It’s Week 2 of the area’s favorite guessing game!

Oh, my it is Week 2 already, but the third week for some. Last week I correctly picked 7 out of 8 games, the only one I missed being Mountainburg versus Danville. It was a close game though. Pocola pulled off a win against Hackett in the Lock of the Week game for Week 1. I tried to tell you Pocola magic is real, in a phrase heard all weekend “Do you believe now?!” Congrats to all the teams last week that won. Ozark and Booneville, gosh what a game…. what a game you two.

Projected winners in BOLD

RNN Sports Stone Cold Lock Of The Week:

Camden Fairview @ Booneville

I don’t know what Head Coach Doc Crowley had in mind for this non-conference schedule, but gosh, what a tough one. Ozark last week, Camden Fairview this week, then perennial small Private School powerhouse Harding Academy next week. Camden Fairview is a on upward trajectory in Class 5A South and would give Greenwood a run for their money in the playoff’s when Greenwood was in 5A. I am hoping I am wrong about this prediction, and I hope the Bearcats and crew make me regret this. Looking at Camden Fairview’s record and teams they have played the last two weeks in Arkadelphia and El Dorado makes me lean to the Cardinals coming into Logan County and bringing the W home. Like I said, make me regret it Booneville! Do your thing Bearcat Nation!

The Rest

Greenwood @ Mountain Home

Greenwood and Mountain Home have played more times in the past 3 seasons than any other team on Greenwood’s schedule. The kicker is, Greenwood last travelled to the Baxter County school once and it was during the 2020 season, the rest of the games have been at Greenwood. Mountain Home is riding a 2 game win streak against Nettleton and rival Harrison. It’s a 3 hour 40 minute drive from Smith-Robinson to Bomber Stadium, which is well a long ride on a bus. The Bulldogs are not looking to go trout fishing on the White River at Gaston’s this week, they are hungry for another victory. The well publicized offense has now been taken over by the stout defense in headlines, as they have only allowed 21 points in the past two games. Junior Defensive End Cash Archer sits top in the state in all classification with 7 sacks and 13th Nationally according to MaxPreps. Mountain Home will have their hands full, Greenwood comes out on top.

Mansfield @ Bye Week

The Tigers will still find a way to score 40 points this week. Not sure how, but just in case…. Mansfield wins bigly. 🙂

Hackett @ Panama

Last week it was mentioned to me “Hackett will beat Pocola.” “How is that a game of the week?” Well Pocola rose to the occasion. But that is last week, I just wanted a “I told you so.” moment for myself. Panama is building their program, where it takes them, we will for sure see. They have the talent on the coaching staff to make it happen. I just have a tough time believing Hackett goes into Oklahoma twice and drops two. Won’t happen, calling it now, the Hornets bring a victory back across the state line.

Charleston @ Ozark

I wanted Charleston against Elkins to be a tough hard fought game, truly did. But, the Elks had other plans. I also thought Ozark against Booneville was going to be a rout with Booneville handling Ozark, thank goodness I was wrong on that and the fans got a show. So this week what do we got…. Charleston traveling to Ozark. This one will for sure be close, but Ozark will get the victory. I have a feeling the Tigers are building on a big run through Conference and it will be a battle between Charleston, Mansfield, and Booneville. The Tigers and the Bearcats will have to travel to Alumni Field 10/6 and 10/20 respectfully.

West Fork @ Paris

West Fork is lead by Sophomores Cooper Ridenoure and Shawn Swinson (Writers note: Ridenoure and Swinson played on the same team as Paris’ Jayden Carter, Greenwood’s Kane Archer and Akira Fujibayashi during their travel ball days in the Impact Youth League.) West Fork has a physical defensive line that will be pressured by Paris’ running game. Paris fell to Mansfield last week 47-9, no time to dwell on that as there is a lot more football left to be played. Paris bounces back at home in this game.

Mountainburg @ Cedarville

The Dragons proved me wrong! I have a feeling they roll into Crawford County rival Cedarville and bring a victory back to the valley. Mountainburg beat the Danville Little Johns 26-20 last week in Danville’s first game in nearly year.

Horatio @ Lavaca

The Golden Arrows hit their mark last week against the Magazine Rattlers winning 47-6. Horatio comes into the game 1-1 with both games being decided by nearly the same margin. A week 0 win against Foreman ended 35-6 they then turned around against Dierks losing 36-6. Lavaca proved score wise against Magazine they are on par with Mansfield, but we will have to wait until October 22nd to see that match-up. Next week is the Battle of Highway 22 against Ratcliff, just kidding it’s Charleston and it will definitely be one to watch. Will it be the RNN Sports Stone Cold Lock Of The Week guess you’ll have to wait and see!

Waldron @ Fouke

I have a feeling this will be a close game and it will come down to who has the ball last. Fouke is coming in 1-1 while Waldron is 0-2. I was wrong in something I thought was a sure thing with Danville and Mountainburg, just as I said with Booneville and Camden Fairview, I want to be proved wrong on this.

