Stone Cold Lock Of The Week: Week 2

Week 1 kind of went predictably. Picks wise we went 14/16 which was not too bad. I did not expect the Booneville loss though, 0-2 start for the highly anticipated Bearcats. To which had I seen the article where they mentioned close to a dozen players being out for various injuries, I would not have picked them either. Magazine at 2-0 is big time for that program and much needed rolling into conference play in two Fridays.

Week 2 is here! Conference play is knocking at the door, and we have some great games this Friday. Some teams are looking for a bounce back on their season and others are looking to keep rolling.

Stone Cold Lock of The Week

Ozark vs Charleston

How could you not pick a better matchup before conference for either team. The Franklin County Feud. This game dates to 1938, where it is a true rivalry game. Charleston leads the series 23-20-5. To be a rivalry there needs to be some back and forth between the competing teams. In contrast the Ozark vs Booneville series, sees Booneville with a comfortable series lead of 56-28-4. Charleston’s offense was highly touted in the pre-season and looks to make good on the media hype. But a revived and motivated Ozark stands in their way.

The Rest

Greenwood vs Springdale Har-Ber

Do not let that 61-14 final score fool you, most of that was done in the third quarter. Halftime saw the Bulldogs in a 27-14 game with the Grizzlies, but just like watching Arkansas State vs Arkansas. Greenwood found the next gear and took off. This week they travel to Northwest Arkansas where in early season play, it looks like the 7A-West is going to be the wild west quickly. A 35-14 loss to a loaded Broken Arrow team, followed up by a 35-21 win to Farmington, will have the Wildcats very motivated on Friday night. Quite puzzled as to why Har-Ber would schedule Greenwood as a Homecoming game. I mean….. we all know why certain teams are scheduled, it is never for the purpose of “Hope we have a nail biter of a game!’ Maybe they are trying something new.

Paris vs Booneville

I know Booneville is sitting at 0-2, and Paris is sitting at 2-0. IF the Eagles are for real this will be the first test to see how the rest of the year will end up. The other is, how much the injury bug has affected Booneville. They got 27 points last week while taking a donut in week 0. It looked like Booneville had their highly recruited linemen duo Sam Hicks and Jeremiah Shaw back, which will make it tough for the Paris defensive line.

Lamar vs Mansfield

If Lamar can figure out how to stop the Andrew Burton train, there is a possibility of this turning out to be a good game. There are a lot of weapons in the Mansfield Tiger Armory to contend with. A very experienced offensive line makes it possible for Burton to get close to breaking a school record for rushing yards in a game. Just as Har-Ber did, Mansfield scheduled Lamar for Homecoming. Let’s take a look at last year’s score, 13-12 a win by Lamar. (See Greenwood vs Har Ber for snarky comment about scheduling a tough game on Homecoming.)

Waldron vs Muldrow

So much hope going into the season, consistency in coaching but they picked a tough non-conference. Could this strategy pay off for them in conference? It is definitely a bold strategy, we will see how it works out for them. Muldrow picked up a pair of Fort Smith Northside transfers for this season, and they happen to be pretty decent. J’vion Mays was pulled into a starting role early in his high school career for the Grizzlies. The newest addition Demonie Brock showed great speed and awareness in Junior High but was not used as much on Varsity with the depth at receiver and running back. Now they are Muldrow Bulldogs.

Gentry vs Hackett

Hackett took on Danville two weeks ago and should be well prepared coming into this matchup with Gentry. Gentry has a quarterback that received offers in the offseason, by the name of Talan Williams. The big question of the night is, can the Hornet secondary keep up with the Gentry passing attack.

Roland vs Lavaca

After tough game in Paris, the Golden Arrows look to bounce back against the Roland Rangers. Roland is coming off a tough game themselves losing to Hwy 64 neighbor Muldrow 62-18. I am feeling good about this for Lavaca.

Two Rivers vs Magazine

According to my co-captain on this pick ‘em team. Magazine has the opportunity to beat another 3A-4 team this week. Seeing as Two Rivers has only won three games in the past five seasons, Magazine moving to 3-0 becomes more and more realistic.

 Cedarville vs JC Westside

Out of these two, someone is going to get their first win of 2025.

FS Southside vs LR Central

Southside is making the trek to Little Rock to another Arkansas historical football team in this non-conference. There is a whopping 39 State Championships between the two schools. Central has several D1 college bound players and a 3-0 record.