[00:00:00] Speaker A: I asked him at halftime, okay, when we were down 21 nuts, how many of you thought we were just going to get the crap kicked out of us? And we had a lot of hands go up.
[00:00:09] Speaker B: Kim Dameron in the Southside Mavericks with a gutsy rally down 21 points over. And Alma. The Van Buren pointers also stage a comeback in the battle of the bone in northwest Arkansas. The Bentonville Tigers drop a close win in overtime to Tulsa Union and Greenwood rolls by Bentonville west. We'll talk about it in more in this week's prep rally.
[00:00:33] Speaker C: You're watching the Prep Rally podcast.
[00:00:38] Speaker B: Welcome to the Prep Rally podcast. Graham Thomas here in northwest Arkansas. And Leland Barclay is in the river valley. Our man Rick fires is out this week and we'll look forward to seeing to having him back next week. Leland, how are things in the river valley this morning?
[00:00:53] Speaker A: Not as warm as last week, but I still take it.
[00:00:56] Speaker B: Yeah, really nice up here. It feels like football weather to me when I walked out this side this morning to take my daughter to school. About 60 something degrees. Little crisp in there. And when you get there, you know, it's football season.
[00:01:12] Speaker A: Absolutely. It's. We don't, we don't just wade into football season. We jump right in.
[00:01:19] Speaker B: Yes, sir. All right. Well, it was an exciting week. Zero for high school football. Exciting may not even be a good word. I mean, there were just some fantastic football games, a lot of really nice comebacks by teams in this area in northwest Arkansas and the river valley. I think we could devote an entire podcast to some of these games, several of which were just, you know, we're going to mention in today's episode. So with that in mind, we're going to jump right into the gimme five in the river valley, and Leland will turn it over to you.
[00:01:52] Speaker A: Well, these are the top five performances from last week in the river valley. And it was hard to narrow it down to five. But what wasn't hard to do was number one.
And of course, it's great that Van Buren, Enama, north side and south side are on different nights. Both of them had great comes. Comebacks are the biggest rivals in the river valley, but number one has to be the Southside Mavericks because mathematically they came from a 21 point deficit. Twelve minutes into the game, Lucas Caldera returned a interception 38 yards for a touchdown to put north side up 21 to nothing, 940. With 944 left before halftime, Southside rallied, got within 21 20. And then in the third quarter, a couple of big defensive plays and Southside was able to pull out the win, 34 to 27.
They were even down 27 20.
Southside was in the third quarter. Lee Prince intercepted a pass. Southside was able to score. Then they recorded a three and out, and Southside went up 34 27. Just a great game by Southside's defense. And really, offense.
The defense held north side on the Grizzlies last seven possessions.
[00:03:24] Speaker B: Isn't that amazing?
[00:03:24] Speaker A: One first down.
[00:03:25] Speaker B: Wow.
[00:03:27] Speaker A: And then, of course, Jaden Webb, 138 yards and two touchdowns, 52 yards and 21 yards. The last one is the one that put Southside up 34 27.
And then Blake fors Green getting his first varsity start, 15 of 24 for 182 yards and three touchdowns, all to Russell Key.
[00:03:48] Speaker B: You know, and he was our player, and he was our player of the week this week, Leland. And that's, you know, the numbers don't pop out at you, but when you rally from a 21 nothing deficit, making your first varsity start, that was an easy decision on our staff's part for player of the week.
[00:04:04] Speaker A: Well, especially, you know, he's first varsity start. Balor Rogers Avenue second quarter early. Southside's already down 14 to nothing. He throws a pick six, but then rallied, brings his team back to the win. And. And I thought the headline said it best about Southside on Friday night. They were down but not out. And then, of course, number two, the Van Buren pointers. Another rally.
And while Southsides may have been a little bigger, mathematically, Van Buren's was much bigger, I guess, dramatically.
You know, Alma just really dominated the game for three quarters, but they were only up. The Airedales were only up 20, 717 going into the fourth quarter. And again, it was a defensive play that kind of got Van Buren going. Van Buren got within 27 to 2024 and a big defensive stop. They were able to come down and score and take a 34 to 27 lead with 26 seconds left.
