Archive for November, 2014

College football: End of the regular season

Tuesday, November 25th, 2014

OK, OK.

I’m a believer.

Trust me, I’ve changed my evil ways.

Yes, I picked LSU to come into Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium and defeat your beloved Hogs.

Yes, even after that 17-0 shutout, I picked Ole Miss to make the trip to Fayetteville and win.

No more.

I’m picking Arkansas over Missouri on Friday.

No ifs, ands or buts.

Let’s hope it’s not the kiss of death for the Razorbacks as you eat your Thanksgiving leftovers, pray that Aunt Jane doesn’t spend another night at your house and then settle in front of the television Friday afternoon.

For too long we had to list the bad streaks — conference losing streaks, losing streaks to ranked teams, etc.

No more.

How about some positive history:

— The first back-to-back shutouts for an Arkansas team since 2002.

— The first back-to-back shutouts for an Arkansas team in conference play since 1965. That was a Razorback squad that went undefeated in the regular season.

— The first time for an Arkansas defense to shut out an Ole Miss team since 1998, Houston Nutt’s first year as head coach.

— The first SEC team with back-to-back conference shutouts since Tennessee did it in 2002.

This is, mind you, an Ole Miss team that had outscored its first 10 opponents 83-10 in the first quarter.

The score at the end of the first quarter Saturday?

Arkansas 17, Ole Miss 0.

Arkansas now has back-to-back wins over nationally ranked teams for the first time since 2011. Jonathan Williams has topped the 1,000-yard mark in rushing (1,013 yards to be exact), only the 17th time a Razorback has done that. Alex Collins, who is at 965 yards for the season, should join the exclusive fraternity on Friday.

The turnover margin for the Hogs against Ole Miss was plus five.

Does the magic continue in Columbia?

We’re 78-15 for the year. Let’s get to the final set of picks for 2014:

Arkansas 13, Missouri 10 — With or without Brandon Allen, the Arkansas defense will come through yet again. It won’t be a shutout, but it will be enough to win and spoil Tiger hopes for an SEC East crown. It will be Georgia going to Atlanta and losing to Alabama in the conference championship game. Missouri improved to 9-2 overall and 6-1 in the SEC with Saturday’s 29-21 win at Tennessee. It was the 10th consecutive road win for Mizzou. Unfortunately for the Tigers, they’re back home in Columbia where they’ve already lost to Indiana (Indiana for gosh sakes!) by a score of 31-27 and Georgia by a score of 34-0. Faurot Field still has a bit of a Big Eight (yes, I’m that old) feel. The Hogs get it done, finish the regular season with a 7-5 record and accept an invitation to play Texas in the Liberty Bowl. Tickets sell out within an hour. The temperature in Memphis at kickoff will be 28 degrees.

Minnesota-Duluth 30, Ouachita 28 — One of these days, a Great American Conference team is going to win a playoff game. The conference is only in its fourth season and is in the toughest region in NCAA Division II. Henderson and Harding lost playoff games in 2012. Henderson lost again last season. And Harding came up short again Saturday in the first round of the Division II playoffs with a 59-42 loss at the home of a traditional small college powerhouse, Pittsburg State in Kansas. Harding led 21-0 in the first half, but the 11-1 Gorillas came back to tie the score at 21-21 by halftime and then secured a victory over one of the best Harding teams ever. Now, it’s up to 10-0 Ouachita, which hosts 12-0 Minnesota-Duluth at noon in Arkadelphia on Saturday. It has been a dream season for the GAC champion Tigers, who stand a decent chance of getting the conference its first playoff win. After 10 consecutive Saturdays of football, Ouachita received a needed bye in the first round. Minnesota-Duluth is No. 2 nationally. Ouachita is No. 7. The teams are a combined 22-0. It should be quite a game at Cliff Harris Stadium on a day when the temperature will near 70.

