Last Friday marked the beginning of the 2012 Arkansas high school football playoffs. We saw some outstanding games includes two 1-point barn-burners as Searcy defeated Siloam Springs 49-48 and Alma took down Little Rock Mills 21-20. The big upset happened in 4A as Mena (5th place team from the 4A-4) took out Arkadelphia (the winner of the 4A-7). In 2A, the defending state champs, Strong, blew out number 1 seed Hazen, 35-0. While Strong's win was an upset, the Bearcats win over Arkadelphia is the bigger story. The favorite for the 5A title lead the state in scoring as Camden Fairview put 70 and Pulaski Academy scored 62. Those two were joined in the 60+ club by Walnut Ridge that also scored 62. Here are the 50-point club members for week #1 of the playoff:
- Pine Bluff (57)
- Greenwood (56)
- Pottsville (56)
- Nashville (55)
- Batesville (54)
- Barton (54)
- Mineral Springs (54)
- Benton (53)
- Jonesboro (52)
- Dardanelle (52)
- Prairie Grove (52)
- Prescott (52)
- East Poinsett County (52)
- Fountain Lake (51)
The scores below are
BLUE if we picked the winner and
RED if we didn't. Overall, we were 46 out of 54 for 85% correct.
- Bentonville (1st - West) -- BYE
- West Memphis 43, Rogers Heritage 36
- Ft. Smith Southside (2nd - Central) -- BYE
- Springdale Har-Ber 42, Little Rock Central 7
- North Little Rock (1st - Central) -- BYE
- Cabot 28, Bryant 21
- Fayetteville (2nd - West) -- BYE
- Conway 42, Rogers 6
We correctly picked 2 out of 4 winners in 7A. Both misses were the 4/5 seed match-ups.
- Greenwood 56, Little Rock Fair 14
- Little Rock Parkview 27, Sheridan 0
- El Dorado 42, Mountain Home 16
- Searcy 49, Siloam Springs 48
- Pine Bluff 57, Little Rock Hall 0
- Benton 53, Russellville 34
- Jonesboro 52, Texarkana 20
- Lake Hamilton 37, Marion 0
We did much better in 6A by correctly picking 7 out of 8, but a 4/5 seed game once again led to a missed pick.
- Wynne 35, Watson Chapel 7
- Morrilton 42, Jacksonville 14
- Camden Fairview 70, Beebe 20
- Alma 21, Little Rock Mills 20
- Pulaski Academy 62, Vilonia 21
- White Hall 35, Forrest City 19
- Greenbrier 48, Sylvan Hills 21
- Batesville 54, Hot Springs Lakeside 14
We had another 7 of 8 night in 5A. The 1-point thriller between Mills and Alma was the lone miss.
- Booneville (1st - 4A-4) -- Bye
- Newport 46, Farmington 40
- Mena 42, Arkadelphia 29
- Ozark 38, Hamburg 7
- Highland 49, Arkansas Baptist 8
- Pine Bluff Dollarway 44, Jonesboro Westside 7
- Heber Springs 33, Star City 7
- Pea Ridge 42, Monticello 0
- Stuttgart (1st - 4A-2) -- Bye
- Dardanelle 52, Pocahontas 14
- Warren 36, Lonoke 19
- Malvern 48, Gosnell 7
- Prairie Grove 52, Crossett 0
- Pottsville 56, Gravette 13
- Nashville 55, Maumelle 20
- Central Arkansas Christian 37, Valley View 27
We had a 10 out of 14 in 4A which had the biggest playoff upset of all classes with Mena taking out Arkadelphia.
- Charleston (1st - 3A-4) -- Bye
- Fordyce 35, Horatio 8
- Glen Rose 49, Elkins 7
- Camden Harmony Grove 40, Atkins 22
- Greenland 27, Centerpoint 20
- Osceola 26, Riverview 20
- Mayflower 42, Yellville-Summit 35
- Prescott 52, Episcopal Collegiate 16
- McGehee (1st - 3A-6) -- Bye
- Earle 44, Jessieville 22
- Harding Academy 21, Smackover 14
- Lamar 21, Hoxie 18
- Rivercrest 28, Cedarville 14
- Fountain Lake 51, Green Forest 12
- Paris 39, West Fork 7
- Barton 54, Piggott 16
We correctly picked 11 of 14 winners, but there were no big upsets in 3A in the first week of the playoffs this year.
- Gurdon (1st - 2A-7) -- Bye
- Bearden 47, Foreman 8
- Magnet Cove 41, Westside Johnson County 6
- Conway Christian 40, McCrory 32
- Poyen 18, Hackett 13
- Mineral Springs 54, England 6
- East Poinsett County 52, Norphlet 14
- Carlisle 39, Mount Ida 14
- Salem (1st - 2A-3) -- Bye
- Bigelow 20, Brinkley 6
- Junction City 42, Marked Tree 0
- Dierks 40, Hector 7
- Strong 35, Hazen 0
- Walnut Ridge 62, Rison 40
- Des Arc 26, Mountainburg 20
- Murfreesboro 54, Decatur 23
We picked just 9 out of 14 winners with Strong and Poyen surprising us the most.
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