Green Forest Faces Long

Road Trip To Melbourne

Remember the smart aleck answer “you can’t get there from here” when asking for directions?

That’s what Green Forest could hear tonight as it makes the long road trip to Melbourne, a newcomer to the 3A-1 Conference. According to Google Maps, Green Forest is 113 miles or 2 hours and 21 minutes from Melbourne. But that doesn’t fully take into account the rough terrain and the critters that emerge from the Ozark Mountains at night like deer, opossum, skunks and the three-toed sloth.

Well, maybe not the three-toed sloth, since it’s native to South and Central America. The point is a trip to Texarkana, Texas in the middle of the summer with no air conditioning and no radio would be more pleasurable than driving back from Melbourne late at night.

Still, the Arkansas Activities Association put Melbourne in the 3A-1 Conference and the Tigers will make the trip looking for their first win. Melbourne is mostly a basketball school playing varsity football for the first time under Clinton Gore, who coached some powerful teams at Osceola in the 1990s. The Bearkats (2-2, 0-1) have already won two games, but lost 54-38 to Greenland in conference play last week.

Green Forest (0-3, 0-0) should at least be rested following an off week because Marshall, the Tigers’ scheduled opponent, dropped football. Green Forest is capable of winning Friday but Melbourne has a home field advantage that only few teams can match.

Especially if you can’t get there from here.

RICK’S PICK: Melbourne

Other games involving teams from Northwest Arkansas (selections are capitalized).

CLASS 7A/6A

SPRINGDALE HAR-BER at Rogers Heritage

FAYETTEVILLE at Springdale

ROGERS at Van Buren

Siloam Springs at BENTONVILLE

CLASS 5A

CLARKSVILLE at Huntsville

Morrilton at ALMA

VILONIA at Shiloh Christian

CLASS 4A

Farmington at PRAIRIE GROVE

Gentry at GRAVETTE

OZARK at Berryville

Pea Ridge at LINCOLN

CLASS 3A

ELKINS at Mountain View

Green Forest at MELBOURNE

Greenland at YELLVILLE-SUMMIT

CLASS 2A

HACKETT at Western Yell County

Hartford at MOUNTAINBURG

LAST WEEK 17-2 (89 percent)

OVERALL 50-16 (76 percent)

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