The Booneville Bearcats are back in Class 3A after spending the past two seasons in Class 4A.
Booneville enters what looks to be a wide-open Class 3A after the classification's final two teams in 2017 -- Rivercrest and Junction City -- left for Class 4A and 2A, respectively, because of the 2018-2020 reclassification cycle.

It's the second time this decade the Bearcats will play in the state's second-smallest classification, having played in Class 3A in 2014 and 2015.

For Coach Scott Hyatt, the numbers game will be more even at the 3A level, but the game of football is the same.

"The 4A conference we were in [the 4-4A] was pretty physical across the board," Hyatt said. "The last 3A conference we were in [the 4-3A] was physical as well."