Resident News Network

Defensive effort leads Lions to sweep of Hilltoppers

Sports

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3:31 pm

Defensive effort leads Lions to sweep of Hilltoppers

FORT SMITH, Ark. – University of Arkansas – Fort Smith Volleyball improved to 6-0 at home with a strong defensive performance in a 25-11, 25-18, 25-18 sweep of St. Edward’s Friday at Gayle Kaundart Arena at the Stubblefield Center.

The Lions held St. Edward’s to a .015 attack percentage, their best defensive mark of the season. They limited the Hilltoppers to a negative percentage in both the first and third sets. Outside hitter Nyia Anderson led three Lions with double-digit digs with 18.

UAFS was also a force at the net, holding an 11-3 edge in blocks. Middle blocker Hannah Watkins was involved in eight blocks while right-side hitter Reagan Macha and setter Chloe Price each chipped in with three.

The Lions started the match with a 5-1 run and quickly followed that up with a 6-0 burst for an 11-2 advantage. The 25-11 set win matches the second largest set win of the season.

Set two went back-and-forth at the start before the Lions broke a 9-9 tie with a 6-0 run. That would prove to be all the Lions needed in the set as they hit .273.

Three 4-0 runs fueled the Lions in set four, including one to erase a 15-13 deficit which was part of a larger 7-1 run. With St. Edward’s within three, UAFS scored the final four points of the match to finish off the sweep.

Price dished out 29 assists in the match, with outside hitter Caelyn Gunn being her favorite target, leading the Lions with nine kills. Macha added eight kills while both Anderson and Watkins had seven. Price added 15 digs, as well, with libero Paola Fragalle collecting 14 digs.

Gunn, Anderson and Price all had two aces apiece as the Lions had seven aces to just one for the Hilltoppers.

UAFS is back in action Saturday at the Stubblefield Center at 2 p.m. against St. Mary’s.

Bulldogs Snap Bruins Streak

Ross Fujibayashi

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3:14 pm

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Greenwood wins 58-33 against Pulaski Academy

Like the lottery here are some numbers to remember, 3-86-13-8, those numbers again are 3-86-13-8. It took three hours to have Pulaski Academy’s 86 game winning streak, that started in 2013, to be snapped after an eight touchdown performance from Sophomore Kane Archer. The Bulldogs overcame the unique Pulaski Academy strategy of no punts and onside kicks to beat the Bruins 58-33.

The Bruins received the opening kickoff, and could not get going after several incompletions. Two plays is all it took for Greenwood to get on the board with a Kane Archer 14 yard run. A fumbled snap on the point after attempt kept the score at 6-0. Pulaski would get down the field on a long pass of their own for a touchdown with the point after was good making it 7-6 Bruins. Greenwood recovered the onside. Kane Archer found Junior Isaiah Arrington for the touchdown, the Bodey Steinfeldt kick was good 13-7 Bulldogs. The Bruins next drive would be halted just short of midfield and they would punt the ball away. A catch by Arrington, brought the Bulldogs inside the Bruins 20. Next play Archer would run it in the end zone for the touchdown. Point after attempt was good making it 20-7 in the 1st quarter. Constant pressure from Seniors Brendan Chick and Brady Pettigrew, and Junior Cash Archer kept the Pulaski Academy QB Brandon Cobb moving all night. On the Bruins drive they would punt again from their own 23. Cash Archer blocked the punt with Senior Landon Nelms recovered. Penalties stalled the Greenwood possession forcing the Bulldogs to settle for a Bodey Steinfeldt Field Goal making it 23-7 in the 1st quarter. Pulaski would run out the clock in the first quarter.

A long pass had the Bruins setup within striking distance, a few plays later they punched it in. Point after attempt was good making it 23-14. Kane Archer would find a wide open Senior L.J. Robins for the touchdown, point after attempt was good 30-14 Bulldogs. Penalties stopped the Bruin drive at midfield turning the ball over on 4th down. Greenwood traded a punt right back to the Bruins on their next possesion. Pulaski marched down the field and got a touchdown, on the point after Brady Pettigrew broke through and blocked the kick. 30-20 Greenwood. Greenwood ran out the clock on the half and score remained 30-20 at halftime.