And then Aiden Webb with a pick six to kind of seal it. But there were three huge plays in that, in that sequence.
Alma had fourth and two driving with the lead. Van Buren made the big stop on. Jace Ponder made the stop, and then Van Buren had a third down, a second down at the 26 yard line, and Hayden Willeford hit. Austin Riggs took it down to the three yard line, and on the next play, Cameron Keller scored and put Van Buren up. And then, of course, the pick six. So some huge plays there late. That was. That was 20 points in the last six minutes for Van Buren to rally to that win.
[00:06:08] Speaker B: Just amazing. Like I said, entire podcast on these, these two games alone.
[00:06:13] Speaker A: Oh, absolutely. We could talk. You know, in fact, it was great being able to devote a full page and Sundays River Valley Democratic Gazette to the south side win. And then a full page also to Van Buren's win. Like I said, the two biggest rivalry games in the River Valley both played back to back nights, opening week of high school football and dramatic, just great rallies by both teams. And then number three, like you said earlier, Greenwood, 70 to 35 on the road in the season opener. Greenwood had eleven offensive possessions in the game, scored on nine of them. And then champ Davis returned to kickoff 83 yards for a touchdown, for a, for a big win for the Greenwood Bulldogs. Kane Archer, three touchdown passes, one each to Cooper Bland, and then Karnes and Grant Carnes and Isaiah Arrington. And then three touchdowns by Wesley Rodriguez. Six touchdowns on the ground, three through the air for Kane Archer. And the Greenwood offense is rolling early.
And then number four, the Waldron Bulldogs, ended a 17 game losing streak with a 27 to 21 win over Paris at home. Eli cluth with a 1 yd run on fourth down in overtime. And then Waldron's defense held Paris on their possession. A big third down sack by Garrett Morse for a loss of 14 yards kind of help seal that one, so. And Waldron was coming off a, a narrow win in their scrimmage with a two point conversion over Da Queen. So Waldron's off to a good start. Snapped that 17 game losing streak, and they'll move on. Now, number five, another team last year, Cedarville Pirates, had one win last year. Well, they've already matched that with a 14 to nothing shutout win over magazine, chasing Odin with two long touchdown passes to Reed Peyton, 56 and 64 yards. And then on top of that, the defense tosses a shutout. So that's the top five performances in the river valley for the past week.
[00:08:36] Speaker B: All right. Definitely a lot of really good stuff there, Leland. And we're going to go into our River Valley sports report for the week. And Leland, you know, a lot of good stuff coming up this week, and we'll just let you tell us what's going on in the river valley.
[00:08:50] Speaker A: Well, of course, football season, you know, another big rivalry game on Thursday night, Oklahoma Myro visits Panama. That's their both teams season opener, big rivalry game as well in, in LaFlour county. And then last week to win two teams that have very high expectations this year. The Pecola Indians scored 64 points in their opener on Friday night. The Salisaw Black Diamonds. Also high expectations this year with a home win against Pryor.
And then, of course, cross country's going on and golf's going on, but the biggest thing going on next week in La Flora county is in Oklahoma, is a little floor county fast pitch softball tournament Monday through Thursday, but Cola is off to a 13 and o start. They earn the number one seed.
Whitesboro's off to a great start. They're the number two seed. Otto is only eight and six, and they're the number three seed. And Podo is the team that ended the Cola six year winning streak in the LaFleur county tournament last year. So it'll be interesting to see how that one turns out. Pecola this year is wearing a big target on the back of their t shirts. Of course, not in gameplay, but in their, in their warm up shirts, they have a big target on the back because, you know, everybody in the county shoot for them, and they're off to a 13 and O start and the top seed. So a lot of stuff going on in the river valley, and I. And look forward to some big games also on Friday night in football.
[00:10:22] Speaker B: Well, I enjoyed that at media day. We had those softball teams. They're talking with them. I mean, they're, you know, the, the Bacola and the teams that are there, they're. They take that stuff seriously. It's a little different. Fast pitch in the fall. I work in Arkansas. We're used to it being in the spring, but they get after it there in the fall.
[00:10:42] Speaker A: Oh, absolutely.
