Bentonville athletic director Scott Passmore’s telephones have rung nonstop the past two days, and he’s made calls during those moments when they weren’t ringing.
The conversations have been the same: the status of the Class 7A state football championship game between Bentonville and Cabot. The game is scheduled for 7 p.m. Friday at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock, but it hangs in limbo as a major winter storm makes its way to the state.
“Right now, we’re just in a sit and wait situation,” Passmore said.
Northwest Arkansas has already been placed under a winter storm watch from 6 a.m. Thursday to 6 p.m. Friday. The National Weather Service in Tulsa, Okla., has forecasted a slight chance of freezing rain for the area late tonight, with freezing rain likely before 9 a.m. Thursday — the time Bentonville’s football team is expected to leave for Little Rock.
That threat of winter precipitation has led to conversations between Passmore and the Arkansas Activities Association, which has had to deal with regular-season football games being postponed and cancelled, but never a state championship game. AAA executive director Lance Taylor said he recalled the Class 5A state championship in 2000, when Fort Smith Southside — then coached by Bentonville coach Barry Lunney — and Cabot, led by current coach Mike Malham, played the game with sleet falling the entire game.
“It’s not just Bentonville that has our concern,” Taylor said. “We also have Class 6A and 5A teams that are coming to Little Rock to play, and we also have teams from the smaller schools that are having to crisscross over the state.
“We want everybody to be able to travel safe — not just the teams, but the fans, families, bands, cheerleaders and so on. What we decide to do could affect a whole bunch of people. We don’t want them to get down here and not get back home.”
Passmore said he will have another conversation with Bentonville Superintendent Michael Poore and Taylor at 10 a.m. today to address the latest weather updates and the game’s status. If Friday’s game is postponed because of inclement weather, it is unknown when it can be rescheduled.
Northwest Arkansas is expected to drop below freezing temperatures tonight and may not climb above that point until at least Tuesday. There is another chance of winter precipitation Saturday night through Sunday.
“We might have to do something that’s never been done before,” Taylor said. “But it’s going to be a blanket decision, whatever we decide to do. If we make a mistake on our decision, then we want to do it on the side of caution.”
In the meantime, it’s business as usual for Bentonville’s football team. The Tigers held their usual practice Tuesday afternoon at Tiger Stadium and continued their preparations as if everything was normal.