Pulaski recovered the onside to open the 3rd quarter then drove down and got a touchdown. The point after made the score 30-27 with just a little time off the 2nd half clock. Answering back, Kane Archer rolling to his right, throws the ball on the run to Isaiah Arrington in the end zone for the Touchdown. Point after was good 37-27 Bulldogs. Pressure again on the Bruins forced them to punt from their own 11 yard line. Starting from the 46-yard line, Senior Brayedan Davis got the Bulldogs down to the 26-yard line. On the next play, Archer finds Junior Grant Karnes on the right side for a leaping touchdown. Point after was good 44-27 Bulldogs. A fumbled kickoff by the Bruins turned the ball back over to Greenwood with Junior Zach Edwards on the recovery. An almost copy of the previous Touchdown, had Archer throwing to L.J. Robins for the score. Point after was good making the score 51-27 in the 3rd quarter. Pulaski would get intercepted by Senior Josh Allen on their possession. Greenwood punted on their next drive with the Landon Nelms kick pinning the Bruins on their own 5-yard line. The Bruins were intercepted again on their next drive with Senior Caden Nelms with the catch. On Greenwood’s next drive Brayedan Davis got the Bulldogs down to the 5-yard line. Kane Archer took it into the end zone for the score, the point after was good making the score 58-27 with 1:36 left in the third quarter. Pulaski would drive down the field as time expired in the 3rd quarter.

Pulaski could not convert on 4th down giving the Bulldogs back the ball. Greenwood playing a bit more conservative to run the clock down, could not convert on 3rd down and punted the ball down to the Pulaski 10-yard line. On the Bruin possession, Cash Archer would pick up his 14th sack on the season. With Zach Edwards applying pressure, Bruin QB Brandon Cobb throws his 3rd interception of the night with Braden Skaggs on the catch. Greenwood turned over on downs. The Bruins drove down the field on their next drive and scored the point after was no good making it 58-33. Greenwood ran out the clock in the 4th Quarter to end the game.

“Playing here is tough. There is a reason they have won 86 in a row. They do a great job, you got to tip your hat to what they have been able to do here and accomplish here.” Head Coach Chris Young said after the game. “Our kids battled, we hadn’t played a full game all year. We got a challenge coming up this week.”

With the win this sets up a collision course for the two top teams in the 6A. Little Rock Christian handled Greenbrier just up the road from Pulaski Academy 55-7. With the Conference Championship on the line and the all important number 1 seed in the playoffs which includes a first round bye. In the last meeting, the Warriors of Little Rock Christian jumped out to a 21-0 lead that the Bulldogs tried to recover from in Little Rock. Just as the Pulaski Academy game was a redemption after the State Championship loss, the upcoming matchup holds the same weight as the Warriors beat Greenwood 49-35 to end the regular season.

Kickoff is slated for 7pm at Smith-Robinson Stadium in Greenwood.

Eagles’ Playoff Hopes Come to an End with Last Minute Loss at Magnet Cove, 45-43

Resident News Network

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6:17 am

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Eagles’ Playoff Hopes Come to an End with Last Minute Loss at Magnet Cove, 45-43

MAGNET COVE- On an unseasonably warm and humid night in southwest Arkansas, the Paris Eagles fought valiantly all night for its fourth win of the season and a state playoff berth. But after a long game that seemingly had everything, and a herculean effort by senior quarterback Maddox Watts, it was the Magnet Cove Panthers surviving on a last-minute field goal to defeat Paris, 45-43.

But in true Eagles form that has been indicative of the hard play and determination the team has shown all year, Paris mounted one last drive on a final long scamper by Maddox Watts who had torched the Panthers’ defense all night. The Panthers’ defense simply did not have an answer for Watts who beat them all night with both his arm and his legs.

