As many people may have suspected after observing scores during the regular season, the 6A West appears to be the strongest of the classification’s two gridiron conferences. That fact was evident from last Friday’s first-round playoff results, with five of the eight teams from the 6A West advancing, while five eastern teams concluded their seasons with a loss. Were it not for a Covid-19 cancellation by Benton, the Panthers would likely have also won their game against Marion.
The 6A West acquitted itself very well indeed, despite Benton’s forfeiture. Besides Greenwood, other league members who won and advanced included two-seed Lake Hamilton, three-seed Little Rock Parkview, five-seed Mountain Home, and seven-seed Van Buren. Siloam Springs, the six-seed, and Russellville, the eighth seed, both lost their games.
The loss of the Panthers from the playoff picture is huge, because Benton has been one of the best teams in Class 6A over the past few years and this season, despite a 6-4 regular season record. Two of those losses came in non-conference play against 7A schools. They also lost to the top two teams in Class 6A, Greenwood and Lake Hamilton.
A spokeswoman for the Benton School District reported that at least one player had tested positive for Covid-19, and that 33 players were in quarantine, including the entire offensive line, making it impossible for the Panthers to continue their season. The fifth-seeded Marion Patriots then advanced to the second round, along with fellow 6A East members El Dorado (5-4) and top-seed Sylvan Hills (8-3).
El Dorado played at home and defeated Siloam Springs in an offensive shootout, 54-33, while Sylvan Hills, also playing at home, easily topped Russellville, 54-19. Next Friday El Dorado will travel to Lake Hamilton and Sylvan Hills will host Little Rock Parkview, which is probably the biggest 6A game in round two of the post-season.
Parkview (8-1) has won five consecutive games after cancelling back-to-back conference games against Greenwood and Lake Hamilton due to Covid-19 earlier this season. The talented Patriots have several players already committed to play Division-I college football next season and will present quite a challenge to Sylvan Hills this week.
Recapping all the scores from round one, top-seeded and top-ranked Greenwood defeated West Memphis, 55-7, while #1 seed Sylvan Hills beat Russellville, 54-19. Two-seed Lake Hamilton slipped by #7 seed Sheridan, 49-36, and two-seed Jonesboro lost to seven-seed Van Buren, 37-14, in the week’s biggest 6A upset. The Pointers could very well reach the semi-finals and face Greenwood for the second time this season over Thanksgiving weekend.
The remaining games saw Mountain Home (W#5) defeat Pine Bluff (E#4) by a score of 24-20, while Parkview (W#3) clobbered the defending state champion Searcy Lions (E#6) by a score of 42-7. As mentioned above, El Dorado (E#3) topped Siloam Springs (W#6) while Marion was awarded a 2-0 win over Benton by forfeit.
In week two of the playoffs, Greenwood is a heavy favorite to defeat Mountain Home for the second time this season and advance to the state semi-finals against the winner of Van Buren at Marion. But like Jonesboro (6-4), the 3-7 Patriots are sitting ducks for a very good Van Buren (4-7) team only one year removed from playing on the 7A level.
The other quarterfinals games present the most intriguing matchups of the week with Parkview at Sylvan Hills and El Dorado at Lake Hamilton. Among those four teams, the only one that might truly be favored is Lake Hamilton over El Dorado, but not by much. The Parkview-Sylvan Hills game appears to be a toss-up.
Parkview has scored 323 points and given up 100 points in nine games, but did not play the two best teams in the 6A West. Sylvan Hills has played a full schedule of 11 games so far, scoring 353 points while giving up 166 on defense. At this point it’s clear that the bottom half of the bracket is the toughest, just as it is clear that Greenwood is the team to beat overall.
The next three weeks will be interesting to say the least, especially when factoring in the uncertainty of the Covid-19 pandemic. According to announcer Tim Terry, the voice of the Bulldogs, Greenwood players are participating in distance learning to limit their exposure to the virus and reduce the chances of an outbreak among their teammates.
The 6A state championship game is set for Saturday evening, December 5th, at Little Rock’s War Memorial Stadium.