Note to Our Readers: The following story was sourced in its entirety from Mr. Glenn Parrish, Director of Communications, Booneville School District. Mr. Parrish is a RNN Sports contributor.
The Booneville Bearcats and Harding Academy have met three times. All have been since 2015. All of those games were in Searcy.
They meet for a fourth time on Friday night, but this time the game is at Bearcat Stadium, where Booneville has won 268 times since the stadium opened in 1968, including 16 times with Doc Crowley as the head coach.
Of course Friday night’s game will be a tall order for the Bearcats as Harding, after having knocked the Bearcats out of the playoffs in the 2020 quarterfinals and 2021 semifinals, then went on to win the Class 3A state title.
That marked three straight years the Wildcats won a state title.
Ironically, in the only other meeting between the two schools, the Bearcats fell to a 2015 Wildcat team in the opening round of the playoffs and Harding went on to win that state title as well.
To date Harding has won nine state titles.
However, the Wildcats will not win the 3A state title in 2022. The Wildcats have been assigned to Class 4A for the next four years due to a competitive equity formula put in place through a vote of Arkansas Activities Association members.
That formula assessed 1 to 4 points for competitive performances with the highest of the maximum four assessed to state title winning private schools. Schools with more than 10 points over four years were moved up a classification. Harding well exceeded that threshold.
The Wildcats started the 2022 season with a 51-35 win over Class 5A Valley View, who last season interrupted a lengthy Wildcat win streak against in-state opponents.
They followed that up with a 41-14 win at 3A title contending Camden Harmony Grove last week.
The Bearcats opened the season with a 36-6 road win over Dollarway (Pine Bluff) and added a 35-7 win over rival Ozark in a game they dominated from start to finish.
In those two games Dax Goff ran for 245 yards on 17 carries scoring three touchdowns. He has also returned a punt for a touchdown and leads the team in tackles, including five for a loss.
Trace Hall has run for 185 yards and three touchdowns as well. Dunn Daniel and Demari Poole are the next two top tacklers.