With less than two seconds remaining in the game, the Eagles attempted a 41-yard field goal to win the game. The kick was blocked, and the game came to an end; a heartbreaking loss for an Eagles team that left everything on the field in Magnet Cove on Friday night.

As a result of Friday’s loss, the Paris Eagles are eliminated from state playoff contention. Paris will conclude its season next Friday in their final home game of the season when they host the Danville Little Johns. Paris will have the opportunity to win its fourth game of the season and will also have the opportunity to add freshmen players to the roster to begin the process of looking forward to next season.

After the conclusion of games around the conference on Friday, the standings in 3A-4 at the end of week nine are:

Glen Rose 6-0

Bismarck 5-1

Centerpoint 5-1

Magnet Cove 3-3

Jessieville 3-3

Paris 1-5

Danville 1-5

Two Rivers 0-7

If Jessieville and Magnet Cove remain tied in the conference standings at the end of next week, Jessieville will be the four seed in the state playoffs by virtue of their 30-28 win over Magnet Cove on October 20. In week ten, Jessieville hosts Two Rivers, and Magnet Cove travels to Glen Rose.

RNN Sports will have a preview of the Eagles’ final game with Danville in next week’s RNN Logan / Franklin County Edition weekly newspaper. Photos from tonight’s game will be posted on Facebook at Paris Eagles Sports on Tuesday.

Congratulations to the Eagles on a great effort tonight at Magnet Cove, and all season. The team showed substantial improvement this year, and the future is bright for the Paris football program. Paris fans need to come out in big numbers to honor this year’s seniors and all of the players who fought so hard and represented the community so well all season long.

And, as always, we will see you at the stadium next Friday!

Resilient turkey industry rebounds from HPAI, adapts to evolving market

Lifestyle

Tammy Teague

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9:22 pm

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Resilient turkey industry rebounds from HPAI, adapts to evolving market

By John Lovett
University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture
Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station

Here’s one thing to be thankful for this Thanksgiving: more turkey.

Enough turkey has been produced with the rebound from bird flu last year that exports have increased in 2023 and are projected to continue that trend in 2024 based on lower prices for U.S.A.-grown turkey, the latest World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates shows.

“The supplies are looking good, and prices are looking a lot better for the consumer than last year,” said Jada Thompson, assistant professor of agricultural economics and agribusiness with the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station, the research arm of the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture. “We had highly pathogenic avian influenza last year. That took away a lot of our supplies and drove up the price, so consumers were pinched a little at the store along with some inflationary effects.”

The average price per pound for an 8- to-16-pound whole frozen turkey is now about $1.15 per pound, according to an Oct. 23 U.S. Department of Agriculture Agricultural Marketing Service report. This price is about 35 percent lower than the same time last year.

To help the turkey industry make projections for processing, Thompson is taking into consideration the potential for a change in turkey consumption preferences.

“I think there are some slight changes that are happening to our Thanksgiving plates, and that might shift from a whole turkey to a turkey breast,” Thompson said. “There is a slight demand change for processed turkeys versus just a whole turkey, but I think that turkey is still the center point of a Thanksgiving meal right now.”

Arkansas is third in national ranking of turkey production, according to the latest USDA Turkeys Raised report. Arkansas turkey farmers collectively increased production by 6 percent to 27.5 million turkeys. The largest turkey-producing state is Minnesota with 39 million turkeys, up 5 percent from the previous year. North Carolina has produced 29 million turkeys this year, up 4 percent from a year ago.

The USDA’s annual “Turkeys Raised” report estimates 219 million turkeys were raised in 2023, a 4 percent increase over 2022 and 1 percent more than the levels that preceded the outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza, or HPAI.

Bird flu impact

HPAI has reemerged this fall. APHIS reports about 880,000 recent losses to HPAI on turkey farms in Minnesota, South Dakota and Utah. However, the supply for the Thanksgiving has already been harvested, Thompson said. Typical placements for Thanksgiving start in July.

