Ah, Shreveport.
Home of the Gentlemen and Ladies, sports teams for Centenary College. It's also the city in northwest Louisiana that brought us the Poulan Weed Eater Independence Bowl, which became the Duck Commander Independence Bowl, then the Camping World Independence Bowl before turning to Walk-On's Bistreaux and Bar as its primary sponsor. Less than 29,000 fans watched in 2016 when North Carolina State beat Vanderbilt 41-17 in another matchup between 6-6 teams.
Mediocre, for sure. But there's nothing mediocre about the Battle on the Border ongoing at Independence Stadium, where top high school teams from Arkansas, Louisiana, Alabama and Texas face off. North Little Rock plays Shreveport Evangel tonight before Bentonville High and Aledo, Texas, take the field at 3 p.m. Saturday.
Aledo is a formidable opponent that is 59-4 under coach Steve Wood, including 15-1 last season. Sophomore Gary Earle had eight catches for 106 yards and two touchdowns last week when Aledo opened its season with a 40-0 win over Guyer of Denton, Texas.
Bentonville could easily be 2-0 instead of 0-2 after blowing a 21-3 lead and losing 24-21 at Conway last week. That loss came on the heels of a 28-25 defeat in overtime to Midwest City, Okla., to open the season.
The Tigers are certainly a threat against a Texas team even as a good as Aldeo. But they'll have to play well from start to finish, and they've yet to show that capability.
RICK'S PICK Aledo, Texas
Other games involving teams from Northwest Arkansas (selections are capitalized).
CLASS 7A
Alma at SPRINGDALE HIGH
BRYANT at Bentonville West
FORT SMITH NORTHSIDE at Van Buren
GREENWOOD at Fort Smith Southside
Rogers at LITTLE ROCK CENTRAL
SPRINGDALE HAR-BER at Russellville
CLASS 6A
HARRISON at Siloam Springs
CLASS 5A
Gravette at FARMINGTON
Clarksville at OZARK
Huntsville at BERRYVILLE
CLASS 4A
SHILOH CHRISTIAN at Trumann
Dardanelle at PRAIRIE GROVE
Green Forest at COMMERCE, OKLA.
Lincoln at KEYS, OKLA.
SUBIACO ACADEMY at Lamar
Paris at WALDRON
ELKINS at West Fork
Pottsville at BOONEVILLE
CLASS 3A
Greenland at MOUNTAINBURG
MANSFIELD at Lavaca
CLASS 2A
Lavaca at TWO RIVERS
LAMAR at Johnson County Westside
EIGHT-MAN
Decatur at AUGUSTA
LAST WEEK 16-9 (64 percent)
OVERALL 25-11 (69 percent)
Sports on 09/07/2018