Still perfect

Several teams in Arkansas remain unbeaten through a month and a half of the season.

Only one team, however, has won all of its games.

That would be the Batesville boys, who are 12-0-0 going into arguably their most important game of the regular season tonight when the Pioneers travel to Jonesboro.

Coach TJ Stroud had high expectations for this group as he always does — Batesville has made 13 consecutive trips to the postseason — yet he was unaware of the Pioneers’ rare position as they head into the final weeks of April.

“We always strive to play for a conference championship,” Stroud said, “and we’ve tried to push our goals past making the playoffs. But now we’re trying to play for a state championship.”

In Stroud’s previous 14 years at the helm, Batesville has gotten as far as the state semifinals when the Pioneers lost to Harrison in 2019.

But that was as a Class 4A team, and Batesville understood its task would be that much greater playing in Class 5A.

So far, the Pioneers have proven more than capable, winning home games against Searcy and Jonesboro, the other two top sides in the 5A-East.

Stroud points to senior goalie J.P. Morgan, who’s set to play just down the road at Lyon College next year, as the Pioneers’ linchpin.

“There are a lot of programs where it’s hard to get somebody to play those positions [goalkeeper and defense], where you don’t get as much glory,” Stroud said. “And I think their experience — moving into this new conference even though it was going to be something that was a lot more difficult — they’ve been a part of the grind, so they understand what it takes for a long season.”

This Batesville team hasn’t had to scrap too much as the Pioneers have not trailed at any point this season.

Stroud knows full well this team craves something bigger than regular-season victories.

“If something were to happen and we were in a tough spot, [I want to see] how we’d react,” Stroud said. “Do we have enough fight in our bellies to finish what we’ve started?

“For us to put our program where we want to be … [Jonesboro and Searcy] are the types of programs that we have to beat. And we don’t want those first two [wins] to be a fluke.”