“We are keeping an eye on the current outbreaks of HPAI in turkeys,” Thompson said. “While it is concerning to think about the birds lost, in perspective, more than 46 million turkeys will be eaten on Thanksgiving. We had strong placement numbers, cold storage, eggs in incubators, and production efficiencies coming into the holiday that will help ease the burden of the recent cases.”

Turkeys take about 28 days to incubate, and once hatched they take at least 14 weeks to grow for harvest; 18 weeks for larger birds. This is compared to four to eight weeks’ growing time for broiler chickens. Improved biosecurity and ongoing modernization of poultry houses are contributing factors in the bird flu fight, Thompson noted. Modernization of the houses includes changes in the walls and technology for better ventilation, temperature and humidity regulation and pest control, and litter management.

“The turkey industry has done a lot over the past couple of years to account for HPAI, biosecurity being a predominant one,” Thompson said. “I think there is a lot of modernization, a lot of investments going into turkey farms here and all over the U.S.”

Since 2022, a deadly strain of avian influenza called H5N1 has affected more than 59 million birds, across 47 states. The only confirmed HPAI outbreak in Arkansas was last year at a commercial broiler chicken facility.

Ongoing research by poultry scientists to understand the H5N1 strain of highly pathogenic avian influenza has allowed producers to “get ahead of it a little — as much as you can to a disease you can’t control,” Thompson said.

In addition to biosecurity measures, there have also been improvements in surveillance monitoring from the farm level all the way up to state, regional and federal levels, she said.

Who’s eating turkey?

According to the Poultry Site, Israel is the largest per capita consumer of turkey at 22 pounds, compared to 17 pounds in the United States. Mexico accounted for more than half of U.S. turkey exports. While turkey is consumed throughout the year, Thanksgiving and Christmas are peak times.

Thompson, a northwest Arkansas native, is among a small group of agricultural economists who specialize in poultry. She earned bachelor’s degrees in poultry science and agricultural economics, followed by a master’s degree in agricultural economics at the University of Arkansas. She earned her doctorate in agricultural economics in 2016 at Colorado State University, before serving as an assistant professor for five years at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville.

To learn more about Division of Agriculture research, visit the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station website: https://aaes.uada.edu. Follow on X at @ArkAgResearch. To learn more about the Division of Agriculture, visit https://uada.edu/. Follow us on X at @AgInArk. To learn about extension programs in Arkansas, contact your local Cooperative Extension Service agent or visit www.uaex.uada.edu.

About the Division of Agriculture

The University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture’s mission is to strengthen agriculture, communities, and families by connecting trusted research to the adoption of best practices. Through the Agricultural Experiment Station and the Cooperative Extension Service, the Division of Agriculture conducts research and extension work within the nation’s historic land grant education system.

The Division of Agriculture is one of 20 entities within the University of Arkansas System. It has offices in all 75 counties in Arkansas and faculty on five system campuses.

The University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture offers all its Extension and Research programs and services without regard to race, color, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, religion, age, disability, marital or veteran status, genetic information, or any other legally protected status, and is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer.

Attorney General Griffin Encourages Observance of National Drug Take Back Day

News

Tammy Teague

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9:13 pm

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Attorney General Griffin Encourages Observance of National Drug Take Back Day

Ahead of Saturday, October 28, being the Drug Enforcement Agency’s National Drug Take Back Day, Attorney General Tim Griffin issued the following statement:

“Tomorrow is National Drug Take Back Day, and I encourage Arkansans across the state to consider whether you and your family have prescription drugs that need to be disposed of. If you do, you should find the drop-off location nearest to you and make a plan to stop by tomorrow.

“Leftover prescription drugs, particularly opioids, can far too easily make it into the hands of children, those struggling with addiction or even criminals. It’s important that we do our part to keep prescription drugs out of circulation for harmful or illicit use.