Arkansas State 35, New Mexico State 25 — The Red Wolf defense has disappeared in back-to-back losses to Appalachian State and Texas State. In last Thursday night’s 45-27 defeat at Texas State, the Red Wolves gave up 370 yards rushing as ASU fell to 6-5 overall and 4-3 in the Sun Belt Conference. The good news is that a bad New Mexico State team comes to Jonesboro on Saturday. The bad news is that even a 7-5 record is unlikely to get this ASU team a bowl bid. At least Red Wolf fans don’t have to worry about losing their coach this year. New Mexico State won its first two games against Cal Poly and Georgia State. The Aggies have since lost nine consecutive games — 42-24 to UTEP, 38-35 to New Mexico, 63-7 to LSU, 36-28 to Georgia Southern, 41-24 to Troy, 29-17 to Idaho, 37-29 to Texas State, 44-16 to Louisiana-Lafayette and 30-17 to Louisiana-Monroe.

Rex’s Rankings: End of the road

Monday, November 24th, 2014

It’s Thanksgiving week, and I have high school football on the mind.

On the day after Thanksgiving in 1976, I played in a state championship game. My Arkadelphia Badgers were upset by Mena that night. We believed we had scored in the final minute, but the men who mattered — the officials — ruled that we were inches short of the end zone.

That game taught me a lot about coming back from adversity and the fact that life’s not always fair.

My father, who loved both football and duck hunting, had made plans to leave soon after the game so we could be in Stuttgart hunting the next morning. I was in my bed at home crying when he said: “Get up. We’re leaving in five minutes.”

It wasn’t a request. It was an order.

As always, I did what he said, and we made the long drive in the dark from Arkadelphia to Stuttgart. We arrived well after midnight, slept a couple of hours and were in a blind the next morning.

We listened to a Razorback game that Saturday afternoon on the radio, and I can remember how much it hurt to hear Dave Woodman list all of the state champions from the previous evening and not have Arkadelphia on that list.

Three years later in the fall of 1979, I was a college student at Ouachita while holding down two jobs — sports editor of the Daily Siftings Herald at Arkadelphia and sports director of radio stations KVRC-KDEL.

On Thanksgivng Day 1979, I went to Irving, Texas, to cover the Dallas Cowboys’ game against the Houston Oilers. Even though we were a small newspaper, Ouachita graduate Cliff Harris was playing for the Cowboys and the team’s public relations director, Doug Todd, had taken a liking to me. He would get me credentials for all home games.

For the Thanksgiving contest, I was in the auxiliary press box in the end zone, which meant you ate lunch with the radio and TV folks. Sitting at the table next to me that day were Cowboy broadcasters Verne Lundquist and Frank Glieber. I worked up my courage (I was all of 20 years old), walked over and said: “I’m the voice of the Ouachita Tigers, and I want to meet the voices of the Cowboys.”

They both smiled.

Lundquist, who is celebrating 50 years in broadcasting this season, looked at me and said: “So there’s really a Ouachita? We thought Harris was making that up. Why don’t you sit in the broadcast booth with us today?”

Talk about a dream come true. I spent the game on a stool between Glieber and Lundquist.

By the way, the Oilers won, 30-24, as Earl Campbell rushed for 195 yards and two touchdowns, including a touchdown run of 61 yards in the first quarter.

The Cowboys went ahead in the fourth quarter on a 44-yard field goal by Rafael Septien, but the Oilers came back to win on a 32-yard pass late from Dan Pastorini to Ken Burrough. Toni Fritsch, a former Cowboy, kicked the winning extra point for Houston.

I drove to Fort Worth after the game, where my parents were attending a convention of sporting goods dealers at what had been the old Hotel Texas, the place where John F. Kennedy had begun the final day of his life in Room 850 exactly 16 years earlier (after all, it was Nov. 22, 1979). We had dinner, and I spent the night in my parents’ room. I had to return to Arkadelphia early the next morning. You see, the Arkadelphia Badgers, in their first season under Coach John Outlaw, were hosting the Alma Airedales at Henderson’s Haygood Stadium.