[00:10:43] Speaker B: So, yeah, there. Speaking of some of those football games in the river valley. So we got north side at Greenwood, Springdale is coming to Van Buren, you're going to be Ozark at Boonville, and, you know, that's just. That's a. Those are three games I would like to be at myself.
[00:11:00] Speaker A: Well, and then, of course, the battle for the treasure chest trophy. The battle of North Crawford County, Mountainburg and Cedarville.
[00:11:08] Speaker B: Yep. I. I've never been to a game at Mountainburg or at Cedarville, but I can imagine if you're going to go to one, that's the one to go to every year.
[00:11:17] Speaker A: Absolutely. That's. That's the big one in north Crawford county, for sure.
[00:11:22] Speaker B: All right, well, we're going to take a break, and we come back. We will go to the Northwest Arkansas top five and then the Northwest Arkansas sports report. This is Prep rally.
[00:11:33] Speaker C: If you're enjoying this podcast, consider a newspaper subscription to the Northwest Arkansas Democrat Gazette or the River Valley Democrat Gazette. We have a special offer for our podcast listeners, so visit nWA online.com nwapodcast to get started, you can also click the subscribe button on our websites, nWA online.com and rivervalleydemocrategazette.com. or call us at 479-684-5509 and be sure to say that you're a podcast listener. Now back to the show.
[00:12:04] Speaker B: Welcome back to the prep rally podcast. I'm Graham Thomas, joined in the river Valley by Leland Barclay. Rick Fires isn't with us this week, and we're, we'll be happy to have him back next week. So we're going to jump right into the top five for northwest Arkansas. And, you know, Leland, I'm going to start out something I know you'll appreciate, the the Springdale high football program has done a lot of renovation work over at Gerald Williams Bulldog Stadium here lately. And, and on last Friday night when they hosted Little Rock Central, another storied program, they had a rededication ceremony, and our guy, Scotty Bordelon was there and had a nice write up about the game and even talked to coach Williams in his story. And Springdale got a big win over Little Rock Central, opened the season 10. And so that's number one for sure that, you know, the rededication of Gerald Williams Bulldog Stadium Springdale football means so much to just about everybody up here in northwest Arkansas, and when the Bulldogs are winning, it's always a good thing.
Number two, I'm going to go to my man Griffin Mason from Shiloh Christian, and Griffin was kind of the backup guy to Bo Williams last year at Shiloh Christian. And Beau was certainly a great running back, was the northwest Arkansas Democrat Gazette's offensive player of the year. Well, Griffin showed he's pretty good, too. In a 48 to six win against Farmington on Friday night, Griffin had 212 total yards of offense.
Eleven carries for 142 yards took up the big chunk of that. But on the first play of the game, he threw a 70 yard touchdown pass to Zayn Slider as Shiloh Christian rolled over Farmington and head coach Tommy Tice's coaching debut. Not a big surprise there that Shiloh won, but good job by Griffin. We know he's going to be a factor for the Saints as they move forward.
I was at Bentonville and saw the Tigers host Tulsa Union and man, what a ballgame. Tulsa Union wins at 42 to 35 in overtime.
You got to give Union a lot of credit. They led 14 nothing early, 20 114. Halftime. Bentonville came, you know, storming back and took the lead 35 28, and had a chance to really put Union away and couldn't do it. Union scored with 21 seconds left to tie the game. And then Bentonville won the toss in overtime and elected to go on defense. Union scored and then held Bentonville out of the end zone for the 42 35 lead. But I think the Tigers learned that, you know, they can play with Tulsa Union. They can play with just about anyone.
