Week 4 - Lookback

We selected the "Battle for Springdale" as our Shootout of the Week, and we were not disappointed with the game that we watched. Last night, Jarrell Williams Bulldog Stadium was packed. To me, it seemed that entire town of Springdale was in the stadium. The intensity that we predicted between the Har-Ber Wildcats and Springdale Bulldogs was definitely evident from the opening kickoff. The game was deadlocked at 7 at recess. The Wildcats took over midway through the 3rd quarter behind the running of Derek Brinker, and went on to win 20-14.

The game wasn't the high scoring shootout that we anticipated, but it was a very hard fought entertaining high school football game. Week 4 of this season had some close games, but most of the high scoring games weren't close. Here are the teams that got their offenses (scoring 50+ ponts) kicked into high gear for the start of conference play:

• Magnet Cove 51, Bauxite 35
• Shiloh Christian 65, Berryville 0
• Fountain Lake 56, Centerpoint 0
• Spring Hill 50, Foreman 26
• Green County Tech 53, Forrest City 44
• Junction City 70, Norphlet 0
• West Memphis 50, Little Rock Hall 0
• Pulaski Academy 63, Magnolia 25
• Ola 60, Little Rock Lutheran 19
• Fort Smith Northside 59, Rogers Heritage 38
• Horatio 51, Quitman 24
• Lake Hamilton 55, Sheridan 21
• Stuttgart 62, Batesville Southside 12
• West Helena 62, Paragould 7
  

Again, please tell us about any great games we should pay attention to next week or that we missed this week.

2008 - Week 4 Shootout of the Week

We are just going to do a quick hitter for this first Friday of conference. We are selecting the "Battle for Springdale" as our pick for the Shootout of the Week.

While this is a very new rivalry to the state due to the newcomer status of Har-Ber, we believe all athletic events that involve these two teams will quickly have an intensity similar to long-time rivals.

Har-Ber is the new kid on the block, but the Wildcats are playing well. We look for them to come away with a 10 point victory tonight.

Let us know your game of the week. Have a great weekend! Hopefully, football will be part of it.

2008 - Week 3 Lookback

We wanted to take a look at our predictions from last Friday morning. We made four predictions related to the 2 games that we planned to attend. For the record, 25% accuracy isn't going to light up Vegas, but we don't gamble anyway.

1. Both games will have a total points number of 70 or higher.

• The SC/GW game had a total 57 points while the PA/LH game featured 98 points. Are we allowed to shift the points around? In all seriousness, Greenwood played fairly sloppy, putting the ball on the ground several times. It prevented the Bulldogs from getting into any kind of offensive rhythm.
  

2. Greenwood will win by a margin of 14 or greater.

• Shiloh Christian 37, Greenwood 20. We have to say that we were more than a little surprised by this result. SC looked solid and GW didn't. Hats off to the Saints for proving that we don't know much.

3. Pulaski Academy's offense will finally find its stride.

• I don't think there is any doubt on this one. The Bruins put up over 600 yards of total offense and scored 63 points.

4. Pulaski Academy will escape with a 3 point win over the Wolves.

• Pulaski Academy 63, Lake Hamilton 35. We did get the winner of the game, but we don't think that anyone would have predicted this much of a differential. The Bruins got offensive momentum and just never let up.

In all honesty, we are really better than 25%, but only one prediction was 100% accurate. Give us your picks in the comments and we will see how well you do.


In Case You Missed It:
There were some incredible scores in Week 3. Here is a quick sample of them:

• Fountain Lake 88, Hot Springs Lakeside 66
• Pine Bluff 64, Warren 40
• Lonoke 41, Central Arkansas Christian 38
• Nashville 58, Liberty-Eylau (TX) 35
• Osceola 70, Rivercrest 36
• Earle 70, Hughes 6

Again, please tell us about any great games we should pay attention to as conference play starts for almost everyone this week (or any great game that we missed this week).

2008 - Week 3 Shootout Predictions

This week most teams are getting their final tuneups done before conference play begins next week. So, we will again be at different games. The two games that we will watch tonight are match-ups of teams that we believe will make deep runs into the state playoffs this fall. All four teams in these two games are currently ranked in the top 10 in their classification by Hootens.com.

In Northwest Arkansas, the Shiloh Christian Saints will host the Greenwood Bulldogs. The 'Dogs are the 3-time defending state champion while the Saints are perennially found close the championship round of the state playoffs. We feel that this game will have a ton of offensive fireworks by both of these heavyweights.

In the Hot Springs area, the Pulaski Academy Bruins will travel to Percy to take on the Lake Hamilton Wolves. This match-up features two of the top senior quarterbacks in the state, PA's Spencer Keith and LH's Phillip Butterfield. Again, a lot of offense will be on display as these two teams look to give future conference foes a bunch of threats to think about in the coming weeks.

Our Predictions For These Games

• Both games will have a total points number of 70 or higher.
• Greenwood will win by a margin of 14 or greater.
• Pulaski Academy's offense will finally find its stride.
• Pulaski Academy will escape with a 3 point win over the Wolves.
  