I was back in Arkadelphia in time to host a show on KVRC-AM, 1240, and KDEL-FM, 100.9, that we called the Badger Countdown To Kickoff. We played music interspersed with “good luck Badgers” ads.

After each song, I would tell how long there was until kickoff.

“We’re now just three hours and 52 minutes away from the kickoff.”

“We now just three hours and five minutes away.”

And so on.

I went directly from the radio station to Haygood Stadium, where I handled the play-by-play on the Arkadelphia stations. Three years earlier, I had played in a state title game at that stadium. Now, I was broadcasting one.

Arkadelphia led 7-0 at the half following a one-yard scoring run by Victor Bryant with 1:42 left in the second quarter.

In the third quarter, Rodney Allen returned a fumble 28 yards for a touchdown. The kick failed, but with the way the Badger defense was playing, a 13-0 lead looked safe.

It was. Arkadelphia made the final score 19-0 with a Bryant two-yard run with 4:54 left in the game.

While Randy Brackett, Big Sam Watson and Jeff Root handled the postgame show, I ran to my car and then drove quickly to the gym across town where the Badgers dressed in order to do a primitive version of a dressing room show over the telephone. I was interviewing one of the coaches when a group of players grabbed me and threw me in the shower. Fortunately, my friend Jeff Necessary was there to pick up the phone and carry on.

All in all, it was a memorable Thanksgiving week.

A number of great high school rivalries once were contested on Thanksgiving.

When my father was the head football coach at Newport in the late 1940s and early 1950s, the Greyhounds would take on Batesville on Thanksgiving. As a boy, I liked to look at my parents’ copies of the Newport yearbook — named Lakeside — and see the photos of the huge crowds that would attend that game.

In Little Rock, there was Central-Hall and Catholic-North Little Rock Old Main on Thanksgiving morning.

The playoffs changed all of that.

Still, there’s good high school football played Thankgiving week. For me, it marks the chance to watch an entire game. For 12 consecutive Fridays — the regular season and the first two weeks of the playoffs — I host a statewide Friday night radio scoreboard show that requires me to be in the studio by 9 p.m. to prepare. That means I rarely see more than the first half of a game.

The Friday after Thanksgiving is different. I can stay until the end.

Last year, I ventured south to Warren to watch the Lumberjacks defeat Arkadelphia.

This Friday night I think I’ll head over to War Memorial Stadium to see North Little Rock tangle with Bentonville.

These are the final rankings of the fall. From here on, we’ll let the playoff games determine things.

Have a nice Thanksgiving:

Overall

1. North Little Rock

2. Benton

3. Pulaski Academy

4. Bentonville

5. Fort Smith Southside

6. Fayetteville

7. Jonesboro

8. Batesville

9. Conway

10. Pine Bluff

Class 7A

1. North Little Rock

2. Bentonville

3. Fort Smith Southside

4. Fayetteville

5. Conway

Class 6A

1. Benton

2. Jonesboro

3. Pine Bluff

4. El Dorado

5. Greenwood

Class 5A

1. Pulaski Academy

2. Batesville

3. Wynne

4. Beebe

5. Maumelle

Class 4A

1. Dardanelle

2. Nashville

3. Warren

4. Malvern

5. Arkadelphia

Class 3A

1. Charleston

2. Smackover

3. Little Rock Episcopal

4. Booneville

5. Hoxie

Class 2A

1. Junction City

2. Hazen

3. Rison

4. Earle

5. Des Arc

 

College football: Week 13

Wednesday, November 19th, 2014

It is safe for us to now officially declare that LSU is not a cold-weather team.

And how about that Arkansas defense on a frigid Saturday night in Fayetteville?

LSU finished the game with just 123 yards of offense, 250 less than its season average. The Tigers had only 36 rushing yards.

So long 17-game SEC losing streak.

So long 14-game losing streak to ranked teams, a streak that dated back to the Cotton Bowl victory over Kansas State almost three years ago.

