores out there,” Falleur said. “We’ve played a ton of young guys. I think we’re headed in the right direction.”

Falleur won 152 games coaching in Georgia the past two decades.