On Saturday, Greenwood captured another state football championship and Bryant got its first. Those games stand on their own merits and had their own story lines.
The Bulldogs quarterback Peyton Holt moved from receiver for his senior season, and he rushed for 84 yards and passed for 284 in the 45-14 victory over Benton.
North Little Rock came into championship play with a 25-game winning streak, the longest in the state, including an earlier 34-28 victory over Bryant, but the Hornets held the Wildcats to 187 yards and won 27-7. Bryant quarterback Ren Hefley is an invited walk-on to play football at Michigan next season.
The Arkansas Activities Association wisely decided to move Friday's Class 5A championship game between Pulaski Academy and Little Rock Christian to Sunday because of the forecast of lightning and thunderstorms.
It was a great game. Pulaski Academy had 653 yards of offense, but what it didn't have was an answer for Warriors' quarterback Justice Hill, who started slowly but was in an all-out sprint the last three quarters. Hill accounted for 330 yards and four touchdowns as the Warriors beat their arch rivals 52-38.
Hill has signed to play basketball at the University of Arkansas and will enroll for the spring semester.
If he hadn't been MVP, it should have been the Bruins' John David White, who had 9 receptions for 200 yards and 4 touchdowns. He reminded this sports writer of former University of Arkansas receiver Drew Morgan, who was always open and fast.
There will be more state championship action this weekend at War Memorial Stadium.
On Sunday, No. 1 Notre Dame hosted No. 2 Connecticut in a women's basketball game that ended the Fighting Irish's 28-game home winning streak thanks to freshman Christyn Williams.
Williams was a three-time All-American at Central Arkansas Christian and the Gatorade Player of the Year last season. She has started all seven games this season for the Huskies and was an excellent role player on a team that features three All-Americans.
Until Sunday, when Coach Geno Auriemma asked her to step up. She responded, leading all scorers with 28 points in the 89-71 victory.
She's tied for most minutes played, is third in scoring (13.1 points per game), has the fewest turnovers and most steals. She has hit 10 of 20 three-pointers.
When interviewed after the game, Williams -- per her typical style -- gave all the credit to the coaches and her teammates.
It really wasn't a surprise that the College Football Playoff selection committee chose Oklahoma as the fourth team for the playoffs. Georgia had two losses, Ohio State lost to Purdue and could have lost to Maryland, and the Sooners avenged their only loss by beating Texas 39-27 in the Big 12 Championship Game.
As a proponent for an eight-team playoff, just imagine these four first-round games: Alabama vs. Central Florida, Clemson vs. Michigan, Notre Dame vs. Ohio State and Oklahoma vs. Georgia.
The playoffs will expand when ESPN says it will expand.
Picking the Power 5 championship games was too easy, but going 5-0 leaves the final count at 98-26. Most likely there will be some bowl picks, but not all 40, which means 80 of the 129 teams are going bowling. That's 62 percent of the FBS teams in postseason action.
For the NCAA basketball tournament, less than 20 percent participate, which means it is time to expand that field.
Lastly, yours truly is going to take a couple of days off this week and will be back with Sunday's column.
Sports on 12/04/2018