Arkansas was the first team this season to hold LSU scoreless in the first half. The last time Arkansas had recorded a shutout victory over LSU was in 1929 in a game played at Shreveport. Huey P. Long was governor of Louisiana at the time and likely at the contest since he was a huge Tiger fan. Only the most serious Arkansas political buff would know that the Arkansas governor at the time was Harvey Parnell.

Arkansas and LSU did play to a 0-0 tie in the Cotton Bowl in 1947.

LSU had not been shut out prior to last Saturday since losing 21-0 to Alabama in the 2011 national title game. The most recent regular-season shutout loss for the Bayou Bengals had been against Alabama in November 2002.

Meanwhile, it was the first shutout victory for Arkansas since a 20-0 win over Utah State in 2006. It was the first SEC shutout for the Hogs since a 23-0 victory over South Carolina in 2002.

LSU is 25-2 under Les Miles after a loss, and Arkansas delivered that defeat both times.

So Razorback fans are feeling good again and ready to start talking bowl games.

But first things first as a Top 10 team rolls into Fayetteville on Saturday afternoon with the CBS audience watching to see if the Razorbacks are for real.

We’re 77-11 on picks for the year. Let’s get to the predictions for Week 13 of the college football season:

Ole Miss 30, Arkansas 28 — I’m tempted to crawl onto that Razorback bandwagon with you. Very tempted. Then I consider the fact that Ole Miss is coming off an open date and has had two weeks to prepare for the game. Effectively, the Rebels have had three weeks to prepare since they played Presbyterian on Nov. 8, winning 48-0 and resting their starters in the second half. This is still the Rebel team that captured the nation’s attention by winning their first seven games by scores of 35-13 over Boise State, 41-3 over Vanderbilt, 56-15 over Louisiana-Lafayette, 24-3 over Memphis, 23-17 over Alabama, 35-20 over Texas A&M and 34-3 over Tennessee. The bloom came off the Rebel rose with losses of 10-7 to LSU and 35-31 to Auburn (both of which are fading late), but this is a team that could be 10-0 with nine more points. It should be a fun game to watch. And the high probability it will be raining will make things even more interesting.

Arkansas State 21, Texas State 19 — The Red Wolves laid a giant egg last Saturday in Jonesboro, losing 37-32 to a mediocre Appalachian State team. Marcus Cox gashed ASU for 229 yards rushing, and Appalachian State scored 31 consecutive points in the game. The loss dropped ASU to 6-4 overall and 4-2 in the Sun Belt Conference. This week the Red Wolves travel to San Marcos, Texas, for a Thursday night game against Texas State. The Bobcats are 5-5 overall and 3-3 in conference. They’ve defeated UAPB, Tulsa, Idaho, Louisiana-Monroe and New Mexico State. They’ve lost to Navy, Illinois, Louisiana-Lafayette, Georgia Southern and South Alabama. We’ll give a slight edge to the Red Wolves because . . . Well, just because.

Harding 40, Pittsburg State 37 — OK, call me a Great American Conference homer. After all, the GAC is 0-3 in the NCAA Division II playoffs in its short history. Harding lost in 2012. Henderson lost in both 2012 and 2013. This is as good a Harding team as I’ve ever seen, and I’ve been seeing Harding teams play since the 1960s. The Bisons are 9-1 and one play away from being undefeated, having lost to 10-0 Ouachita in a game in which Ouachita had to score on the final play of regulation and then convert a two-point conversion just to get to overtime. With its double-slot formation, Harding is among the top rushing teams in the country and also has a senior-laden defense. Pittsburg State will be the favorite Saturday afternoon. The Gorillas are a traditional Division II powerhouse and are playing at home. They’re 10-1, losing only 7-6 to Fort Hays State. Most of their victories (just like Harding) have been by lopsided margins — 37-0, 38-7, 42-0, 23-13, 45-17, 35-17, 36-21, 41-10, 38-31 and 41-14. Harding ended the regular season with a 41-7 victory over 3-8 Arkansas Tech. I just have a feeling that it’s time for the GAC to break through.