As we say every week this time of year: Have a great weekend! Hopefully, football will be part of it.

2008 - Week 2 Lookback

On a lazy Sunday morning, we wanted to look back at how our picks as great games to watch last Friday panned out. Here are the results of those picks:

• Pulaski Academy 28, Central Arkansas Christian 27
• Mayflower 20, Greenbriar 3
• Pocahontas 21, Paragould 19
• Beebe 28, Lonoke 19
• West Memphis 32, Pine Bluff 14
• Osceola 21, Dumas 19
• Crossett 14, Hamburg 12
• Warren 35, Monticello 20
  
• Texas High 49, Arkansas High 24
  
• Harrison 37, Mountain 14

This week we want to highlight games above 70 points. In addition to the Battle of the State Line above that saw 73 points, we found these games on the scoreboard.

• Green County Tech 53, Highland 21
• Fayetteville 42, Jefferson City (MO) 37
• Springdale 49, Clarksdale (MS) 42 (Highest scoring game this week)
  
• Hot Springs Lakeside 49, Malvern 27
• Ft. Smith Northside 37, Van Buren 34
• Nettleton 41, Trumann 35
• Newport 55, Bald Knob 26
  
• Nashville 49, Prescott 27

Again, please tell us about any great games we should pay attention to next week or that we missed this week.

2008 - Week 2 Shootout Predictions

We are always on the lookout for good high school football games, and we will again be at games in different parts of the state. Here are some games that we think you might enjoy if you are looking for something to do tonight.

Here are suggestions region by region:

Central Arkansas
Pulaski Academy @ Central Arkansas Christian
Mayflower @ Greenbrier

Northeast and North Central Arkansas
Pocahontas @ Paragould
Lonoke @ Beebe

Eastern Arkansas
West Memphis @ Pine Bluff

Southeast Arkansas
Osceola @ Dumas
Crossett @ Hamburg
Monticello @ Warren

Southwest Arkansas
Arkansas High @ Texas High

Northwest Arkansas
Mountain Home @ Harrison

We believe the games in red have a chance to see a total of 80 points between the two teams. The game in green is our prediction for the highest scoring game of the week. Have a great weekend! Hopefully, football will be part of it.

2008 - Week 1 Lookback

Well, it was a typical busy Friday in Arkansas high school football last night. Our picks for the shootouts of the week gave us a few surprises. The results are below. The surprise results (based on competitiveness) are in BLUE:

• Evangel Christian (LA) 47, Shiloh Christian 9
• North Little Rock 17, Texarkana 0
• Blytheville 28, Osceola 13
• West Helena 46, Pulaski Academy 29
• Rison 32, Fordyce 18
• Warren 54, Watson Chapel 16
• Hot Springs Lakeside 28, White Hall 23
• Nashville 48, Hope 0
• Texarkana (TX) 30, Lake Hamilton 22
• Pine Bluff 28, Fort Smith Northside 22
• Springdale Har-Ber 45, Greenwood 15
• Fayetteville 35, Little Rock Central 0
• Jefferson City (MO) 45, Springdale 21
  

So, I am sure you asking which great games did we leave out of those to watch. Glancing at the scoreboards, here are a few that wish we could have witnessed live:

• Walnut Ridge 47, Cave City 36 (Highest scoring game of Week 1)
  
• El Dorado 31, Camden Fairview 27
• Prairie Grove 38, Lavaca 32
• Silvan Hills 25, Malvern 20
• Magnet Cove 26, Mount Ida 21
• Batesville Southside 34, Mountain Home 29
• Dover 29, Paris 28
• Riverview 35, Marked Tree 32
  

As you can see, there were some early season nailbiters. Please tell us about any great games we should pay attention to next week or that we missed this week.

2008 - Week 1 Shootout Predictions

We are always on the lookout for good high school football games, and we will be at games in opposite ends of the state tonight. In an effort to support high school football around the state, here are some games that we think you might enjoy even if you don't have a "dog in the fight."

Here are suggestions region by region:

Arkansas/Louisiana Border (around Shreveport)
Shiloh Christian @ Evangel Christian (LA)

Central Arkansas
Texarkana @ North Little Rock

Northeast Arkansas
Osceola @ Blytheville

Eastern Arkansas
Pulaski Academy @ West Helena

Southeast Arkansas
Fordyce @ Rison
Warren @ Watson Chapel
Hot Springs Lakeside @ White Hall

Southwest Arkansas
Hope vs. Nashville
Lake Hamilton vs. Texarkana (TX)

Western Arkansas River Valley
Pine Bluff @ Fort Smith Northside
Springdale Har-Ber @ Greenwood

Northwest Arkansas
Little Rock Central @ Fayetteville
Jefferson City (MO) @ Springdale

We believe the games in red have a chance to see a total of 80 points between the two teams. The game in green is our prediction for the highest scoring game of the week. Have a great weekend! Hopefully, football will be part of it.