“I also encourage all Arkansans to sign up for the upcoming Stop Overdose Summit on Wednesday, November 8, at the Statehouse Convention Center in Little Rock. Our summit will provide information and training to equip people to join the effort of eliminating drug overdoses in our state.”

To find a drop-off site near you, click here.

To register for free for the Stop Overdose Summit on November 8, click here.

Volleyball returns home to face St. Edward’s, St. Mary’s

Sports

Tammy Teague

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10:35 pm

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Volleyball returns home to face St. Edward’s, St. Mary’s

FORT SMITH, Ark. – University of Arkansas – Fort Smith Volleyball is back at the Stubblefield Center this weekend as the Lions are slated to host St. Edward’s and St. Mary’s in Lone Star Conference action.

St. Edward’s will visit Fort Smith Friday for a 6 p.m. first serve while UAFS takes on St. Mary’s at 2 p.m. Saturday. Both matches will be streamed on the Lone Star Conference Digital Network as well as broadcast on Fox Sports Radio 103.5. Live stats will be available at uafortsmithlions.com.

NOTES:

LAST WEEK: The Lions went 1-2 in three matches last week, dropping matches to West Texas A&M and Dallas Baptist with a win at Cameron.

RECORD WATCH: Setter Chloe Price is second all-time with 2,084 assists and 10^th with 743 digs. Right-side hitter Reagan Macha ranks sixth with 855 career kills.

DIGS APLENTY: UAFS continues to rank among the top teams nationally in digs per set, ranking sixth with 18.78 per set.

.200: The magic number for the Lions is .200, as they are 16-0 when holding an opponent below that attack percentage but just 1-5 when the opponent hits above that mark.

SCOUTING SEU: The Hilltoppers are 7-16, 3-8 LSC on the season with a five-match losing streak and are just 2-5 away from home. Outside hitter Kelli Fording leads SEU with 2.55 kills per set while libero Sarah Konovodoff is second in the league averaging 5.08 digs per set.

SCOUTING STMU: The Rattlers have lost three straight matches and enter the weekend 10-12, 5-6 LSC. Outside hitter Landri Withers and right-side hitter Alicia Virthe each average 2.7 kills per set for the Rattlers with libero Alyssa Koehl leading the defensive effort with 4.26 digs per set.

FIRST TIME OUT: The Lions defeated the Rattlers in four sets earlier this season at the LSC Preview.

THE SERIES: UAFS has dominated the series with both teams, leading St. Edward’s, 22-7, and St. Mary’s, 22-5.

Game Notes: #14 Arkansas MBB Hosts #3 Purdue in Charity Exhibition Game

Resident News Network

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10:25 pm

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Game Notes: #14 Arkansas MBB Hosts #3 Purdue in Charity Exhibition Game

FAYETTEVILLE – The 14th-ranked Arkansas Razorbacks will host the #3/2 Purdue Boilermakers for the second of two exhibitions on Saturday (Oct. 28) with tipoff set for 3 pm at Bud Walton Arena.

The game is not part of 2023-24 Arkansas men’s basketball season ticket package and admission requires the purchase of a separate ticket. The game is a near sellout and will be streamed on SEC Network Plus and Watch ESPN App.

Per NCAA rules, exhibition games between two Division I programs must be for charity. This year, proceeds from the Arkansas-Purdue contest will go to Arkansas 211, a program of the United Way, to assist with relief efforts from the tornadoes that affected Arkansas this past spring.

Arkansas is coming off a 92-39 victory over UT Tyler in the Razorbacks’ first exhibition game. This will be Purdue’s first exhibition game of the season.

The Boilermakers are ranked #3 in the AP preseason poll and #2 in the coaches preseason poll. They return five starters and six of its top seven scorers from last year’s Big Ten championship team that was also the #1 seed in the NCAA East Regional. Headlining the list of returning players is 2023 National Player of the Year Zach Edey along with 2024 Jerry West Award candidate Fletcher Loyer.