Sam Houston State 31, UCA 24 — This UCA team has been inconsistent and hard to figure in its first season under Steve Campbell. The Bears are 6-5 overall and 5-2 in the Southland Conference. They were upset on Nov. 1 by Abilene Christian, 52-35, and then came back a week later to beat Lamar in overtime at Conway, 44-41. They’ve had two weeks to prepare for Saturday’s game in Huntsville against Sam Houston State, Dan Rather’s old alma mater. The Bearkats get the edge. They’re at home, they’re 7-4 and they’ve won four consecutive games (38-21 over Abilene Christian, 42-28 over Stephen F. Austin, 40-19 over Incarnate Word and 76-0 over Houston Baptist).

Alabama A&M 15, UAPB 14 — The Golden Lions are at home Saturday afternoon to end a disappointing season. UAPB fell to 3-7 overall and 2-6 in the SWAC with a 56-6 loss last weekend at Alcorn State. Alabama A&M is 4-7 overall and 3-5 in the SWAC. With two bad teams ending the season in the rain, this is a difficult pick. One of the teams might mail it in as far as effort.

Tears at 10-0

Tuesday, November 18th, 2014

As the clock ticked down to 0:00 on a cold, gray Saturday afternoon, I tried to describe the scene at Carpenter-Haygood Stadium in Arkadelphia to those who were listening to the broadcast of the 88th Battle of the Ravine.

For the previous 30 minutes — since it had become likely that Ouachita Baptist University would beat Henderson State University to go to 10-0 for the first time in school history — the messages had been flooding my phone. They came from Ouachita graduates across the country who were listening online.

I attempted to paint a verbal picture as the packed Ouachita stands emptied, students and even some adults storming the field in the wake of one of the most historic victories in the rich annals of a football program that dates back to 1895. Henderson had become the giant among NCAA Division II football programs in the state, going undefeated during the regular season in 2012 and 2013 and winning the four previous Battles of the Ravine. The Reddies were 30-1 in regular-season games since the start of the 2012 season, having only lost to a talented Harding squad in the final minute earlier this season.

Ouachita was ranked No. 9, and Henderson was ranked No. 14 in Division II coming into Saturday’s game.  Despite Ouachita’s higher ranking, 100 percent of those who picked the game on the Great American Conference message board had gone with Henderson.

No doubt, the Reddies were Goliath.

As I drove from my home in Little Rock to Arkadelphia on Saturday morning, the clouds thickened. The day reminded me of the Saturday before Thanksgiving in 1975 when Ouachita and Henderson met in another classic at the same stadium. The two schools held a joint homecoming for a few years in the 1970s with the game played each season at Henderson’s newer and larger stadium. Even though the 1975 contest was at Henderson, it was technically Ouachita’s home game and Ouachita sports information director Mac Sisson was on the public address system that day.

Mac would always give the weather before the game, and I can still remember his words in that distinctive baritone: “Winds out of the north at 10 to 15 miles per hour with a temperature of 29 degrees.”

A bit of personal history: I grew up a block from Ouachita’s football stadium, the son of a former Ouachita quarterback and a former Ouachitonian beauty (I still have the yearbook in which my mother was featured as such). I’ve bled purple since birth.

The football series between Ouachita and Henderson was suspended following the 1951 game due to excessive vandalism and was not resumed until 1963. I would have been 4 years old in 1963, and I would have been at the Battle of the Ravine. I’ve been at every Battle of the Ravine since 1963, in fact, with the exception of the 1986-87 games when I was working for the Arkansas Democrat in Washington, D.C. It is, to put it simply, a part of who I am.

Like most boys who grew up in Arkansas, I rooted for the Razorbacks. Unlike most boys, Arkansas was not my main team. Ouachita was.

We didn’t often go to Hog games in Fayetteville or Little Rock. We were too busy following Ouachita. Some of my fondest childhood memories are of trips back from places like Searcy, Conway, Russellville, Magnolia and Monticello in the back of my father’s big Oldsmobile.

