McGEE: Blackhawks facing conference challenges
several times, but when you discount the mistakes and turnovers, this game would be a very close one. Of course, you can’t discount the mistakes, etc., but what the ’Hawks will take away from these pre-conference games is valuable experience. Those first half mistakes led to 26 of Maumelle’s 33 first half points. The ’Hawks actually had more first downs than Maumelle in the first half and Pea Ridge, even though turning the ball over four times, had the advantage in time of possession.
Turnovers are killers. Eliminate those and the games are very different.
The Blackhawk conference slate won’t be nearly as tough as these first three games, and Pea Ridge looks to me to be likely to get a decent seed into the playoffs, their fifth such trip in a row which I believe would be a school record. How much they can improve along the way will determine which seed.
Anyone believing the ’Hawks will be easy pickings for the top tier of 4A-1 teams (Prairie Grove, Shiloh, Gravette) would be wise to rethink that conclusion.
The need for character
The ’Hawks took a pounding at Harrison, defeated by a very strong Goblin team which was aided by a lot of Blackhawk miscues. The first half of the Maumelle game saw the ’Hawks turn the ball over so much that it helped the homestanding Hornets pile up a 33-7 lead at the half. However, the ’Hawks came out in the second half and displayed much better poise actually outscoring their foes 23-7. Were it not for a key turnover at the Maumelle 15, the ’Hawks may have closed to within 3 points, something almost unthinkable after first half play.
The ability to come back after being dealt adversity is what character is all about. Not giving up in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds, not giving up when perhaps others think that maybe you ought to, and developing the inner strength to persevere no matter what, well, that is what good character is made of.
A forge is a setup where manufacturers take raw iron ore and other metals and melt them together under extremely high temperatures. After a lot of work and effort, steel comes out of the process, and then that steel to used to build great structures.
Perhaps the blast furnace of the ’Hawks’ nonconference schedule is forging enough steely character for the ’Hawks to make a serious run for both conference and post season honors. Though 0-2, Pea Ridge is neither down nor out. 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. He can be contacted through The Times at prtnews@nwadg.com.