Clarksville comes to town for Senior Night
The Clarksville Panthers will come to the Ridge to provide the final visitor opposition as the senior players will be playing their final football game at home.
Both teams are currently tied for seventh in the 5A West with 0-4 league records. The Panthers are coming off a 39-0 shellacking by Farmington with the Hawks hoping to come back from a long road loss to the 5A’s fifth-ranked team in Greenbrier by a 4912 count. In the other two league battles last week, Morrilton barely got by Alma, 35-34, with Vilonia handing Harrison their third loss of the conference season, 28-14.
It has been a tough year for the second-year 5Aclass football Hawks. Pea Ridge has been competitive but a lack of speed and depth has been tough to overcome. But, much like the team experienced in their first few years in the 4A class after coming up from 3A, the improvement has been there and it has been steady. With half of the 5A West league among the states Top 11-ranked teams, it has been tough sledding.
After the game with Clarksville, the Hawks will finish on the road with games at Farmington then Harrison. The 2022 season will have a new look, with three teams exiting the 5A West (Greenbrier, Vilonia and Morrilton) to be replaced with three new teams (Prairie Grove, Dardanelle and Shiloh). This will also change the nonconference season as two of the three non-con opponents in 2021 will turn into conference games in 2022.
Current league standings:
5A West football
1. Vilonia 4-0
2. Greenbrier 4-0
3. Farmington 3-1
4. Morrilton 2-2
5. Alma 2-2
6. Harrison 1-3
7. Pea Ridge 0-4
8. Clarksville 0-4 This week, Alma will be visiting Harrison with Greenbrier hosting Farmington while Harrison hopes to get back in the playoff hunt as they play Morrilton at home. Generally, it takes four wins to claim a playoff spot so the Goblins will have to win the last three games on their schedule to avoid snapping the long playoff streak.
Cross country teams hold down No. 2 spot in state rankings
Both the boys’ and girls’ cross country teams improved their rankings to the second spot among the Top Eight in 4A.
Four boys and four girls are ranked among the Top 25 runners in the most recent competition lists.
Liz Vasques is the highest ranked in the third position with Tian Grant leading the boys with a fourth overall ranking.
In the girls’ rankings among 4A girls, Rylee
Raines is 11th, Kamree Dye is 13th with Ava Pippin ranked 15th. Following Tian Grant in the rankings for the boys is Grandon Grant in fifth, Troy Ferguson in 17th, with Sebasttien Mullikin ranked 23rd.
The team rankings are tightening at the top with the Hawks getting closer to the top spot. The top overall rankings are as follows:
State 4A girls poll Cross country
1. Valley View 76
2. Pea Ridge 90
3. Gravette 126
4. Shiloh 171
5. Harrison 172
6. Clarksville 180
7. Farmington 211
8. Magnolia 258
State 4A boys poll Cross country
1. DeQueen 68
2. Pea Ridge 77
3. Valley View 96
4. Farmington 100
5. Gravette 201
6. Shiloh 208
7. Clarksville 251
8. Heber Springs 298
4A state girls Volleyball poll
1. Valley View
2. Shiloh
3. Mena
4. Brookland
5. Harrison
6. Batesville Southside
7. Pulaski
8. Pottsville
8. Westside
9. Fountain Lake
10. Morrilton
11. Pea Ridge
12. Bauxite
13. Highland
14. Farmington
15. Gravette
16. Blytheville
17. Trumann
18. Wynne
19. Pocahontas
20. Magnolia
21. Huntsville
22. Lonoke
23. Prairie Grove
24. Heber Springs
MaxPreps/CBS 5A State football poll
1. Pulaski 6-1
2. Vilonia 7-0
3. White Hall 6-1
4. Greenbrier 7-0
5. Little Rock Christian6-1
6. Camden 6-1
7. Nettleton 7-0
8. Wynne 6-1
9. Maumelle 3-5
10. Farmington 6-1
11. Harrison 4-3
12. Magnolia 3-5
13. Valley View 5-2
14. Hot Springs 4-3
15. Lakeside 3-4
16. Morrilton 3-4
17. Beebe 2-5
18. Brookland 3-4
19. Greene Co. Tech 3-4
20. Alma 3-4
21. Batesville 2-5
22. Texarkana 1-6
23. Clarksville 1-6
24. Hope 1-6
25. Jacksonville 1-6 26.Pea Ridge 0-7
Up like a rocket, down like a rock
Before the 2021 Razorback season began, fans were very hopeful that they could possibly see more than three wins this season, the sum total of last season.
To the fans’ surprise, and the nation as well, Arkansas knocked off highly ranked Texas, then highly ranked Texas A&M to shoot up into the nation’s No. 8 ranking in collegiate football with a 4-0 mark. They were the talk of the country …
how good can they get?
There was talk about the Hogs taking down the current No. 1 team in Georgia when they ventured south into Athens. Nope, not to be, the Dawgs were just too much for the Hawgs. A week later, the Hogs were slight favorites at Mississippi but they lost by a point in a good game, a game they should have won.
Then Homecoming and the unranked Auburn Tigers in town where the Hogs were unbeaten in 2021. Well, they didn’t play their best. and the Tigers beat them quite handily. As of this weekend, the Hogs’ ranking in the Top 25 evaporated. Back to the drawing board.
This week, Arkansas will play Arkansas-Pine Bluff, a team the Razorbacks have never played. Not particularly good in the small college ranks, UAPB will offer the Razorbacks chances for lots of scoring and yards and perhaps a chance for a breather after going through a brutal seven-game stretch playing four ranked teams.
Arkansas needs to win two more games to get back to a bowl and I think that will happen. They win four more games and they will get into one of the better ones. After they dispatch UAPB, they will lack but one more victory to go bowling for the first time in years. They played in the Belk Bowl in 2016.
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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. The opinions expressed are those of the writer. He can be contacted through The Times at prtnews@nwadg.com.