From about age 6 through high school, I walked the Ouachita sidelines during games. Legendary Coach Buddy Benson was like an uncle to me, and he welcomed a group of boys — Tab Turner, Neal Turner, Mike Balay, Richard Balay and others — to work as ball boys and water boys.

I was in the 10th grade when that 1975 game occurred. I played high school football on Friday nights but spent my Saturdays watching Ouachita. On the morning of the game, I accompanied the team’s head manager, Wesley Kluck, to my father’s downtown sporting goods store to borrow Coleman stoves, which we put along the sideline so the players could warm their hands on the frigid afternoon.

Henderson was 9-0. Ouachita was 8-1, having lost to Southern Arkansas in Magnolia three weeks earlier. Both teams were ranked nationally.

I love those November games that begin in the daylight and end under the lights. The lights were on and darkness had descended on Arkadelphia. Ouachita trailed 20-14 and faced a fourth-and-25 with time running out.

One last chance.

Quarterback Bill Vining Jr., who had grown up just down the street from me in the Ouachita Hills neighborhood, passed to Gary Reese across the middle. Out came the chains.

The stadium was packed but dead quiet as those chains were stretched. The referee went to a knee for a better look. Then, he came up and signaled that Ouachita had made a first down by inches.

New life.

Two plays later, Vining passed to Ken Stuckey for a touchdown. Russell Daniel kicked the extra point.

Ouachita 21, Henderson 20.

I’ve had the good fortune in my career of covering Super Bowls, Sugar Bowls, Cotton Bowls and more. That still rates as the greatest football game I ever attended.

I still have a photo of the players carrying Coach Benson off the field. It was among the most memorable days of my life.

I thought about that day as I pulled into the parking lot of Henderson’s Carpenter-Haygood at noon last Saturday.

Same stadium. Same weather. Same big stakes.

At age 55, I find myself becoming more nostalgic.

I sat in my car for several minutes before walking to the press box and thought about the past.

I thought about how I wish my dad, who died in March 2011, could be here. Oh, how he would have enjoyed the atmosphere that electrified Arkadelphia.

Dad had been raised poor during the Great Depression in Benton. Following his high school graduation in 1942, he took a job with the Chicago Bridge & Iron Co., which was building the aluminum plant in Saline County. The United States had entered World War II in December 1941, and there was a rush to get the plant finished so it could contribute to the war effort. Dad was paid union wages and found himself making more than his father had ever made. He told his parents that he would stay with the company rather than going to college.

He had been offered a football scholarship to Ouachita, and my grandmother was insistent that he go to college, something neither she nor my grandfather had done. She called the Ouachita head coach, Bill Walton, and ordered him not to let my father come home once he reached campus for a visit.

The 1942 Ouachita team went 9-1, losing only to Union University in Jackson, Tenn. Dad joined the Army Air Corps the following spring and served for two years. He returned to Ouachita after the war to obtain a degree and played on the 1945, 1946 and 1947 teams. He met a pretty young lady named Carolyn Caskey from Des Arc and married her prior to graduation in the spring of 1948.

My sister was recently cleaning out the house we grew up in and found the program from the Battle of the Ravine on Thanksgiving Day 1947. My father is listed as the starting quarterback. She gave me the program, which I now consider to be among my most cherished possessions.

As I sat in my car Saturday, I also thought of Coach Benson, who was my childhood hero along with my father and Coach Bill Vining Sr. This would have been his type of game. Buddy Benson had been among the nation’s most highly recruited high school players coming out of high school at De Queen. He signed with Oklahoma, a powerhouse in those days, but later transferred to Arkansas, where he threw the famous Powder River pass to beat nationally ranked Ole Miss at War Memorial Stadium in 1954.

Coach Benson was the head coach at Ouachita for an amazing 31 seasons, winning more than he lost while playing much larger state schools with bigger athletic budgets. He passed away on Good Friday in that terrible spring of 2011, just weeks after I had lost my dad.