NOTES:

• Eric Musselman and Matt Painter are two of eight coaches nationally to average at least 25 wins over the last eight seasons.

• This will unofficially be the third time Arkansas and Purdue have met. The two programs split the first two meetings.

• The Boilermakers won the initial meeting, 57-51, at the 1939 Sugar Bowl Classic in New Orleans.

• In the “most recent” meeting — a second round matchup in the 1983 NCAA Tournament in Tampa — 9th-ranked Arkansas won, 78-68. Alvin Robertson had 26 points and eight steals, setting a school record for steals in an NCAA game. Darrell Walker added 23 points and Joe Kleine had 12.

• Arkansas and Purdue could possibly be a rematch next year. Sports San Diego officials announced that the field for the 2024 Rady Children’s Invitational will include the Arkansas Razorbacks, BYU Cougars, Notre Dame Fighting Irish and the Purdue Boilermakers. The second annual tournament will take place Nov. 28-29 inside LionTree Arena on the campus of UC San Diego.

• For the second-straight year, a ranked Arkansas team will face a ranked opponent in a charity exhibition game. Last year, then #12 Texas Longhorns out-scored then #10 Arkansas 25-5 to open the second half and cruised to a 90-60 victory. It was the first game played in Texas’ new Moody Center. While it’s not an official game, here are Arkansas’ records when:

– Playing #2 AP team: 6-9 Overall (5-2 H • 0-6 A • 1-1 N)

– Playing as #14 AP team: 29-5 Overall (13-0 H • 8-2 A • 8-3 N)

– Ranked ARK vs Ranked Opp: 48-50 Overall (18-4 H • 4-16 A • 26-30 N)

For more information on Arkansas Men’s Basketball, follow @RazorbackMBB on Twitter.

Note to Our Readers: The previous story was sourced directly and in its entirety from the University of Arkansas Office of Communications, Mike Cawood.

Poteau Woman Dies in Single Car Crash

News

Tammy Teague

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4:15 pm

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On Saturday morning, October 21, a Poteau, OK woman was killed in a single-car crash in Greenwood.

Dena Marie Smedley, 33, was driving westbound on North Main Street, when her 2023 Kia Sorento left the roadway and struck a tree. Smedley was transported to Washington County Regional Medical Center where she was pronounced dead.

According to the Arkansas State Police report, Smedley’s next of kin had been notified.

3A-1 Football Programs Planting “Seeds” For State Playoffs

Sports

Adam Hecox

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3:57 pm

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3A-1 Football Programs Planting “Seeds” For State Playoffs

Going into the 2023 3A-1 football season, fans and media outlets did what they always do going into any football season. They excitedly pegged where each team would fall in the rankings come season’s end. Those predictions are mostly a mess of scrambled eggs full of favoritism based on the past, but so far this year, the predictions have been pretty spot on. Booneville leads the conference with a commanding 5-0 record followed by Charleston whose only conference loss was to the Bearcats. Mansfield, Hackett, and Lavaca are all set even at 3-2 with the Tigers and Hornets losses being to the top two teams while Lavaca’s shortcomings were against Mansfield and Hackett. With five teams from the 3A-1 headed to the State Playoffs, the 3A-1 should have their teams already predetermined, but “should” isn’t a term used to replace “guaranteed”.

Mansfield versus Lavaca in Week8.
Photo courtesy of Jeannie Keomoungkhoune

In last week’s matchups, there were some surprises and games too close for comfort for the predictors. Booneville beat Charleston as everyone thought they would, but it took a second-half surge by the Bearcats to secure their 25-15 victory. Hackett traveled to West Fork in Week8 where they were supposed to wipe the floor with the Tigers but instead edged out a 33-27 win in Northwest Arkansas. The Mansfield versus Lavaca game was laid out to be Lavaca’s high-octane offense versus Mansfield’s stone-cold defense but instead ended with the Tigers besting Lavaca on both sides of the ball in a 43-19 blowout. Even the winless teams of the conference shocked everyone as Cedarville knocked off Greenland 28-20 in the battle of the 3A-1 Pirates. Although most of the teams that were supposed to win did so, the manner in which they did it left many wondering how good or bad certain 3A-1 teams really are after seeing weaknesses exposed and new strengths popping up.

