After last week’s final scores came in, there seemed to be a little bit of clear water poured into the muddle puddle called 3A-1 football. Although the thought of possible upsets was definitely on the mind of those who enjoy chaos, those who statistically should have won their games up to this point have done so. Booneville and Charleston are leading the way at the moment which sets up what should be another classic game between the two historic programs this upcoming Friday, October 20th. Both programs have earned the right to be at the top too as they sit 4-0 in conference play putting their matchup for the 3A-1 Championship in the minds of many. The winner will likely be dubbed as the champions while the loser will be set as presumptive runner-up. But to the joy of chaos lovers, there are other scenarios out there that could blow it all up.
Photo Courtesy of Malinda Mizell
The Lavaca Golden Arrows have been lying in wait to prove themselves to the conference all season. Sitting with a 6-1 overall record and 3-1 conference record, the Golden Arrows could play spoiler to one of the 3A-1 crown bearers. Lavaca’s only loss was the only upset of the season so far in the 3A-1 as the Golden Arrows suffered an out of nowhere 42-35 comeback loss to the Hackett Hornets in Week2 of conference play. The final three games for the Golden Arrows will be a tough feat to tackle though as they host Mansfield, travel to Booneville, and then travel to their Highway 22 rivals, the Charleston Tigers to close out the season. Lavaca dropped their last four games last season, and it may sound like the schedule is against them again this year, but they do have an advantage going into each game. Mansfield will be first on deck after falling to both Charleston and Booneville in back-to-back weeks. Lavaca will then take on Booneville a week after the Bearcats battle with Charleston. The Golden Arrows opponents’ schedules may allow them to sneak in a win or two against teams that have already beat up and tenderized each other.
Hackett isn’t backing down from anyone either. Although their losses to Booneville and Charleston stung, the Hornets still have the easiest route to the higher Playoff seeding. With Hackett having already played the current Top 3 teams in the conference, they only have one actual contender left on the schedule. The Hornets hold the tiebreaker win against Lavaca which gives them a distinct edge in the spectrum of a record tie between Hackett and the Golden Arrows. Their next two games will be against West Fork and Greenland, both of whom have had subpar seasons up to this point, which places the Hornets heavily favored in those matchups. If all pans out, Hackett should be going into their rivalry against Mansfield with a whole lot on the line. With Hackett having the tiebreaker over Lavaca, if Mansfield defeats the Golden Arrows, this one could be one between two evenly matched teams for the 3Seed of the State Playoffs. Unlike last year’s tornado-riddled muddy mess, this year’s game against the Tigers will be on Hackett’s home turf giving the Hornets a slight advantage in a game.
Photo courtesy of Joey Bolin
The Mansfield Tigers have lost back-to-back games against last year’s 3A State Champions and Runner-Ups. If that’s not enough of a mental challenge for the players to overcome, the Tigers now have to travel to Lavaca to face off against an air raid offense that has hung up 306 points on the season. Taking on the 3A-1s top offense sounds like quite the challenge, that is unless you have the conference’s top-ranked defense. Even in their losses to Booneville and Charleston, Mansfield has still held their last seven opponents to just 79 points combined. If that’s not impressive enough, more than half of those points came from just one game in Mansfield’s 42-7 loss to Booneville last week. The October 20th game between Mansfield and Lavaca will be a huge question mark of who’s number one is better than the others. The Tigers will host an uncharacteristically down Cedarville the following week in which they are heavily favored in before their final task of the regular season. Lavaca and Hackett may have the new Sebastian County rivalry, but Mansfield versus Hackett is bad blood that goes way back. Again, if everything falls just right, this annual small-town showdown should be an epic one for most likely 3Seed in the State Playoffs.
Most everything going into the fifth week of 3A-1 Conference play leans on the results of Charleston hosting Booneville on October 20th. The winner is likely to be awarded the 3A-1s 1Seed going into the Playoffs. The 2Seed and 3Seed though, now those spots could be nasty to get ahold of. If Charleston or Booneville loses, they could be on the chopping block going into Lavaca in the upcoming weeks. Mansfield, Hackett, and Lavaca seem pretty equal on paper, but on the field could be a different story. If Lavaca wins out, they’d be the underdog team of the year. A Mansfield or Hackett sweep in their final games could solidify a high spot in the Playoffs while a loss could send them packing to a 3A-4 team in Round1 of the Playoffs as a lower seed. Either way the chips fall, with the Northwest Arkansas Teams falling off a hair this year, River Valley fans could see a group of five representing the area in the State Playoffs. The question is, who will hold what Playoff seeding when the regular season ends? To be continued…….