I also thought of the aforementioned Mac Sisson, my college mentor who gave me the chance as an untested freshman in 1978 to begin broadcasting Ouachita games, something I’m still doing all these years later. Mac and I spent fall Saturdays for years traveling through Arkansas, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Texas and other states for Ouachita games. I miss him every day.

I thought of family friends like Ike Sharp and his son Paul, also gone. They had both played at Ouachita and personified what my alma mater’s football program is all about.

To be fair, I thought of men who had been among my mentors who were on the Henderson side and are also gone, coaches with names like Wells, Sawyer and Reese. They were giants to me. They also would have enjoyed this big-game atmosphere.

Ouachita trailed 17-7 in the first quarter of Saturday’s game, and it appeared the Reddies were poised to blow the Tigers out.

I didn’t say it on the radio, but I thought at that point in the game about something Coach Benson would tell his team before every game: “If at first the game or breaks go against you, don’t get shook or rattled. Put on more steam.”

You see, it’s a 60-minute game.

Coach Benson had played for Bowden Wyatt at Arkansas. Wyatt had played for Gen. Robert Neyland at Tennessee. Wyatt would repeat Neyland’s pregame maxims before each game. Buddy Benson would continue that tradition at Ouachita.

Ouachita indeed put on more steam, outscoring the powerful Reddies 34-3 the rest of the way.

I counted down the final seconds on the radio and looked at the Ouachita fans pouring from the stands. That’s when the tears came.

Silly, you say, for a 55-year-old man to cry at the end of an athletic contest. It’s only a game, you say.

I’m sorry, but it’s more than a game to me. Ouachita football has been one of my passions since birth.

My wish for my sons and for you as we near Thanksgiving is that you have one or more great passions. It might be a passion for music. It might be a passion for acting. It might be a passion for writing. It doesn’t have to have anything to do with sports. It has to do with finding something you care about deeply throughout your life. It’s even more special if you’ve suffered defeats so you more fully appreciate the high points.

I know defeat.

So does Ouachita’s head coach, Todd Knight. I was on the committee that was appointed to search for a head coach following the resignation of Red Parker at Ouachita after the 1998 season. We ended up offering the job to Knight, a former Ouachita player, who had led the Delta State in Mississippi to its first Gulf South Conference title. Delta is bigger, richer and had things rolling.

Todd turned down our offer. He turned it down multiple times. The then-Ouachita president, Andy Westmoreland, wouldn’t take no for an answer. He kept telling Todd to pray about it. Shortly before Christmas, Todd decided to come to Ouachita despite having recruited players to Delta who would win the Division II national championship in 2000.

His 1999 team started 3-1 but, lacking depth, finished 3-7. When you’re a small school like Ouachita, you welcome anyone who wants to jump aboard the bandwagon. Yet I suspect this year’s undefeated season is even more special for those of us who were in Tahlequah, Okla., on the afternoon of Oct. 16, 1999, as Northeastern State beat Ouachita by a score of 57-0. Or those of us who were there for the last game that season as Harding beat Ouachita by a score of 41-7.

Seven of Todd Knight’s first nine seasons at Ouachita, one of the smallest schools in the country to play the sport at the Division II level, were losing campaigns. Most schools wouldn’t have stuck with a coach that long. Ouachita stuck with Todd Knight, and Todd Knight stuck with Ouachita.

Patience paid off.

Ouachita is now the only college football program in the state — at any level — with seven consecutive winning seasons.

So as the students stormed the field and the tears rolled down my cheeks at about 6 p.m. Saturday, my mind wandered.

I thought about Dad, Coach Benson, Ike Sharp, Paul Sharp, Mac Sisson and other men who bled purple who were watching from above.

I thought about Coach Knight and that day in Tahlequah when I had struggled to broadcast the end of a 57-0 blowout.

I thought about how happy I was for the students, the faculty, the staff, the alumni and the other good people associated with this school that has been so much a part of my life.

I thought about my wife and son sitting in the cold across the way, no doubt also enjoying the moment.

