Week 15
Class 4A
Warren (14-0)
Pea Ridge (13-1)
Prairie Grove (12-1)
Shiloh Christian (11-3)
Joe T. Robinson (11-2)
Hamburg (9-4)
Gosnell (11-2)
Dardanelle (10-3)
Nashville (11-1)
Ozark (7-5)
Heber Springs (6-5)
Stuttgart (8-4)
Dumas (8-4)
CAC (8-4)
Southside Batesville (8-4)
Gravette (7-5)
Ashdown (7-4)
Pocahontas (8-3)
Booneville (6-5)
Mena (6-5)
Arkadelphia (5-6)
Trumann (7-4)
Monticello (4-7)
Dover (7-4)
Pottsville (5-6)
Crossett (4-7)
Malvern (5-5)
West Helena (5-6)
Highland (5-6)
Jonesboro Westside (5-6)
Huntsville (4-7)
Waldron (5-5)
Fountain Lake (2-8)
Riverview (4-6)
Cave City (4-6)
Star City (3-7)
Lincoln (3-7)
Brookland (3-7)
Dollarway (1-8)
Lonoke (2-8)
Berryville (3-7)
Gentry (2-8)
Bauxite (0-10)
DeWitt (0-10)
Baptist Prep (0-10)
West Fork (1-9)
Subiaco Academy (0-10)
Harrisburg (0-10)
Pea Ridge vs. WARREN (10): Pea Ridge advances to its first state title game. The Blackhawks went to the semifinals last season, but former coach Tony Travis took over at Class 7A Rogers Heritage in the spring. Former Tulsa (Okla.) Union defensive coordinator Stephen Neal took over in April, but didn’t change schemes or terminology.
Pea Ridge’s Dead T gains 369 yards per game. Senior RB Zaine Holley (5-7, 180) batters interior defenses, while junior Drew Winn (5-11, 170) makes plays on the perimeter. Holley has 267 carries for 1,483 yards (5.6 yards per carry) and 19 touchdowns, while Winn has 107 carries for 1,307 yards (12.2 yards per carry) and 21 TDs. Junior Jakota Sainsbury (5-11, 180) shreds defenses when they pack the middle to stop the run. Sainsbury has completed 111 of 187 passes (59 percent) for 1,940 yards and 17 TDs this year, with nine interceptions. Sainsbury also has five TD runs. Junior playmaker Hayden Holtgrewe (6-1, 160) has 66 catches for 1,059 yards and nine TDs. Holtgrewe averages 27 yards per kickoff return and almost 17 yards per punt return. He returned a punt 83 yards for a TD in the quarterfinal win against Hamburg. Senior tight end Britton Caudill (6-2, 215), linemen Kamden Boyd (5-10, 185) and Seth Trammell (5-8, 210) and junior Denver Yates (6-3, 250) are keys up front.
The Blackhawks allow 18 points per game. Junior Robbie Pickthall (101 tackles) and sophomore Tristin Brewer (89 tackles) have played well at linebacker, while lineman Trammell has 77 tackles and eight sacks.
Warren makes it to the title game for the fifth time since 2002. The Lumberjacks beat Mena 48-14 in the 2014 championship game, but senior cornerback D’Shawn Jackson was the only sophomore to start. The offensive cogs for Lumberjacks the past two years, quarterback Hayden Lassiter and running back Dennis Daniels, played mostly special teams against Mena (Daniels ran three times for 11 yards). Lassiter has completed 162 of 276 passes (59 percent) for 3,097 yards and and 37 TDs, and he’s rushed for 1,049 yards and 15 TDs. Lassiter plays outside linebacker and safety on defense, and on most special teams. Daniels has been hobbled the past six weeks, but rushed for more than 1,500 yards and 15 TDs. Sophomore Treylon Burks caught eight passes for 202 yards and four TDs in last week’s 48-28 win at Prairie Grove, while sophomore Keemontrae McKnight caught six passes for 143 yards and two TDs. Senior linebacker Byron Person (5-7, 175) and sophomore lineman Marcus Miller (6-3, 290) have played well the past month.
Class 3A
Charleston (13-0)
Prescott (14-0)
Glen Rose (12-2)
Fordyce (10-2)
Centerpoint (9-4)
Rivercrest (9-4)
Newport (12-2)
Bald Knob (10-1)
Junction City (8-4)
Atkins (9-3)
H. Grove Haskell (7-5)
Piggott (9-3)
Elkins (9-3)
Clinton (8-3)
Paris (7-5)
Smackover (7-4)
Mountain View (8-3)
Harding Academy (7-4)
Walnut Ridge (8-4)
Jessieville (6-5)
Fouke (6-4)
Lake Village (4-7)
Melbourne (5-6)
McGehee (5-5)
Manila (5-6)
Cedar Ridge (6-5)
Greenland (5-6)
Lamar (5-6)
Mayflower (6-4)
Barton (5-6)
Horatio (3-7)
Genoa Central (4-6)
Perryville (4-7)
Gurdon (3-7)
Mansfield (2-8)
Hoxie (2-8)
Osceola (2-8)
Cedarville (2-8)
Marianna (2-7)
Green Forest (2-8)
Yellville-Summit (1-8)
Episcopal Collegiate (1-9)
Marshall (1-9)
Corning (0-10)
Bismarck (0-10)
Two Rivers (0-10)
Drew Central (0-10)
Rose Bud (0-10)
Prescott vs. CHARLESTON (8): Charleston has won five state titles in the past 11 years, while Prescott has won four state titles in school history, its last in 1995. Prescott lost in the state finals in 1970, 1976, 1983, 2006 and 2009. Charleston pulled away from Glen Rose last week for a 44-13 semifinal win, while Prescott took down Newport 41-8.