Number four, I'm going with Fayetteville. Making the long trip over to Cabot and had quite a bit of adversity to deal with over there. You know, they got into a weather delay and, you know, as coach Casey Dick talked to me about this morning, you know, you get into a weather delay, you don't really know how you're going to respond to that. That's not something you practice or simulate. And you just have to kind of roll with the punches as it goes. They were delayed and inside the Cabot basketball arena for a while and then had to move the kids back to the locker room. And finally they got, they got to go back out and finish the game. And the Bulldog purple Bulldogs certainly responded the way he had hoped they would. And last and certainly not least on the top five, I'm going to go with the Siloam Springs Panthers snapping a 27 game losing streak with a 17 to seven win at Rogers Heritage on, on Friday night. A lot of people in the community really happy for Silent Springs to get that monkey off their back. You know, that's tough when you get, when you get into it. And we've seen several teams over the years fall into stuff like that. You know, mountain home comes to mind. You know, you mentioned Waldron. Little Rock Central is in it right now, but here in northwest Arkansas, coach Doug Lockridge has kind of gotten a fire lit under the Panthers and they got a big win on, on last Friday night. We're going to go the northwest Arkansas sports report, and I just wanted to check in with Leland on, on the real quick on, on the top five there. Did you have anything you wanted to say about, anything you, you read about or heard about from what happened up in northwest Arkansas this weekend?
[00:16:37] Speaker A: Well, you know, and I'll wait on most of that until we get into our picks because, man, I, you know, I think, is there eight games I think we're picking? And to me, just about all eight of them are toss ups. So it'd be, it'd be very interesting. And like you said, Springdale put up 49 points.
You know, who would have thought early in the season that Springdale and Van Buren in that game Friday night would both be one and, oh, very true. And also, you know, we mentioned Waldron and Cedarville and, and I think one of the biggest stories up there has to be Siloam Springs and, and coach Doug Lockridge and, you know, breaking their, their losing streak as well.
[00:17:22] Speaker B: Yes.
This week in northwest Arkansas, you know, it's a bit, it's always a big week for high school volleyball up here. I know on Tuesday night, we've got some, some big games, and on Thursday, you know, it's another big night for volleyball and the golf and the tennis is off today on Tuesday. But they'll, they'll kick it back up. I think everybody's just kind of taking an extra day for Labor Day. And then on the football front this week, man, we've got a lot of good games here. Just like, just like you guys had, the one that really jumps out, or two of them, or Cabot is making the trip up to Bentonville west. And, you know, Bentonville west is going to have to respond here a little bit. They, they, I don't think anybody would fault them for losing to Greenwood. They gave up a lot of points to Greenwood. I know they'll, they'll look to be a lot better defensively this week when they host the Cabot Panthers. Another one to keep your eye on. Leland is Muskogee, Oklahoma. Rogers Muscogee is the division, the Oklahoma Classics, a division two champion, state champion from last year. And you know how they do it in Oklahoma. They split up that class six a into the 16 largest, then the next 16. And so that's the, the group that Muskogee wanted in. You know, they came up to Rogers a few years ago and did not do well, but they've, they've certainly turned things around with their program and are doing really well. Farmington is playing at Springdale harbor. Both those teams are looking for a win. Alma is going to be at Silence Springs, and then games that are not here but involving northwest Arkansas teams. How about this? Shiloh Christian at Little Rock Christian and Bentonville at Conway. I mean, my goodness, I'd like to be at both of those games. And so there's just going to be a lot to kind of keep an eye on this week. And, you know, really, from here on out, I think that's going to be kind of the typical, and there's going to be just so much that we can, that we can talk about. And I'm just, and I'm just looking forward for Friday to get here. So we're going to take another break, and when we come back, Leland and I will go through who you got in our games this week. I wish Rick was here for who you got. And we'll try to pin him down so we can get our standing set. And I, we'll just have to do that another time, though, so we will be right back.
[00:19:49] Speaker C: Get the latest breaking news on all Arkansas Razorback sports at whole hogsports.com. our award winning reporters and photographers go beyond game recaps to bring our subscribers the most trusted Razorbacks news anywhere with expert analysis, the latest in recruiting, plus unique and compelling stories of your favorite teams. Subscribe
[email protected].
[00:20:12] Speaker B: And we're back with the prep rally podcast, and it's time for who you got. So we're gonna roll through several of these high school football games.
Not gonna count this one toward the standings, Leland, but treasure chest trophy, Cedarville at Mountainburg. Who you got?
[00:20:27] Speaker A: Well, I tell you, Cedarville coming off that win is gonna be good, you know, really good for them. I, you know, I think Mountainburg having an extra week to prepare and Ryan Allen is just such a good player.
I'm going to have to go the dragons.
