NWA football teams take a hit in the playoffs
It was not a good night last Friday for the 5A West Conference. The league went one for four with only idle Shiloh surviving to play another day.
All three losses incurred by the league were very close, Farmington was edged by Valley View 41-39, Harrison was nipped by Wynne 27-24 with Prairie Grove losing a close one 28-20. Shiloh destroyed Jonesboro Nettleton 5514 to advance to the final eight.
Over in the old 4A-1, Gravette was bombed by DeWitt 35-7. Gentry was overrun by Rivercrest 42-21, and Lincoln was pulverized by Pocahontas 56-14. The 4A-1 runner up Ozark cruised past Mena 45-7 to join the field of 16, with Elkins playing as the 4A-1 No. 1 seed next week as the Elks were given a bye.
The bigger area schools fared much better with Bentonville West slamming Jonesboro 42-20 to reach the Elite Eight. Rogers powered their way into the quarterfinals with a 38-7 pounding of Fort Smith Northside. Fayetteville and Bentonville were already byed into the final eight by virtue of their top two finishes in the 7A West Conference.
There will be three more weeks of playoffs in the 7A, 6A, and 5A divisions. Meanwhile because of their larger numbers, the 4A, 3A, and 2A will stretch their playoffs for four more weeks.
Local hardwood Hawks geared up for interesting season
The first week of the 2022-23 Arkansas High School basketball season is in the books.
The Blackhawk boys went 2-0 with the girls going 1-1 albeit they played only big schools in their first week.
This week, the Centerton Lifeway team was scheduled to come to the Pea Ridge campus Tuesday with another private school coming to town Thursday. Subiaco Academy is located close to Paris and is a Catholic school and does not have a girls team.
Next week will see the Hawks playing Green Forest over there on Nov. 21 with Ozark Catholic coming to town to play the locals at 3 p.m. Nov. 22.
Both the boys and girls teams have a lot of new faces this fall, many moving up from junior high from last year, and others moving in. Both teams will host tournaments next month.
NFL schedule passes midseason
Though there is a lot of football to be played, prognosticators and pundits already have the NFL playoffs figured out — they think.
At last count, the Miami Dolphins, Kansas City Chiefs, Baltimore Ravens and the Tennessee Titans are divisional leaders in the AFC. In the NFC, we have the Philadelphia Eagles,
Seattle Seahawks, Minnesota Vikings and the Tampa Buccaneers. In the case of Tampa, they don’t even have a winning record at 5-5 but it is good enough to lead the NFC South.
Tyreek Hill, former top receiver for the Chiefs, took his talents to Miami where he has made a big difference. Perhaps the fastest man in the NFL, the Chiefs have had to scramble to replace him, but it seems that they have a number of new talented receivers who are improving from week to week.
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@nwaonline.com.