Because I heard of a request

FS Northside @ Fayetteville

Northside has faced a tough non-conference schedule. Heartbreaker against rival Fort Smith Southside and then absolute domination from Greenwood has the storied Grizzlies at 0-2 heading into Fayetteville. Fayetteville has Minnesota Commit Drake Lindsey at the helm and some good offensive weapons. Northside will have their hands full again this week, luckily Northside will have a bye week before meeting 5 time consecutive 7A State Champion Bryant.

FS Southside @ Wynne

Southside rolls into Wynne and handles the Yellow Jackets. Southside will have a bye week next week before 7A West conference play starts and they get a very talented Rogers Mounties.

Randy Zellers Assistant Chief of Communications

LITTLE ROCK — Arkansas’s bear season kicks off Sept. 13, and hunters should check out some of the new regulations from the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission if they plan to be loaded for bear this year in The Natural State.

Get “Permit”-tion
Both residents and nonresidents are now required to have a bear permit to pursue and check a bear in Arkansas. The new Resident Bear Permit (TBEAR code in the license system) is free. The new Nonresident Bear Permit (NRB) costs $300. These permits are in addition to a Sportsman’s License (license code CS or RS) for residents or a Nonresident Annual Hunting License (NBG) for nonresidents. Both permits are available through the AGFC’s new license system online, through license vendors and through the AGFC’s mobile app.

According to AGFC Bear Program Coordinator Myron Means, the permits are an effort to learn more about bear hunters’ experiences and successes in The Natural State. 

“We know how many bear hunters are successful each year through game checks, but these permits will give us critical data on the number of people actually pursuing black bears in Arkansas. We can also reach out to our bear hunters through the contact information on these permits to learn more about all the hunters who pursue bears here.” 

Pulling Teeth (and Hair)
Successful hunters also must submit a premolar tooth from the bear they harvest as part of the checking process. This isn’t a new requirement, but is one of the most overlooked portions of checking their harvest hunters forget during their excitement of tagging a bear. 

When a hunter initially checks their bear, they will receive a packet in the mail from the AGFC within a few days. They will have seven days from the arrival of that packet to pull and return a premolar tooth to the AGFC.

“We cut the tooth and count rings on it similar to aging a tree by growth rings,” Means said. “It’s easiest to pull the tooth right after harvest and save it until your packet arrives in the mail. That way you don’t have to thaw out a frozen skull or make a trip to the taxidermist to retrieve it or get a ticket for failure to finish checking your bear.”

The tooth packet also will include a separate envelope for a hair sample. While this is currently voluntary, it takes seconds to collect.

“The hair sample is needed to continue building our genetic database of bears,” Means said. “Our research staff is really stepping up our game in learning more about our bears and differences in the population around the state on a genetic level.”

Means stresses that hair samples should be pulled from the bear’s hide, not cut, as the hair follicles are the portion of the sample most needed for analysis. 

An instructional video on how to collect these samples is available at the AGFC YouTube Page. 

Liver Samples Wanted
AGFC State Wildlife Veterinarian Dr. Jenn Ballard says hunters also can help bear research by collecting another sample from each harvested bear. The AGFC is studying an apparent increase in mange in Arkansas bears, and liver samples from bears with and without mange are important to compare any environmental differences that may be affecting the bears.

“Whether the bear has mange or not, we really would like to get a sample of the bear’s liver,” Ballard said. “Hunters can cut a piece about the size of a softball and place it in aluminum foil or a zip-sealed bag. They can then submit it through one of the dozens of chronic wasting disease sample containers throughout the state for deer hunters.”

Ballard says the locations of all CWD containers are available and updated at www.agfc.com/CWD. 

“Also, anyone who sees a bear with signs of mange can report it to the AGFC Wildlife Health Program (agfc.health@agfc.ar.gov),” Ballard said. “Those reports and liver samples will help us track the disease throughout the state.”

Look Close
Means adds one last precaution for hunters taking advantage of this year’s early bear season opener. 

“We opened bear season earlier to try and get ahead of the acorn drop this year and provide added success for bear hunters,” Means said. “When we’ve had early opening days in the past, we did have some concerns about a high percentage of female bears being harvested. We prefer hunters to harvest the male segment when they can, so the females can replenish the population.”

Means says one surefire way to separate male bears from females is the presence of cubs. 

“If the bear has cubs with it, it’s a female and those cubs need to overwinter with her for another year,” Means said. “After that it can be a little trickier to determine their sex.”

Means teamed up with social media influencer Clay Newcomb to develop a video highlighting ways to determine a bear’s sex using trail camera footage and key markers.

“Identifying male from female and adult from yearling can be difficult for some hunters when it comes to bears, but most of our bear hunters tend to be more avid and willing to take a few extra steps to promote the resource,” Means said. “With these precautions in place, I’m hopeful that we can continue to offer these early seasons and not impact the resource.”

Visit www.agfc.com/bear for more information on bears and bear hunting in Arkansas.