This appears to be a matchup of strength vs strength: Charleston’s passing attack triggered by senior quarterback Jackson Rowland (67 percent, 3,150 yards, 38 TDs, eight INTs) and six receivers with double-digit receptions against a stout Prescott linebacking corps and secondary paced by junior safety Peyton Chandler (152 tackles, 19.5 TFL).
Chandler has four interceptions, while lockdown senior corner Deonte Jamison (6-2, 174) has a team-high eight INTs. An entertaining matchup would place Jamison on Charleston’s electric wideout Sean Michael Flanagan. The junior put up 224 all-purpose yards two weeks against Centerpoint and gouged Glen Rose for 103 yards and two TDs and returned two interceptions 125 yards to set up TDs.
Charleston’s defense shut out Glen Rose in the second half when it allowed just 43 yards. It will be tested this week by Prescott senior QB Derrick Flynn (62 percent, 2,221 yards, 16 TDs, six INTs) who averages 6 yards per carry when he does not hand off to senior RB Carlos Van Hook (1,273 yards, 29 TDs).
Class 2A
Hampton (13-0)
Mount Ida (12-1)
England (13-1)
Danville (11-1)
Des Arc (10-2)
C. Harmony Grove (8-5)
Hector (10-2)
Conway Christian (10-3)
Earle (8-4)
Hackett (10-2)
Bearden (5-5)
Rison (6-4)
Murfreesboro (8-4)
Foreman (8-4)
Dierks (6-5)
E. Poinsett County (6-4)
Cross County (10-3)
McCrory (6-4)
Quitman (7-4)
Lavaca (6-5)
Carlisle (7-5)
Mountainburg (7-4)
Marked Tree (6-5)
Salem (6-5)
Parkers Chapel (4-6)
Woodlawn (4-5)
Hazen (4-7)
Lafayette County (2-9)
Mineral Springs (3-7)
Clarendon (3-7)
Strong (2-8)
Magnet Cove (3-8)
Palestine-Wheatley (6-5)
Bigelow (3-7)
Augusta (2-7)
Brinkley (3-6)
Cutter M. Star (3-7)
J.C. Westside (4-7)
Spring Hill (2-8)
Magazine (4-6)
Poyen (1-9)
Decatur (1-8)
Western Yell County (1-9)
Marvell (0-9)
Rector (1-7)
Midland (0-10)
Mountain Pine (0-9)
HAMPTON (12) vs Mount Ida: Hampton reaches the state title game for the first time in school history. Starting six sophomores on defense, Hampton blitzed preseason No. 1 England into submission last week 54-32 with sophomore linebackers D.D. Stephens and Tre Murphy, sophomore end Rusty Williams and all-state senior QB/DE Monta’ Thomas harassing England QB Brayden Brazeal into a miserable 48 percent passing night with three interceptions. Hampton held England to a season-low 50 yards rushing on 13 attempts. Meanwhile, Thomas (1,980 rushing yards, 14 ypc, 36 TDs), who managed just 86 rushing yards at Des Arc, gutted England for 229 yards. Senior Emmanuel Hegler has rushed for 1,136 yards and 13 TDs.
Mount Ida, which won the 2007 state title, counters with a Veer attack, spearheaded by senior RT Logan Abernathy (6-3, 260) and TE Anthony Spurling (6-3, 230). Mount Ida rolled up 406 rushing yards last week in a 13-point win over Camden Harmony Grove. Junior RB Cade Helms (1,456 yards) and sophomore RB Jonathan Lagrange (1,317 yards, 26 TDs) are big, bruising ‘backs, while sophomore scatback Gage Dyer (5-7, 145) offers a change of pace. Mount Ida lacks team speed on defense and has been vulnerable to the pass in a loss to Dierks, win over Conway Christian and win over Harmony Grove, which passed for 223 yards. Rison does not run the Veer as Mount Ida does, but it employs a smashmouth running offense. With multiple injuries Week 9, Rison held the football 36:30, snapped it 67 times, ran for 250 yards but still lost to Hampton 44-33. Hampton big-played Rison, scoring on TD drives of one, one, three, four, five and eight plays. Thomas ran nine times for 117 yards and four TDs. Hampton handed Rison one of its five losses in 70 years when Rison scored 30 or more points.