Ridger Sports : ’Hawks reach midway point, Gentry game looms large
Posted on Wednesday, October 8, 2008
The Blackhawks run through a gauntlet of a schedule has concluded. While not registering a victory against the first five opponents on their schedule, only one Arkansas team has that honor as the 22-3 overall record included two losses to out-of-state schools.
Indeed, the two best teams of the five (Shiloh and Gravette both at 4-1 ) have a loss, but each was to out-of-state powerhouses. Elkins and Greenland are 5-0 and West Fork's lone loss was to one of the five (Greenland ). In other words, of those five teams, no Arkansas team outside those five has beaten any one of them. So yes, the Blackhawks are 0-5 but the great majority of the teams in the statewide 4 A classification would be sporting the same record if they had been saddled with the same schedule.
So here we are starting the second half of the season by traveling to Gentry to test the 1-4 Pioneers. While their lone win was against the hapless Decatur Bulldogs, the Pioneers do have a legitimate playmaker in Caleb Ramsey, first cousin to our Tyler Ramsey. Gentry's Ramsey has most of their yardage running as well as passing yards and is a slippery athlete to bring down. If Pea Ridge can corral him enough to limit their points production and if the 'Hawks can get their offense untracked, the locals might get one of the three wins they will need to qualify for the 2008 4 A State Playoffs.
Huntsville will be coming to town on Oct. 17 in the first ever meeting of the two schools. That game looms large as that will precede games with Farmington and Prairie Grove, the two toughest teams left on the schedule. In games last week, Prairie Grove upset Farmington 28-15, Huntsville edged Berryville 16-14, and Gravette pulverized Gentry 51-19. This week Prairie Grove travels to Shiloh, Berryville invades Farmington, with Gravette visiting Huntsville.
Should the 'Hawks take their game to a higher level and capture any one of the three remaining playoff spots (after Gravette and Shiloh claim theirs ), this would be their travel plans. The 4 A-1 District third place finisher would travel to take on the third-place team in the 4 A-2 in north central Arkansas. The fourth-place conference finisher would travel to take on the secondplace finisher in the 4 A-3 in extreme northeast Arkansas, while the fifth-place league finisher would travel to southwest Arkansas to visit the runner-up in the 4 A-7. Any of those seeds will require a fairly long bus trip. The top two teams in our district won't have to travel until the third week of the playoffs. More nutty mascots I'll lead off this weeks "unusual"mascots with the Poca Dots of West Virginia.
The strangest story surrounds the South Webster Jeeps of Ohio. It seems in the 1930 s, high school basketball coaches were not allowed to talk to their players during the game as it was deemed an "unfair advantage. "The South Webster coach took to passing notes to his team hidden in a box covered by towels brought out by the team manager. The box was referred to as a "jeep"and when this ruse came out, they started calling the school the home of the jeeps. Boy, cheating in ball games was a whole 'nother world back in the'30 s.
A close second to that story relates to the Sturgis Brown Scoopers of South Dakota. When I first saw that mascot, I thought," No, don't tell me their mascot is a pooper scooper ! "As it turns out it wasn't, as the name comes from the town's reputation way back then (and probably now as well ). Passersby who had stopped in Sturgis in days gone by would warn other would-be visitors to be careful or "their pockets would be scooped clean"as the town was populated by persons of rather dubious character. Sturgis is now famous for being the site of the world's largest annual motorcycle rally, populated by persons of rather dubious character.
If you like the image of an angry watermelon, then the Rocky Ford (Colo. ) Meloneers might be for you. If you fancy Mr. Potato Head as a heroic character, you could appreciate the Ridgefield Spudders (Wash. ) or the Shelly (Idaho ) Russetts.
Vineland (N. J. ) has the "Fightin' Clans," but the clans in question refer to groups of chickens. And I thought they were flocks, but hey, I'm just an art teacher.
In the past, I have revealed schools with "Ironheads"or "Koncrete Kids"but in River Forest, Ind., they are called "Ingots," which is basically a piece of metal which is melted to form a square or rectangle. Odd as it is, I think it beats the Webb (Tenn. ) Feet, a high school in the town of Belt Buckle. Teutopolis, Ill., has the "Wooden Shoes"for their mascot.
Lots of schools like minerals to serve as their cuddly, warm, inspiring mascots. The Sallisaw (Okla. ) Black Diamonds (fancy words for coal ), the St. Stanislaus (Miss. ) Rocks, the Shoals (N. J. ) Jug Rox, and the Tin Harbor (Minn. ) Agates.
Salem High School athletes in Massachusetts are, of course, the "Witches. "Yuma (Ariz. ) High School first started meeting in an abandoned prison, hence the mascot of "Criminals."
FEEDBACK:
Something to say about this topic? Submit a Letter to the Editor online