The big names that made up Farmington's first four games of the high school football season jump out – Class 7A teams Rogers Heritage and Springdale, 4A contender Prairie Grove and 5A Harrison.
Farmington, a 5A ballclub near Fayetteville, beat them all before taking on the gauntlet that is the 5A-West Conference, losing only to eventual champion Greenbrier and runner-up Vilonia to settle for third place. Still, the Cardinals' success is a sign their first-year coach, J.R. Eldridge, has the program on course.
"I feel like we've continued to get better throughout the year," said Eldridge, a Fayetteville native who won two state championships at Arkadelphia (2017-18) and led North Little Rock to last year's 7A state final. "I feel good about our football team. I'm excited about making the playoff. ... Our seniors have done a great job of buying in. Our players have been playing hard and I'm excited about how they've kept coming to work every week. So, I'm looking forward to being in this game."
The first state playoff assignment for the Cardinals (8-2, 5-2 5A-West) is to travel to southeast Arkansas and take on White Hall (8-2, 5-1 5A-Central), a second seed from its conference that shut out four of its first five opponents and scored marquee wins over eventual 4A-8 champion Warren and 2020 5A finalist Little Rock Christian.
Kickoff between White Hall and Farmington in the 5A first round is 7 tonight at Bulldog Stadium. The winner will play Camden Fairview or Greene County Tech in the quarterfinals next Friday.
Bulldogs Coach Bobby Bolding knows what an Eldridge-coached team is capable of but said he hasn't paid attention to past scores.
"I just look at the team on film," Bolding said. "They're well coached. Their kids play real hard. They're real physical at the line of scrimmage, which I would have expected because Coach Eldridge is a good coach. He understands where games are won. They do the little things right. They're good on fundamentals. So it'll definitely be a challenge."
The line of scrimmage is where White Hall will have to win the battle, Bolding said. They've done it often with a young group paving the way for running backs like Durran Cain and Zaire Green and giving protection to quarterback Mathew Martinez so he can connect with targets such as Jordan Jackson and Steven Weston.
Bolding said opponents have loaded the defensive box against White Hall, which has been highly successful with the run game this season.
"They're very good at running the football," Eldridge said of White Hall. "They've got a big, healthy offensive line. They do a good job moving the defensive front. So we've definitely got to stop the run this week because that's one of their strengths."
For Farmington, sophomore Cameron Vanzant has thrown for 2,169 yards and 26 touchdowns with seven interceptions, senior Caden Elsik has rushed for 834 yards and eight touchdowns, senior Justin Logue has caught 45 passes for 627 yards and seven touchdowns and junior linebacker Zachary Ralston has 73 tackles and four sacks on the season.
The Bulldogs have totaled five shutouts this season, including four of them at home, but the Cardinals average 33.6 points per game.
"We've been relying on our defense to keep us in games and let our offense get just a little bit better each week," Bolding said. "That's pretty much what they've done."
Dollarway 'blessed' for chance at Glen Rose
Dollarway numbered as many as 32 players on its roster earlier this season, but Coach Martese Henry said about 25 to 28 are dressing out as the Cardinals head into tonight's Class 3A first-round game at Glen Rose. Kickoff is at 7 p.m., and the winner will face either Camden Harmony Grove or Harrisburg.
Dollarway (5-4, 4-3 3A-6) is going into the postseason with a little momentum following a 30-7 home win over Lake Village Lakeside last Friday. The win earned the Cardinals the fourth seed.
"We're blessed," Henry said. "We're thankful. We had a small number that came out and played each week, put it on the line. We're thankful to be in the playoffs and we look forward to the opportunity of representing Dollarway."
In Glen Rose (7-2, 6-1 3A-5), Henry expects to see a Spread offense that has scored 30 or more points. The Beavers' two losses were 30-20 to Malvern in the season opener and 49-23 to Prescott last week for the 3A-5 championship. Dollarway hasn't faced the Spread much in 3A-6 play, but Henry likes the matchup against the Beavers.
"They're a solid group," Henry said. "They're sophomore heavy, but they're talented. They have a Spread concept. They're kind of gritty. We'll have to be on our A-game and be ready to compete."
High school football first-round state playoff matchups
NOTES: All games begin at 7 tonight; only classifications with southeast Arkansas teams listed; all games listed in bracket order
CLASS 5A
Maumelle at Greenbrier
Hot Springs Lakeside at Wynne
Harrison at Pulaski Academy
Valley View at Magnolia
Greene County Tech at Camden Fairview
Farmington at White Hall
Hot Springs at Nettleton
Little Rock Christian at Vilonia
CLASS 4A
Rivercrest bye
Malvern at DeWitt
Cave City at Shiloh Christian
Ashdown at Lonoke
Huntsville at Ozark
Pottsville at Crossett
Star City at Batesville Southside
Clinton at Arkadelphia
Warren bye
Mena at Trumann
Monticello at Stuttgart
Dardanelle at Elkins
Mills at Robinson
Fountain Lake at Pocahontas
Jonesboro Westside at Prairie Grove
Gentry at Lamar
CLASS 3A
Hoxie bye
Atkins at Cedarville
Walnut Ridge at McGehee
Perryville at Melbourne
Lake Village Lakeside at Prescott
Bismarck at Hackett
Lincoln at Newport
Riverview at Paris
Charleston bye
Centerpoint at Osceola
West Fork at Harding Academy
Jessieville at Rison
Salem at Booneville
Danville at Manila
Harrisburg at Camden Harmony Grove
Dollarway at Glen Rose
CLASS 2A
Magnet Cove bye
Marked Tree at Murfreesboro
Fordyce bye
Earle at Hector
Bearden at Clarendon
England at Lafayette County
Foreman at Quitman
Mountainburg at East Poinsett County
Dierks bye
Carlisle at Poyen
Bigelow def. Mineral Springs, forfeit
Hazen at Hampton
Yellville-Summit at McCrory
Cross County at Mount Ida
Gurdon at Junction City
Parkers Chapel at Des Arc