FAYETTEVILLE — The Arkansas Activities Association is postponing the state's football playoff games this weekend due to safety concerns from predicted inclement weather, according to a news release.
State championship games for classes 7A, 6A and 5A are currently scheduled for Friday and Saturday at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock. Classes 4A, 3A and 2A were scheduled to play semifinal games Friday night. The association issued the following revised schedule:
Final
- Class 7A Final – Friday, December 13, 7:00 p.m.
- Class 6A Final – Saturday, December 14, 6:30 p.m.
- Class 5A Final – Saturday, December 14, 12:00 noon
Semifinal Rounds
Friday, December 13, 2013
All Games Start at 7:00 p.m.
Class 4A
Valley View at Warren
Booneville at Dollarway
Class 3A
Earle at Charleston
Smackover vs. Glen Rose (moved to Benton Harmony Grove)
Class 2A
Bearden at Des Arc
Carlisle vs. Junction City (moved to El Dorado’s Memorial Stadium)
Finals
- Class 4A – Friday, December 20, 7:00 p.m.
- Class 3A – Saturday, December 21, 6:30 p.m.
- Class 2A – Saturday, December 21, 12:00 noon
A winter storm is expected to move into parts of the state Thursday morning and affect most of Arkansas by Friday night. Temperatures Friday night in the northwest corner of the state are forecast to be in single-digits fahrenheit, with a windchill below 0 degrees.
The National Weather Service is calling for up to a half-inch of ice and multiple inches of snow and sleet to fall in northern areas of the state by Friday night. The weather service says travel will be "very difficult or impossible" during the storm and power outages are likely in some affected areas.
High schools from Cabot, Bentonville, Morrilton, Batesville, El Dorado and Pine Bluff were scheduled to play state championship games this weekend.
Razorbacks monitoring weather
The predicted winter storm could impact multiple Saturday events scheduled for the Razorbacks.
The university is scheduled to officially break ground on its new basketball practice facility Saturday at 11 a.m., followed by a pair of basketball games at Bud Walton Arena. Arkansas' men are scheduled to face Clemson at 1 p.m. and the women have a game against Northwestern State scheduled for 7 p.m.
"Certainly we are monitoring the weather forecasts and have been in contact with both Clemson and Northwestern State regarding their travel to Fayetteville for basketball games on Saturday," UA spokesperson Kevin Trainor wrote in an email Wednesday morning. "We will continue to communicate with them throughout the week. All events (including groundbreaking ceremony) remain as originally scheduled at this time."
High temperatures in Fayetteville on Saturday are forecast in the mid-20s.
JBU doubleheader canceled
John Brown University says it has canceled plans to play a basketball doubleheader Thursday against Wayland Baptist.
JBU athletics director Robyn Daugherty announced the decision Wednesday afternoon. Daugherty said the game will be made up in January or February.
Both JBU teams won conference openers Tuesday night against St. Gregory's at Bill George Arena. The Golden Eagles' women are 7-1 overall this season, while the men are 10-0 overall and ranked No. 14 in NAIA.