2008 - Week 10 Shootouts

Week 10 in an Arkansas high school football season is always a strange time. We feel like the teams that are playing tonight divide fairly equally into three categories.

• For the top 1/3 of the teams, it is a final dressed rehearsal for a playoff run that they hope will end in a state title. These are the team that have those top one or two playoff seeds locked up.
  
• For the middle 1/3 of the teams, this week is stressful because they are either fighting for their playoff life or trying avoid the top seeds in their first playoff round by improving their place in the bracket. If you attend one these games, these teams tend to play with lots of emotion as their senior struggle to extend their careers by at least one more week.
• The bottom 1/3 of the teams usually have nothing on the line except pride in how the senior leaders will be sent out. The seniors will remember this moment because most (>90%) will play competitive football for the last time tonight. Again, emotions run high in these games simply because the career ends in just 48 short minutes of game clock.

Our selected games this week don't have any from the bottom 1/3. However, if you want to share either your thoughts on any of those games, please send us some Comments.

Here are some games that we don't think you want to miss if you can make it out tonight (the rankings below are the Hootens.com Rankings for Week 10):

• #1 Bentonville @ #4 Har-Ber. Bentonville is trying to remain the lone remaining unbeaten in the 7A classification. This will be a 7A West slugfest.
• #2 FS Northside @ #3 FS Southside. This year's "Battle of Rogers Avenue" could be another classic in this high spirited rivalry.
• Springdale @ Rogers. The loser in this 7A West battle will watch the playoffs while cleaning and storing the equipment until next summer.
• #6 Russellville @ #5 Cabot. The winner of this showdown will have the #1 seed from the 7A Central
• #1 West Helena @ #3 Batesville. The winner claims the 5A East conference crown and a coveted #1 seed in the playoffs.
• Green County Tech @ Paragould. A GCT win puts the Eagles in the playoffs and avenges a Week 1 drubbing. A Paragould win would be bittersweet because the season would be over, but it would prevent their rivals from a historic playoff berth.
• Little Rock Christian @ #2 Pulaski Academy. The winner takes home the 5A Southwest and a #1 playoff seed. LRC is also fighting to avoid a #3 playoff seed that happens if they lose (Magnolia defeated Hope last night).
  

As you can see, plenty of great matchups in Week 10. Have a great weekend! Hopefully, football will be part of it.