Pea Ridge players milled around on the War Memorial Stadium turf last December for a long time after the conclusion of the Class 4A state championship game.
There were a few tears, mostly the seniors on the team who were coming to grips that they’d just played their final high school football game. That it came at the end of an historic season made the 54-37 loss to Warren a little easier to accept.
The prevailing mood on the field that chilly December night was not disappointment. Quite the contrary. The predominantly junior-led Blackhawks exuded a sense of confidence that, yes, this was a season unlike any other in school history, but it wasn’t a one-time thing.
Quarterback Jakota Sainsbury was very matter-of-fact when he said after the game, “We want to come back here next year and finish this.”
That time starts now, and the Black-hawks are poised to fulfill that promise with a team that appears to have few weaknesses, especially when it comes to skill position players. Yet even with a 2,000-yard passer, a 1,300-yard rusher and an 1,100-yard receiver back, 4A-1 Conference coaches pegged Pea Ridge as the No. 2 team in the conference behind Prairie Grove. That’s how stacked this league is.
“There are no easy weeks in this conference,” Gentry coach Paul Ernest said. “Even the teams that are left out of the playoffs, you better come to play or those guys can beat you.”
Last season three of the final four teams in the 4A playoffs were members of the 4A-1 — Pea Ridge, Prairie Grove and Shiloh Christian. In the past two seasons, a team from the 4A-1 has played for the state championship, and neither of those teams were Shiloh Christian, a program that won three consecutive state championships from 2008-10.
Saints coach Jeff Conaway said all people need to know about the strength of the 4A-1 is that the No. 4 seed last year, Gravette, went on the road and won a playoff game at Pocahontas.
It wasn’t long ago that the 4A-1 was generally regarded as Shiloh Christian and the seven dwarfs. The Saints dominated the league, and the entire 4A class. On occasion another team would make a run, like Gravette’s run to the semifinals in 2007 or Farmington’s semifinal run in 2011. More recently, Prairie Grove has been the shining light in the conference with two semifinal and one finals appearance since 2012.
“A few years ago, people thought the 4A-1 was a doormat they could walk over, but that’s not the case anymore,” Prairie Grove coach Danny Abshier said.
When Shiloh Christian was running through the conference with a 21-0 mark from 2008-10, little did the Saints know at the time that the rest of the conference actually benefiting from that. The Saints set the bar and it forced the rest of the programs in the conference to step up their game, not only on the field, but with improved facilities. Over the past seven years, Lincoln and Pea Ridge have opened new stadiums, Gentry has a new indoor facility and Gravette has a college-worthy field house and weight room to go with an already modern stadium.
“Shiloh dominated for a while and I think everybody expected that,” said Gravette coach Bill Harrelson. “But now everybody has raised their game. There’s no question that everybody saw what the standard was to get to the semifinals or the finals and saw what it would take to bring your program to that level.”
That improvement reached its zenith last season with the three semifinalists. Achieving that level again would be a tall order, but the 4A-1 from top to bottom has clearly proven it’s an elite league.
4A-4 CONFERENcE
While the 4A-1 gets the glamour, the 4A-4 is not without its elite programs, and that starts with the conference favorite this season, Booneville.
The Bearcats have a number of returning starters from last year’s squad, albeit they are still a young team, and are poised to make some noise in the playoffs after bowing out in the first round the past two seasons. Booneville, one of the smallest programs in 4A, won the state title in 2013. The Bearcats are headed to Class 3A in the 2018-20 cycle.
“We lost four games by 10 points or less last year,” Booneville coach Scott Hyatt said. “So going into this year, I’m hoping the difference in experience will allow us to win those close games.
“We lost eight seniors last year, and we only have seven this year, so a lot of our starters are back. We’re looking forward to seeing how they develop during the year.”
Booneville is likely a year (and a classification) away from making a deep run, but the Bearcats have playmakers. Junior quarterback Brandon Ulmer emerged last season and in just a few games as a starter ran for almost 400 yards and passed for another 400.
Bloodlines run deep at Booneville, and Carson Ray is a prime example. His father is former Bearcat Allen “Gator” Ray, who was a star running back in the late 1990s. Carson ran for around 450 yards as a sophomore last season.
Ozark made a state finals appearance in 2012, and the Hillbillies have the experience to make a deep run this season. Ozark finished 7-5 last year and knocked off Ash-down in the first round of the playoffs. It was Ozark’s first post-season win since 2012.
Hillbillies coach Jeremie Burns was not shy when asked about the expectations for his team.
“They are high for us,” Burns said. “We have a tough schedule, and this is a tough conference. You better be ready to play every Friday night. It’s always tough in this conference.”
Dardanelle and Pottsville will also be in the mix for the league title. Dardanelle has won the conference title the past three seasons, and Pottsville should be much improved after starting a ton of sophomores last season.
Chip Souza can be reached at csouza@nwadg . com or on Twitter @NWAChip.