Only three district teams won in second week

I thought I would do better prognosticating football games this past week but I sure didn’t. Three of the games didn’t go as I thought they would, in spite of my best estimations. Conference members wound up victorious in just three games.

Lincoln played a rather lack luster Oklahoma team in Keys, but lost 40-30. The Wolves haven’t displayed much defense this season but I thought they could win this one.

Gravette was crushed by Pottsville and I thought that maybe they couldn’t handle Mayflower’s speed. I was wrong to the tune of 48-24. The Gravette loss to Pottsville was a lot closer than how the defending 5A state champion Morrilton did against the Apaches. Morillton was embarrassed by a 43-13 count to Pottsville. Against Mayflower, the Lions’ Duarte rushed for over 250 yards to spark the rout.

Shiloh squeaked by Naples Baptist (Florida) by a 12-8 count. Shiloh relied on the run to do most of their damage as they have not been able to ignite their famed passing game as of yet. Naples was ranked as a pretty good team, but not good enough obviously.

Charleston was a heavy favorite to throttle Gentry and they did by a 42-6 score. Huntsville looked hopeless against Farmington and they were, losing 39-6. Berryville made a game of it, but didn’t come out ahead, losing to West Fork 30-20.

I correctly predicted that Prairie Grove would not play Friday night, and I was right. They had the open date blues.

So, now for this week.

Week No. 3 predictions

Gravette 35/ Jay 7 — Jay is a very low ranked team in Oklahoma, and is currently winless. The Lion’s Duarte will likely run rampant over them.

Prairie Grove 42/ West Fork 6 — The Tigers were upset not to have a second game, and to top it off, it was just after losing an upset match with Farmington. They have had two weeks to wait for their first win, and I believe they will get it in a big way.

Huntsville 21/ Elkins 7 — Elkins is a bit better that Green Forest, and Huntsville owns a 10 point win over the Tigers. Huntsville has more depth and will probably win, but it may well be a close one.

Lincoln 28/ Cedarville 21 — These teams are both 0-2 with neither showing much defense. I realize the architect and coach of Lincoln’s recent success is gone, but I thought they would have had more left behind than they have shown so far.

Berryville 14/ Green Forest 12 — I think these teams may well be equals with Berryville having a kicker. Green Forest lost their only kicker last week and it showed Friday night. I think it will show again this week.

Gentry 14/ Greenland 7 — Another game with 0-2 participants. Greenland was hammered by Mansfield 41-12 last week while Gentry was dismantled by Charleston. A hard game to pick, I have to go with the Pioneers.

Shiloh 17/ Victory Christian 14 — Both teams have about the same rankings in their respective states with Shiloh’s coming from a higher classification. The Springdale team tends to play much better at home and since they will be home, I tend to think they will win.

Pea Ridge 35/ Paris 14 — Paris is 2-0, the same as Pea Ridge, and they have outscored their two opponents 82-21. However, their last win was against Waldron. The Eagles 46-0 victory was over a team that hasn’t won a game in three years, so it is hard to say just how good Paris is.

Stats say that Paris has a good running game, and I think the ’Hawks are good at stopping the run. I don’t think they can stop the ’Hawks running attack, and even if they did, the ’Hawks have one of the best passing quarterbacks around.

If you notice, I have all the members of the 4A-1 Conference emerging victorious in their final tune-up game before the district games start. I think and hope the 4A-1 runs the table this week.

Important stat

Some stats aren’t noticed, though they have a great significance in the outcome of football games.

In the first two football games of the 2014 season, the Blackhawks have been whistled or flagged for a rule violation a total of two times. Two times is often good for a half of play, let alone two games.

Even more incredible, both calls came late in each game and in each case, I think the flag was thrown in error. In the game against Elkins, Zaine Holley was about to enter the end zone on a long run, but a flag was thrown at the 5, citing an illegal block. I had a good observation angle, and I think the ref was either trying to hold the score down or was just guessing.

Last Friday’s flag came in the last four minutes. It was a 5-yarder but no signal was ever given as to what it was. No one in my end of the press box saw anything and it didn’t matter in the greater scope of things, but still — what was it?

For a team to be able to play the first two games of the season with such focus and precision is an amazing thing. I don’t believe I have ever witnessed a team with such clean stats.

’ Hawks rise in the CBS rankings

The ’Hawks’ big win over Green Forest helped propel it to a 29th ranking in the State 4A Rankings as complied by the MaxPreps/CBS Freeman Prep Poll.

The ’Hawks are still fifth in the district, but only two spots from the third spot. Shiloh’s win over Naples nearly put it in the top 10. Five teams have earned wins this season from the 4A-1 with only Prairie Grove, Lincoln and Gentry looking for that first victory.