Using the trendy term of “In the Way Too Early Poll”, the 3A-4 conference predictions are out, and the Booneville Bearcats are favored to win the 3A-4 football conference, and the Paris Eagles are picked to once again finish as runner-ups to the Bearcats. The two teams will meet in Booneville in Week 9 of the high school football season, and if both teams are healthy and their respective seasons having gone as forecasted, the game in South Logan County could be once again for all of the marbles in the 3A-4. But, there are a lot of good teams in the conference that will have much to say about the Bearcats’ and the Eagles’ fortunes in the weeks prior to the game in late October.
In the recently released Hootens’ Arkansas Football publication, the order of finish in the 3A-4 as predicted by the publication is:
Booneville
Paris
Perryville
Mayflower
Atkins
Danville
Baptist Prep
Two Rivers
The Eagles will return seven starters on offense and six on defense. Booneville is returning three starters on offense and eight starters on defense that played on last year’s conference championship team. Last year’s game played in Paris saw the Bearcats defeat Paris 28-20 with the Paris offense running out of downs deep in the Booneville red zone to end the game. The Eagles were kept in the game by two dramatic fumble recoveries and run backs for touchdowns by its all state cornerback, Duke Walker.
Booneville will open its season with a tough non-conference schedule of three Class 4A teams. The Bearcats will travel to Dardanelle to open the season on August 27. Ozark will travel to Booneville on September 3 in week two, and the Bearcats will return to the road on September 17 after an open date to play at Mena. Booneville’s conference opener will be on September 24 when they host the Two Rivers Gators. The match-up with Paris will take place in Booneville on October 29.
The Paris non-conference schedule is not as daunting as Booneville’s. The Eagles will open the season on the road at Lavaca on August 27 and will play again on the road on September 3 at Johnson County Westside. Paris’s home opener for the 2021 season will be on September 10 when they host the West Fork Tigers in their final non-conference game. The Eagles will open conference play at Mayflower on September 24 after an open date.
The “wild-card” for Eagles’ opponents, at least in the first half of the season, will be new head coach Jeff Weaver. Paris will have a new offensive philosophy this season, so it may take a few weeks for opponents to scout the Eagles as conference play begins in week four. Paris, at least on the offensive side of the ball, will look a little differently than the team that finished as conference runner-ups a year ago.
This year’s senior class of Paris Eagles wants to improve on last year’s two state playoffs victories that eventually ended in the state quarterfinals at Hoxie. Paris has some unanswered questions on the line of scrimmage and in its linebacker corps. But last year, Paris was able to get a lot of players on the field due to the Eagles being on the right side of “Mercy Rule” games. The Eagles hope that experience, and also in its non-conference games this year, will answer those questions before the Eagles open the conference season at Mayflower.
And of course, the thought of an epic game in Booneville late in the season for potentially the conference championship will fuel both fan bases all season. A lot has to happen and go right for both schools, but the potential for this match-up is there.
Resident Press will continue to bring you preseason stories and highlights over the next month as high school football prepares to shift into high gear and weekly game preparations. Stay with Resident Press for the most complete coverage of Paris Eagles football!
