Farmington gets to enjoy another "Highway 62" hoedown before setting off on a journey to rival the Lewis and Clark expedition.
That'll happen tonight at Prairie Grove, which used to be the Cardinals' No. 1 rival in the 4A-1 Conference. Farmington is now in the 5A-West Conference, which includes teams from far away as Little Rock and Greenbrier. Farmington will develop new rivalries, but the Cardinals are happy to start the season six miles from home against the Tigers.
Prairie Grove has won consecutive conference championships and the Tigers won't give up the title easily despite Shiloh Christian's return to the league from Class 5A. Senior running back Bobby Catt and junior tight end Dylan Soehner are the top playmakers for the Tigers, who are 22-3 the past two seasons. Soehner (6-foot-7, 265 pounds) added a scholarship offer from Illinois last week to go along with his offers from Louisiana Tech and Arkansas State.
Farmington also has a big-time talent in running back Justice Hobbs (5-10, 210), who ran for 905 yards as a sophomore. Senior Michael Johnson is also a threat at receiver for the Cardinals, who went 11-3 and reached the state semifinals in 2011. But Farmington has only been average the past two seasons and the Cardinals lost 49-13 to the Tigers at home last year.
Farmington needs a win to jump-start its move to Class 5A, but don't expect the Tigers to shower the Cardinals with parting gifts. More likely, Prairie Grove will give Farmington a hard shove and a wave goodbye before casting them adrift toward parts unknown.
RICK'S PICK: Prairie Grove
Other games involving teams from Northwest Arkansas (selections are capitalized).
Class 7A
GREENWOOD at Springdale High
Siloam Springs at ROGERS HIGH
Kansas City (Mo.) Rockhurst at BENTONVILLE
FAYETTEVILLE at Lawton (Okla.) Eisenhower
OLATHE (KAN.) NORTH at Rogers Heritage
Springdale Har-Ber at WEBB CITY, MO.
CLASS 4A
BERRYVILLE at Decatur
Gentry at WEST FORK
POTTSVILLE at Gravette
GREEN FOREST at Huntsville
Elkins at PEA RIDGE
CLASS 3A
CEDARVILLE at Mountainburg
Johnson County Westside at GREENLAND
LAST WEEK 0-0.
Sports on 09/05/2014