Games remaining on 3A-1 programs schedules.

Even though Week8 had some close calls, there shouldn’t be any surprises going into Week9 on Friday, October 27th. That being said, one cannot fast forward past Week8 in anticipation of next weeks rivalry week that is full of massive gridiron wars. Booneville should beat Lavaca handly but the Golden Arrows offense is still potent enough to give the Bearcats a challenge, especially after Boonveille’s grinding game against Charleston last week. The battle between the black and gold Tigers could also be one to watch with Charleston being dinged up and West Fork showing a resurgence of grit in their game against Hackett. Mansfield and Hackett have already played the best of the best and could be looking ahead at their Week9 rivalry game instead of this weeks Pirate opponents. If they do set their course on cruise control this week though, both could see final scores that do not reflect their conference stature as the Tigers host Cedarville and the Hornets take on a Greenland team with nothing to lose. Again, the teams that are favored should win, but the threat of an unsuspecting loss still looms.

Cedarville versus Greenland in Week8
Photo courtesy of Malinda Mizell

Right now, Booneville is the king of the 3A-1 conference. With Lavaca and Greenland left on their schedule, the Bearcats are basically a lock for the 1Seed going into the State Playoffs. Charleston has defeated their closest competitors for the 2Seed of the Playoffs so unless the unheard-of happens against West Fork this week and in their rivalry against Lavaca next week, the Tigers will hold their spot. That brings up the three-way tie for 3rd in the 3A-1 right now as Mansfield, Hackett, and Lavaca all sit with a 3-2 conference record. With Lavaca losing the head-to-head matchups against Mansfield and Hackett, they will likely fall out of the Top3 as they still have Booneville and Charleston left on their schedule. Mansfield and Hackett on the other hand seem equal as both have their losses to Charleston and Booneville, both hold the tiebreaker against Lavaca, and also play the conference’s bottom teams this week. If Mansfield and Hackett are successful in their plundering of Pirates Friday night, they could set up the state’s most important must-see rivalry game in Week10 for not only bragging rights but also for the 3Seed going into the State Playoffs. While all in the 3A-1 seems to be going as everyone figured, 2023 has also shown that you can’t be surprised if there’s still a kink somewhere along the way.

Eagles’ Season Comes to an End in Loss to LR Baptist Prep in State Quarterfinals

Sports

Resident News Network

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4:09 am

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Eagles’ Season Comes to an End in Loss to LR Baptist Prep in State Quarterfinals

VALLEY SPRINGS- The Paris Lady Eagles’ 2023 volleyball season came to an end on Wednesday night against the defending Class 3A state champion Little Rock Baptist Prep Eagles. Prep defeated Paris by the set score of 3-0 and advances to the state semifinals tomorrow against Harding Academy.

Paris finishes the season in the top eight in Class 3A, a great finish for a young team that began the season with very few seniors. Paris will have the overwhelming majority of their players back in 2024 and will be picked easily in the top five in Class 3A going into next season.

RNN Sports will have photos from tonight’s match on Facebook on its “Team Press Pass” page on Sunday. Additional photos will also be posted on Facebook at Paris Eagles Sports on Sunday.

So, the final four in class 3A is set. The Hackett Lady Hornets are the remaining 3A West representative in the state tournament and will play Crowley’s Ridge Academy on Thursday in the semifinals. The winner of that match will play the winner of tomorrow’s Harding Academy vs. Baptist Prep match in the state final in Hot Springs on Saturday.

Congratulations to the Lady Eagles on a great year, and congratulations to the Paris coaches on an outstanding job bringing a young team to the state quarterfinals!

R

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