Are we there yet?
I’m sure the bus driver for Hamburg will be asked that question more than once today as the Lions make their way to Pea Ridge for a second-round playoff game.
If there’s a more difficult trip today, I don’t know it. Hamburg is in the southeast corner of Arkansas, about 25 miles from the Louisiana border and 30 miles from Mississippi. By contrast, Pea Ridge nearly touches the border with Missouri and is less than 40 miles from Oklahoma.
The long distance is why the teams agreed to meet in Conway to start the season when Pea Ridge beat Hamburg 50-30 in the Hooten’s Kickoff Classic on the purple-and-gray striped turf at Central Arkansas’ Estes Stadium in August. The teams also met last year in the playoffs, when the Blackhawks beat Hamburg 36-24 in a playoff game at Pea Ridge.
Are we there yet? How much farther?
“It’s a long way to Pea Ridge, that’s why we’re leaving at 8:15 in the morning,” Hamburg coach Cecil Cossey said earlier this week about today’s journey for a Class 4A playoff game. “We’ll eat in Conway and stop and stretch our legs in Pine Bluff and Ozark. Hopefully, we’ll arrive about 3:30 then have an hour of downtime to reset ourselves and get ready to play.”
The plan worked well last week when Hamburg traveled over 250 miles to Jonesboro and eliminated the Westside Warriors 20-7 in a first-round game. But facing Pea Ridge on its home field is a much tougher challenge for the Lions, who scored three touchdowns in the third quarter to beat Westside.
“Pea Ridge has a lot of playmakers, but we’ve got to do a better job of stopping No. 6,” Cossey said.
No. 6 is Blackhawks senior running back Drew Winn, who rushed for 170 yards and four touchdowns against Hamburg way back on Aug. 28. Not many teams have slowed Winn, who has rushed for 1,894 yards and 27 touchdowns this season. The Lions’ quest to stop Winn and the Pea Ridge offense will be compounded if they’re leg weary from their long trip.
Pea Ridge rebounded from a 17-14 loss at Shiloh Christian with a 40-0 shutout last week over Waldron. Hamburg is much more skilled than Waldron and the Lions may be able to keep pace for a while. But there’s no reason to think tonight’s outcome will be any different than when the teams met in Conway or at Pea Ridge last year in the playoffs.
Are we there yet?
RICK’S PICK Pea Ridge
Other games involving teams from Northwest Arkansas (selections are capitalized).
CLASS 7A
Cabot at BENTONVILLE
Fayetteville at BRYANT Fort Smith Northside at NORTH LITTLE ROCK
CLASS 6A
Texarkana at GREEN-WOOD
CLASS 5A
Harrison at PULASKI ACADEMY
CLASS 4A
Ozark at WARREN Stuttgart at PRAIRIE GROVE
NASHVILLE at Booneville
CLASS 3A
Atkins at ELKINS
CLASS 2A
MOUNTAINBURG at Conway Christian
LAST WEEK 16-3 (84 percent) OVERALL 212-51 (80 percent)
Rick Fires can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter@NWARick.