Do you remember the newspaper headline "Jones to Birmingham to Atlanta?"
It was in reference to Matt Jones' touchdown pass to DeCori Birmingham in 2002 that helped Arkansas beat LSU 21-20 and send the Razorbacks into the SEC championship game in Atlanta. It was the first of two exciting games I saw that day.
I drove to Russellville that night and watched Springdale High beat the Cyclones 28-21 in the semifinals of the Class AAAAA state playoffs. It was a significant road victory for Springdale and Gus Malzahn, who reached the state championship game in his second year as coach of the Bulldogs.
Times are different and current Bulldogs coach Zak Clark has only half the manpower Malzahn had before Springdale split its school district. Springdale will start the season 3-0 with a win at Russellville tonight, which would a major step for a proud program that hit bottom with an 0-10 record in 2014. But it won't be easy against Russellville, the defending state champion in Class 6A.
Billy Dawson is now at Fayetteville and current Cyclones coach Jeff Weaver is a former Greenwood assistant who knows all about putting together a championship team. Russellville beat Rogers Heritage last week after stumbling in its season-opener to Morrilton.
Springdale's two wins have come against Conway and Alma and the Bulldogs open 7A-West Conference at Rogers Heritage on Sept. 22. So, there's potential for a fast start and a winning season for Springdale, which finished 4-7 last season.
Russellville and Springdale will go at it hard tonight, like in the old days when the two were members of the same conference. Springdale is definitely on the upswing but Russellville doesn't lose very much anymore, especially at home.
RICK'S PICK Russellville
Other games involving teams from Northwest Arkansas (selections are capitalized).
CLASS 7A
Dallas Bishop Dunne at FAYETTEVILLE
Jenks, Okla., SPRINGDALE HAR-BER
BENTONVILLE WEST at Muskogee, Okla.
St. Louis Normandy at ROGERS HIGH
Conway at BENTONVILLE
Springdale High at RUSSELLVILLE
CLASS 6A
VAN BUREN at Siloam Springs
CLASS 5A
GREENWOOD at Alma
Harrison at LITTLE ROCK CHRISTIAN
Farmington at PEA RIDGE
CLASS 4A
PRAIRIE GROVE at West Fork
SHILOH CHRISTIAN at Pottsville
Jay, Okla. at GRAVETTE
MENA at Waldron
GENTRY at Greenland
Green Forest at BERRYVILLE
Mansfield at LINCOLN
DOVER at Lavaca
CLASS 3A
CHARLESTON at Ozark
ELKINS at Huntsville
CLASS 2A
DANVILLE at Mountainburg
LAST WEEK 20-5 (80 percent)
OVERALL 34-14 (71 percent)
Sports on 09/15/2017