The 3A-1 has been dominant for years now. Holding six State Championships dating back to 2010 and back-to-back titles the past two years. Tack that on with the 2023 3A Coach of the Year, 3A Defensive Player of the Year, and 3A Offensive Player of the Year awards the 3A-1 earned last season and it is safe to say that the 3A-1 isn’t a mere powderpuff conference in the 3A. But that was last season. So, when it comes to the state as a whole in the 3A, how will the 3A-1 stack up in 2024? This year’s non-conference schedule put that to the test and gave fans an idea of what’s to come in the 3A-1 once conference play starts next week. While non-conference play can be considered a three game tune up compared to the Southeastern Conference like 3A-1 schedule, it still sets the stage for some hype when looking at the conference schedules.
Most everyone statewide saw Booneville as a serious contender coming into the 2024 season. A contender yes, but after the Bearcats graduated a hefty number of seniors this past spring, some folks figured Booneville would be rebuilding for a State Championship later on down the road. Instead, Booneville proved in their non-conference play that they are now ready to load up for a trip to War Memorial Stadium. Booneville faced a stiff non-conference slate consisting of Poteau Oklahoma, Ozark out of the 4A, and neighbors Paris. The result was a thrashing of each opponent leading to a combined score of 80-33. That put the Bearcats’ ground-and-pound offense and stiff defense averaging a 27-10 victory on the scoreboard for each game. The defending State Champions aren’t back per se, they never left.
Charleston and Mansfield were the top two contenders to challenge the State Champions Bearcats for the 3A-1 title in preseason polls. Both had impressive showings in 2023 with Charleston coming in as the 3A-1 Runner-Up and Mansfield making it to the State Playoff Semifinals, but both also stumbled a little bit in their 2024 non-conference schedules. Charleston faced off against Pottsville in their first game and lost by just three points (38-35) then took on their Franklin County rivals, Ozark, and fell by a mere point (34-35). A combined loss of four points in two games against a pair of high-powered 4A teams isn’t horrible, but a loss is still a loss. The Tigers then faced Heavener Oklahoma and made up for their narrow losses by walloping the Wolves with a 55-0 final score. Charleston led the 3A-1 in points scored in non-conference play racking up 124 points while allowing just 73 points in their three-game stretch.
Mansfield faired the same as Charleston record-wise but didn’t put up the same kind of numbers. The Tigers struggled offensively in their non-conference schedule putting up 84 points in three games. While that puts them in the Top 5 in the conference in points scored, it’s not a mirrored image of their 2023 success. A lot of that can be attributed to the beefing up of their schedule that was made for the 2024 season. Gone were the 2A and small 3A games, instead the Tigers saw two 4A teams and one of the state’s up-and-coming 3A teams on the schedule this season. Mansfield hit the road twice in non-conference play falling to 3A State contender Bismarck 35-31 and were edged out at Lamar with a 13-12 final score. The Tigers did keep their Battle of Scott County streak alive by defeating Waldron at home with a 41-8 final, but finishing non-conference play with a 1-2 record is not what any team likes to see. Both Charleston and Mansfield seem to still be the top contenders for challenging Booneville for the 3A-1 crown, but they’ll have to get past their narrow loss habit and then each other on Friday, October 4th to begin to solidify that hope.
Hopes of contending in the 3A-1 are one thing, doing so on the non-conference scoreboard is another. The Hackett Hornets and Greenland Pirates are the current top two teams behind Boonville when it comes to their record in non-conference play. Both teams finished their slates with an impressive 2-1 record while posting an amazing 188 combined points along the way. Greenland placed themselves back into contention by facing off against three 4A teams in non-conference play as they stepped up against Lincoln, Berryville, and Green Forest while Hackett climbed the ladder by taking on 2A Mountainburg, 3A Danville, and 4A Gentry. Call it impressive or not, coming out of non-conference play with a 2-1 record and the only loss coming to 4A State Playoff contenders shows quite the improvement for the Pirates who finished last in the 3A-1 last season and is a boost for a Hackett team that struggled late in the 2023 season. The early 2024 success is something for each program to build on. Both Hackett and Greenland get their first shot at laying bricks for their building against some stiff competition to start 3A-1 play on September 27th as the Hornets head to Mansfield for their first conference game and Greenland faces off against Lavaca.
The Lavaca Golden Arrows started off their non-conference schedule slowly but picked up the pace as the games went by to finish out 1-2. A single-score loss to Dover out of the 4A and a high-scoring fall against Paris started Lavaca with an early 0-2 deficit. But when the chips were down and Oklahoma’s Roland Rangers came to town, the Golden Arrows bowed up and earned their first win of the season with a 21-14 victory. Now Lavaca has to look ahead to the 3A-1 conference schedule where they hope to break the trend of being hot early in the season and then turning ice cold come the end of conference play. With the 2024 restructuring of the 3A-1 conference schedule, the Golden Arrows could have a good shot at staying hot all season long. Both Cedarville and West Fork round out the 3A-1 non-conference ranks with rough stats and performances. Cedarville lined up three 2A programs in hopes of growing some momentum going into conference play, but the end results were subpar. The Pirates defeated Magazine 14-0 in their first game but spiraled downhill losing to Mountainburg and JC Westside with a combined score of 86-36. Without that momentum they had hoped for in non-conference play, Cedarville may be in for a tough season as they start conference play against Booneville on September 27th. The West Fork Tigers didn’t fare any better in non-conference play going 0-3 against the likes of Green Forest, Lincoln, and Huntsville. While these two programs may have struggled in their non-conference games, they still have the underdog mentality on their side and could create some lofty upsets going through the 2024 3A-1 schedule.
Now that non-conference play is over and the regular season is set in the 3A-1 for this Friday, it looks to be Booneville and then everyone else. This isn’t uncommon either as Boonville has been a dominant force for years since dropping from the 4A into the 3A. There are some programs in the 3A-1 though that have stepped up in the past to challenge the Bearcats and may do so again this season. Charleston has a long history of 3A State Championships and has defeated Booneville for both State titles and conference titles in the past. In fact, the Tigers had a rough start in non-conference play in 2022 before cleaning house en route to the State Championship. Mansfield was a nobody that came out of nowhere last season when they put Charleston on the ropes in one heck of a game and then knocked off two number-one seeds in the Playoffs before falling in the State semifinals. Hackett and Greenland are on the rise with their high-powered offenses and Lavaca has found some footing to push forward. No coach opens up their full playbook in non-conference play so the non-conference scores and records can be looked at as a sign of things to come or as just warmups that don’t count. Either way, the 3A-1 is going to be good again this season. Yes, Booneville will still be favored in almost every game in the 3A-1, but there could be some stiff competition right behind them that could sneak up and surprise some folks this year.
