Playoffs, Playoffs, Playoffs

FARMINGTON, PRAIRIE GROVE AND LINCOLN ALL IN ACTION FRIDAY

Playoff action begins Friday for all three western Washington County schools covered by the Enterprise-Leader. Several milestones bear noteworthy recognition. This year marks the first time all three schools qualified for postseason in consecutive years for 2020 and 2021.

Farmington’s J.R. Eldridge could win his first Class 5A playoff game this week. All of his playoff victories occurred at either the 4A level or 7A during a 2020 campaign at North Little Rock. He lost a Class 5A playoff game against Greenbrier in his first season of 2011.

Prairie Grove’s Danny Abshier will be coaching in his 50th playoff game Friday.

Lincoln’s Reed Mendoza becomes the first head football coach in school history to guide the Wolves into the playoffs in consecutive years. Mendoza, along with former Lincoln coaches Brad Harris (2011, 2013) and Don Harrison (2015, 2018), represent the only three coaches who successfully guided the Wolves into the playoffs more than once.

Farmington (8-2, 5-2) owns the third seed out of the 5A West. The Cardinals’ only losses came to Greenbrier and Vilonia. Greenbrier is on the other side of the bracket, but the Cardinals could get a rematch with Vilonia should they get past White Hall (8-2, 5-1 5A Central).

Prairie Grove (8-2, 6-1) nailed down the No. 2 seed out of the 4A-1. The Tigers face Jonesboro Westside (4-6, 4-3 4A-3) and could potentially meet conference rival Gentry at home in the second round if the Pioneers can upstage Lamar.

Lincoln (3-7, 3-4 3A-1) shook off an 0-4 start to earn a No. 4 seed against Newport (4-4, 3-2 3A-2). The Greyhounds, seeded second from the 3A-2, played only eight regular season games and went 2-2 in October. They didn’t play Oct. 22 or last week.

Playoff Streaks

Both Farmington head coach J.R. Eldridge and Prairie Grove head coach Danny Abshier continue an 11-year streak of leading their teams into the playoffs.

Eldridge took over as head coach at Arkadelphia in 2011 and led the

Badgers into the Class 5A playoffs in his first season followed by eight consecutive appearances in Class 4A, including state championships in 2017 and 2018. He led North Little Rock into the Class 7A State finals in 2020, losing 27-17 to Bryant, and now has Farmington in the Class 5A playoffs. Eldridge sports a 22-7 playoff record.

Abshier went 15-10 during the playoffs over the last decade from 2011-2020. The Tigers last missed the playoffs in 2010. His overall playoff record stands at 25-24 and his teams qualified in 24 of his 28 seasons as Prairie Grove head coach.

Title Shots

Farmington won backto-back State Class B football championships in 1972-1973 with Allen Holland as head coach. Prairie Grove advanced to the 2015 Class 4A finals under Abshier and lost 39-20 to Nashville to finish 13-2 as Class 4A State Runner-up. Lincoln has yet to earn a title shot.

Historic 2020

Last year in 2020 became the first year in history all three west Washington County teams won a football playoff game in the same season. Farmington opted in an expanded Class 5A playoffs format due to covid and defeated Valley View, 28-7, to win its first-ever postseason game at the Class 5A level, while in Class 4A, Prairie Grove knocked off Blytheville 59-34 and Lincoln carried its weight in Class 3A by besting Atkins, 37-14.

2021 Opportunities

Will all three teams win a playoff game again this year?

Football playoff games kick off at 7 p.m. Friday with Prairie Grove playing at home against Jonesboro’s Westside Warriors, while Farmington and Lincoln must go on the road.

The Cardinals travel 225 miles to White Hall High School, located at 700 Bulldog Drive, White Hall, AR 71602. From Interstate 530 take Exit 32 coming into Pine Bluff and turn left going east on West Holland underneath the overpass which takes motorists to White Hall High School. The north end zone of the stadium lies adjacent to the street.

Lincoln has a 252-mile road trip via I-40 to Conway then U.S. 64 to Beebe and U.S. 67 north to Newport. Coming into Newport from the southwest via U.S. 67, take a left onto Walker Drive and go west to Country Club Road which takes motorists to the stadium.

For those taking an alternate route of 232 miles via U. S. 412 to Harrison and U.S. 65 past Marshall, turn left onto State Highway 66 at Leslie to Mountain View and State Highway 14 east through Pleasant Grove and Locust Grove staying south of Batesville and into Newport. In town the road bends east and becomes Remmel Avenue which turns into Wilkerson Drive entering the Newport High School campus located at 406 Wilkerson Drive, Newport, Ark. 72112.