[00:20:43] Speaker B: All right. I'll, you know what, who you got? I'll take Cedarville. I know they got the new jerseys and the two long touchdown passes last week. I'm going to go in a shutout on defense. I'm going to go Cedarville on that one.
[00:20:59] Speaker A: You know, they're dressing for success and.
[00:21:02] Speaker B: What a cool trophy, the treasure chest. I mean, is there anything better than.
[00:21:06] Speaker A: That of, about that.
[00:21:08] Speaker B: All right, so game number one this week, we're going to go to the game, leland, that you're going to be at Ozark at Boonville. Who you got?
[00:21:15] Speaker A: Well, you know, it's just about, all of these are just about a toss up, but I'm not going to flip a coin. I think that Ozark goes into Boonville and wins that game, and we are.
[00:21:29] Speaker B: Going to be in agreement on that one. I don't, I don't see Boonville being able to slow down Ozarke this early in the season. If we were talking later in the season, I might think so, but I'm gonna go Ozark as well. All right. Up here in northwest Arkansas and sort of a very interesting matchup. We'll see if the alma Airedales can, can regroup for their road trip at Siloam Springs. And Doug Lockridge, the former coach in Ad, you know, having covered Siloam Springs a long time, I know it's gonna be a great atmosphere. The fans are really excited there.
But having, having watched Alma, I think Alma is going to figure out a way to walk out of Silence Springs with a close victory. Leland, who you got?
[00:22:14] Speaker A: Well, you know, obviously it's a big game for Siloam Springs, especially coming off a win. And then duck Doug Lockridge, being the longtime, you know, coach at Alma and athletic director, you know, I think the Panthers are going to feel a lot of energy in that game and going into that game. But, you know, Israel Towns Robinson last week ran for 196 yards against Van Buren. He caught three passes for 40 yards and also had a sack while he played on defense. So I just think that Alma bounces back and wins this game because I'm sure that their practices this week are going to be, I guess, very spirited.
[00:23:04] Speaker B: I would, I would imagine so. Okay. This is a really fun one. It seems like it's a fun rivalry to be a part of. It's a little bit out of our area, but Harrison is one of our teams, and the Goblins this week are trying to get back off after a loss at Branson. They're going to host the Mountain home bombers. And just from the research I've done the last couple days, you know, Harrison has owned this rivalry the last eleven years. Mountain home beat them last year and it was the first time they had won since 2012 in this rivalry. But I'm just telling you, going to Harrison is a different deal. But I'm going to say mountain home is going to pick up a win at Harrison Friday night. Leland, who you got?
[00:23:49] Speaker A: You know, I think this rivalry kind of flies under the radar a little bit, and it doesn't between those two schools, obviously, but I think this is one of the great unknown rivalries in the state, and it goes back a long ways.
You know, we don't know the thing about picking games this early in the season with these non conference games, especially some of the outer out of state games, we don't know how good Branson, Missouri is, but they really, I mean, they held Harrison to one touchdown.
I just think, I think mountain home is, they've been trending upwards the last several years, and I think they continue to go that direction with the win at Harrison on Friday night.
[00:24:33] Speaker B: How about that on the, on the banks of Crooked Creek?
Okay. Over in northwest Arkansas, the Cabot Panthers are making a trip to Bentonville west. Both teams are owing one. Leland, who you got on this one?
[00:24:46] Speaker A: Well, you know, this is the one kind of which team is able to bounce back.
You know, Cabot scored 13 points. They were within, if you say within 34 to 13 at the half, and then Fayetteville put the game away with two touchdowns in the third quarter.
And then Bentonville west, you know, they put up some offense, quite a bit of offense against Greenwood on Friday night. So I just think that Bentonville west is the team out of this in the kind of the bounce back bowl. I think they're the ones to bounce back and get the win.
[00:25:27] Speaker B: I agree with you going with Bentonville west at home in a large part because they're going to be at home and ready to.
That's a tough trip for Cabot to make. And so. Oh, here's a really good one. Fayetteville at Broken Arrow. Broken Arrow with a, with an impressive win against Springdale harbor last week.
I'll go first on this one on who you got. I'm going to take the Fayetteville Bulldogs to go over to broken Arrow and win a close one, score a lot of points, but they're going to get it done. Who you got, Leland?
