Blackhawks attempt to go 2-0 this week at Gentry
After a rousing victory over the Gentry Pioneers this past week, the Hawks will travel to Lincoln to take on the Wolves who were ranked higher than the Hawks until their 34-14 loss to Gravette last week.
Prairie Grove drilled hapless Green Forest 55-14 who had won two victories in nonconference season. Prairie Grove was 0-3 playing a 2-1, much like the Blackhawks did last Friday. In the other league contest, Shiloh romped over Berryville 56-0 on the Bobcats’ new field over in Carroll County.
This week, the Hawks play Lincoln, Berryville is set to invade Gentry, Prairie Grove hosts resurgent Gravette and outgunned/outmanned Green Forest will be visiting Shiloh. Expect the conference unbeaten ranks to shrink by at least one.
I don’t know much about the Wolves as they do not post their stats online as the AAA has asked them to. They will probably be a run oriented team with a problem with size and perhaps numbers, but always with a scrappy attitude. They’re dropping down in 3A next season so I expect they are using this season to build for what will likely be a successful tour of duty in the lower classification.
In the conference statistic kept by MaxPreps, several Blackhawks are prominently listed:
• Passing Yardage
1. Eli Reece, Shiloh, 943 yds.
4. Tate Busey, Pea Ridge, 299 yds.
• Rushing Yardage
1. Brandon Atwood, Gentry, 388
2. Samuel Beard, Pea Ridge, 272
6. Tate Busey, Pea Ridge, 197
• Receiving Yardage
1. Truitt Tollett, Shiloh, 361
3. Trevor Blair, Pea Ridge, 255
• Scoring
1. Truitt Tollett, Shiloh, 48
6. Samuel Beard, Pea Ridge, 30
8. Tate Busey, Pea Ridge, 18
• Sacks
1. Max Suarez, Shiloh 3.5
2. Mazon Harris, Pea Ridge, 3.0
• PAT kicks
1. Keaton Carter, Shiloh, 14
2. Luis Reyes, Pea Ridge, 6
• Punting
1. Tate Busey, Pea Ridge 32.8 avg.
St. Louis win their division
Never count your division titles before they hatch.
The St. Louis Cardinals got hot toward the end of season, swept their main rival Chicago in four straight games at Cubs Stadium and looked all set to win their title with a three-game lead with six games left to play.
So much so, they played bench players at Colorado to rest their stars, which led to them dropping two games in succession Tuesday and Wednesday, then they dropped two straight to the eliminated Cubs on Friday and Saturday. Third place Milwaukee was on a tear and quickly came to within a single game in the standings. Fortunately, the Brewers were beaten by Colorado two straight so the Cards still had a onegame lead on Sunday before the season finale.
Had the Cards lost and the Brewers won, St. Louis would have had to possibly play Milwaukee on Monday, Washington on Tuesday, and then begin a divisional series with the Los Angeles Dodgers with a depleted pitching staff. Fortune smiled on St.Louis Sunday, as they beat the Cubs 9-0 and now will rest until Thursday when they will play the Atlanta Braves for a spot in the National League championship series.
Never count on anything in sports until after you secure the victory.
4A-1 Conference football
The old guard of Prairie Grove, Pea Ridge, Gravette and Shiloh were the first week winners in the 4A-1 football schedule. For several years, the aforementioned foursome were heads and shoulders above the other four teams until Lincoln and Gentry made inroads recently.
Lincoln had won three in a row to start the season albeit against poorly ranked teams. Gravette, who was for a week ranked as the worst team in the state in 4A, crushed the Wolves 34-14 last Friday. Playing cupcakes like Lincoln did for their first three games might have given them a stomach ache in week #4.
1. Pea Ridge
Prairie Grove Gravette Shiloh 1-0
4. Green Forest
Gentry Lincoln Berryville
1-0
1-0 1-0
0-1
0-1 0-1 0-1
MaxPrep/CBS 4A State football poll
*Current statewide MaxPreps rankings
Pea Ridge was the big gainer in this weekends’ poll. The Hawks jumped 14 spots from 27th to 13th position on the MaxPreps/ CBS State 4A Football Poll.
Shiloh is a new No. 1 after Nashville knocked off defending state champion Arkadelphia 22-21. Warren tumbled from No. 4 to No. 9 after an upset loss to Crossett last week, the first loss in conference play for Warren in many years.
Big gainers from last week were Harmony Grove in the 4A-7, who climbed 10 spots, Riverview who climbed up 14 places like Pea Ridge and Gravette who improved 11 places. The biggest loser was Central Arkansas which dropped 11 spots with Heber Springs continuing their slide by dropping another 10 positions.
1. Shiloh 4-0 +1
2. Nashville 4-0 +2
3. Arkadelphia 3-1 -2
4. Robinson 4-0 -1
5. Ozark 3-1 +1
6. Dardanelle 4-0 +2
7. Mena 3-1 —
8. West Helena 4-0 +1
9. Warren 3-1 -4
10. DeWitt 4-0 +3
11. Rivercrest 3-1 -1
12. Harmony Grove 3-1 +10
13. Pea Ridge 1-3 +14
14. Bauxite 3-1 —
15. Crossett 1-4 +6
16. Dumas 1-3 -4
17. Star City 3-1 -2
18. Pocahontas 2-2 -7
19. SS Batesville 3-1 +6
20. Hamburg 2-2 -4
21. Riverview 3-1 +14
22. Gosnell 1-3 +4
23. Gentry 2-2 -4
24. Lonoke 2-2 +9
25. Lincoln 3-1 -8
26. Elkins 3-1 -2
27. Ashdown 2-2 -7
28. Pottsville 1-3 +2
29. Gravette 2-2 +11
30. Malvern 1-3 +1
31. Central Ark 2-2 -13
32. Westside 3-1 -4
33. Trumann 1-3 -1