FOOTBALL PREVIEW
Kicking off: Teams adjust to latest conference realignment
The playoff formula has some additional variables this season.
Coaches say they take one game at a time, but they also go into every season knowing which matchups are crucial to meeting their goals. The upcoming football season is more of a foray into the unknown than usual as it introduces one of the more significant conference realignments in recent memory by the Arkansas Activities Association.
Gone are the AAA’s experiments with blended conferences. A bevy of enrollment changes and geographical realignments instead spurred a new configuration of each classification.
Lake Hamilton lost a competitive team from its conference in Class 6A and added a team which won one game in 2017. Lakeside and Hot Springs lost two of the playoff teams from their conference only to see the competitive 6A team drop down, along with the addition of a perennial playoff contender.
Fountain Lake and Malvern were already members of one of the most competitive conferences in the state before losing the last-place team from a year ago and adding a playoff team moving up a class. Jessieville switches to a conference with less than half of the same members than a year ago, while Bismarck and Centerpoint swapped four old league foes for four new ones.
Cutter Morning Star and Magnet Cove’s conference in Class 2A remained relatively stable, but the changes are significant. The 2A-5 lost last year’s champion, Hector, only for the Wildcats to be replaced by the Red Devils of Mountain Pine. The Red Devils join one of the deepest conferences in 2A after placing third in another league a season ago behind the class’ last two state champions, Mount Ida and Foreman.
The introduction of Sylvan Hills in Sherwood to the 6A had a domino effect. Little Rock Hall, 1-9 in 2017 and 0-7 in the 6A-East, moves to the 6A-West.
Lake Hamilton placed sixth in the 6A-West in 2017, due in part to a 14-9 loss at home to Texarkana. The Razorbacks now drop down a class into the
5A-South conference and are ranked No.
3 in 5A in the first week of the Arkansas Sports Media High School Football Poll.
“When you look at Texarkana, they kind of remind you of what we had in Camden,” said new Hot Springs head coach Darrell Burnett.
Burnett is 59-17 as a defensive coordinator, including a 24-2 record and a Class 5A state championship in two
years at Camden Fairview.
“I don’t know what their discipline is like, but on an athletic basis, coaching the kids and holding them accountable,” Burnett said. “They are going to be good.”
Burnett said he expects Texarkana and Lakeside to be at the top of the conference. The Rams are 18-3 in the 5A-South in the past three years, winning two consecutive conference championships in 2015-16.
Lakeside’s quest for a three-peat was ended a year ago by Watson Chapel, but the Wildcats are now members of the 5A-Central, along with White Hall. They fill spots in the Central vacated by Sylvan Hills and the newest member of the 5A-South, Little Rock McClellan.
The McClellan Crimson Lions went 28-11 in the past three seasons with coach Maurice Moody, including a 15-5 conference record, and are ranked No. 5 in 5A. They were 6-44 and 5-29 between 2010-14.
“Our conference has been tough enough, but it will be really tough this year,” said Lakeside head coach Jared McBride said. “We lose the Pine Bluff schools, but we pick up two really good football programs. Texarkana may be one of the better ones in the state. McClellan has proven that they are also.
“For us, we have to battle to try to stay toward the top where we have been the last few years.”
The realignment only added more competition to the 4A-7 conference, which features defending Class 4A state champion Arkadelphia. The Badgers were joined in the semifinals by 4A-7 champion Joe T. Robinson, which lost for the only time in 2017 to state runner-up Warren. Arkadelphia advanced from the quarterfinals past another conference opponent, Ashdown. Warren, Robinson and Arkadelphia open the 2018 season ranked No. 1, No. 2 and No. 3, respectively, in 4A.
The only team to leave the 4A-7 from 2017 was Mena, which defeated two 5A teams in non-conference play only to go 0-7 in the league. Replacing Mena is Haskell Harmony Grove, which made the playoffs in
2017 as a member of the 3A-5 conference.
“In this conference, there is not a team you can just look down at,” said Malvern head coach Mike Scarbrough. “Every week, you better be ready to play, or somebody could beat you.”
The AAA’s 2018-20 reclassification cycle combines 6A and 5A in sports other than football, which has a ripple effect throughout the other classifications. Many play football in one class and drop down to another for sports such as baseball, basketball, softball and volleyball.
McClellan is in the 5A-South for football but will compete in the 4A-5 in other sports. Arkadelphia, Bauxite, Malvern, Mena and Nashville will be joined by 5A members De Queen and Hope outside of football.
“For the next two years, we are the only sport on campus that is playing in the 4A-7,” said Fountain Lake head coach J.D. Plumlee. “Basketball, softball and baseball get to go play 3A. That is a challenge in itself. We talk about it to our players. We get to go play really good competition every Friday night.
“We have to do a really good job of having that short-term memory. If it did not go our way the previous Friday, we’ve got to come in here as coaches on Sunday and flush it. On Monday, we have to start over. Players have to as well because there is not a game you can look at and relax.”
Fountain Lake will be a member of the 3A-4 outside of football. Perennial contender Charleston and four other teams moved from the 3A-4 for 2018-20. Jessieville and Glen Rose are among five new additions.
“We will just take it one game at a time,” said Jessieville head coach T.J. Burk. “I don’t know their personnel. I don’t know who they have and how good each one of them is. We will just take it one game at a time and game plan from there.”
The holdovers from 2017 include second-place Atkins and third-place Perryville. Glen Rose is 75-16 since 2010 outside of a 2-8 season in 2014.
“Just looking at records from last year, it seems to stack up pretty well at the top,” Burk said. “At Glen Rose, we know what we are going to get there. Danville is consistently good, even from when I played high school here.
“Perryville had a really good year last year. Atkins is always right there in the mix. I think it is going to be a solid conference from top to bottom.”
Centerpoint head coach Cary Rogers said he felt the alignment was an “even trade” for the Knights. The 3A-5 lost Glen Rose, Haskell Harmony Grove, Jessieville and Gurdon, but gained Camden Harmony Grove, Fouke, Genoa Central and Smackover.
Gurdon is now a member of the 2A-7 with Foreman and Mount Ida, whose only two losses in 2017 were to each other. Mount Ida won the conference championship, but the Lions were denied a second consecutive state chamionship by the Gators at War Memorial Stadium.
Projections have picked Mountain Pine to finish fifth in the 2A-5 behind Conway Christian, Magnet Cove, England and Poyen. Conway Christian is ranked No. 4 in 2A behind Foreman, Junction City and Mount Ida.
“We are going to see a lot of different people and a lot of different sets,” said Mountain Pine head coach Sam Counce. “It will be a different challenge.”
The conference features more familiarity among other contenders. Magnet Cove head coach Caleb Carmikle previously volunteered at Conway Christian. England hired former Conway Christian defensive coordinator Andrew Roberson as head coach in the spring.