[00:26:00] Speaker A: Well, you know, I'm not sure who's going to win the game, but I'm sure that it's going to go a long time. Last week, broken Arrow beat Harbor 42 to 21. Broken Arrow had 71 offensive plays for 567 yards of offense, three rushing touchdowns, three passing touchdowns, and then you got, you know, Fayetteville, the, obviously, the Garrett owed Odom debut went very well, but habit in nearly the quality, you know, at this point of Broken Arrow, I'm going to have to go broke an arrow in this one and again. Go Boomer sooner.
[00:26:39] Speaker B: Okay.
Another Arkansas versus Oklahoma matchup. Muskogee, Oklahoma at Rogers.
We'll let you leave this one off. Leland, who you got?
[00:26:52] Speaker A: You know, Rogers again, 43 and nothing win at North Little Rock. But North Little Rock is just right now just having a lot of troubles. North O'Rock had 25 yards rushing in the game, 29 passing. So Rogers only gave up 54 yards of offense in that game.
You know, we don't really know, you know, the quality of competition that they went up against last week. Obviously, you know, Jeff Regan is, you know, stepped into that quarterback role and has done very well. But Muskogee, defending state champs, supposed to be very good. Again. Again, Boomer sooner. I got to go with Muskogee.
[00:27:33] Speaker B: All right. Not something about the Mounties playing at home. Jeff Regan, like you mentioned, I like Rogers in this one. They're, they're going to. I think Rogers is going to surprise some people in this conference. Everybody thought last year would be their year to do it. Maybe it's going to be this year as long as they stay healthy. I'm going.
Rogers, man. So this one's going to be a lot of fun. Springdale at Van Buren, at Blake Moore Field and Van Buren. You know, that place is going to be rocking there. They have such great school spirit over there. Springdale with a big win over Little Rock Central.
You know, I'm going to go with the Springdale Bulldogs to go two and o with a, get a win over Van Buren with that, with that offense led by senior quarterback Jack Pounders. Give me Springdale Bulldogs. Who you got, Leland?
[00:28:23] Speaker A: Well, you know, and like you said, the Van Buren boy, the students section is just a, you know, they put on such a great show at all the events that they have, but especially basketball and football.
I think we saw a glimpse of what they can do late in that win against Alma and just the tenacity that they showed and to come back and win that game. I think they feel beat off that momentum this week. And they've got a lot of weapons, too, on both sides of the ball. And I'm going to go with the pointers in this one.
[00:28:56] Speaker B: Van Buren, I like it. I like it. That, that's a, that will be a great game to be at down there in Van Buren this week, especially since.
[00:29:04] Speaker A: I picked Alma to win last week.
[00:29:07] Speaker B: Yeah.
Our last game to pick is going to be Bentonville at Conway and Leland. I'll let you start us off on this one. Who you got?
[00:29:17] Speaker A: You know, I was very impressed by Bentonville's loss. Tulsa Union 42 to 35. Over time. Tulsa Union will be the best team Bentonville faces this season, and they were able to take that game into overtime. You know, Tulsa Union did have 542 yards of offense. Bentonville again was, was very balanced. They ran the ball well. You know, another ficklin is in the lineup, ready to go.
I think Bentonville goes to Conway and wins this game, even though, you know, I know Conway's had, you know, has state championship aspirations, but, but so does Bentonville. So I think Bentonville can go to Conway and get the win well, and.
[00:30:06] Speaker B: I think Bentonville is going to go down there and give Conway a really, it's going to be a fantastic ballgame. You know, like we said, I'd like to be there as well for that one.
But, you know, Conway is my pick to win it all in class seven a at John McConnell Stadium down there.
I'm going to have to go with the Conway Wampus cats to take down the Bentonville Tigers. Man, that's a good, that's a good slate of games for who you got, Leland. That's, that was fun. All right, well, that'll wrap us up for this week's prep rally podcast.
You can listen to the prep rally podcast at NWA online.com or wherever you get your podcasts for Leland Barclay in the River Valley. Hello to Rick Fires. Hope you're feeling better, my friend. And we will definitely be excited to get back next week and talk about all these great games that we just predicted. And we'll see you next week. We love.