I thought of past Ouachita presidents like Dan Grant and Ben Elrod, Arkansas leaders who know how difficult it is for a little school like Ouachita to make it to 10-0.

And I thought about how happy I was to share it all with what I call my “Saturday family,” the men with whom I share the broadcast booth.

My childhood friend Jeff Root, who grew up a few houses down Carter Road from my house, has been in the broadcast booth with me for more than a quarter of a century. Jeff, who is now the dean of the School of Humanities at Ouachita, and I have a special bond. Jeff also was on the committee that hired Coach Knight. Saturday was the culmination of all we had hoped for 16 years ago.

I also was glad to have Richard Atkinson and Patrick Fleming, who have been in the booth for eight years, there. It’s hard to explain to those who aren’t broadcasters, but you really do become like family.

I continued to broadcast — after all, there was still work to do on the postgame show– as the tears ran down my cheeks. I’m not really sure what I said, though. On this cold November day, I had been transported back in time.

I was a kid again, marveling at my good fortune; the good fortune of one who grew up in a small town in the South and attended a small school where people call you by your name and care about you. A place where people give you opportunities. After all, who has ever heard of a 19-year-old college play-by-play man?

Once again, I was in the back seat of the Oldsmobile, fighting to keep my eyes open as Dad drove us through the autumn Arkansas night, home from a Ouachita victory.

Once again, Buddy Benson was on the sideline in his starched shirt and tie, and Mac Sisson was in the press box.

Once again, my beloved Tigers were on top and the future was limitless.

I’m blessed; blessed beyond description as we enter another Thanksgiving season.

Rex’s Rankings: One week in

Tuesday, November 18th, 2014

We’re one week into the high school playoffs, and there have been no big surprises thus far.

Things should get interesting this Friday night.

It will be warmer than the frigid conditions that were faced by playoff teams last Friday, though the chance of rain exists.

Join us on the radio from 10 p.m. until midnight Friday as we break it all down with live reports from across the state. We’re on almost 50 stations.

Let’s get to the rankings:

Overall

1. Conway

2. North Little Rock

3. Pulaski Academy

4. Benton

5. Bentonville

6. Fort Smith Southside

7. Jonesboro

8. Batesville

9. Greenwood

10. Bryant

Class 7A

1. Conway

2. North Little Rock

3. Bentonville

4. Fort Smith Southside

5. Bryant

Class 6A

1. Benton

2. Jonesboro

3. Greenwood

4. El Dorado

5. Pine Bluff

Class 5A

1. Pulaski Academy

2. Batesville

3. Maumelle

4. Wynne

5. Camden Fairview

Class 4A

1. Dardanelle

2. Nashville

3. Pine Bluff Dollarway

4. Pea Ridge

5. Warren

Class 3A

1. Charleston

2. Prescott

3. Smackover

4. Episcopal

5. Booneville

Class 2A

1. Junction City

2. Hazen

3. Rison

4. Bearden

5. Hector

College football: The Battle of the Ravine

Wednesday, November 12th, 2014

It’s time for one of the South’s best college football rivalries.

No, silly, not the Battle for the Golden Boot.

That series took a one-two punch to the solar plexus when the wise men on The Hill decided to move the game out of Little Rock and when the Southeastern Conference decided it no longer would be played the week of Thanksgiving.

Now, it’s just another late-season game.

We’re talking about the Battle of the Ravine, one of the nation’s oldest rivalries and the only one in which the visiting team walks to a road game.

Rarely has there been a buildup to compare to that surrounding this Saturday afternoon’s game at Carpenter-Haygood Stadium in Arkadelphia.

Ouachita is 9-0 and has already assured itself a share of its second Great American Conference championship in four years.

Henderson is 9-1, having lost in the final minute at home to Harding after going undefeated in the regular seasons of 2012 and 2013.

The Arkadelphia teams feature two of the best quarterbacks in NCAA Division II, both of whom could start for a lot of Division I schools.

Henderson has senior Kevin Rodgers, the state’s all-time leader in passing yardage who has started for the Reddies since the middle of his freshman season.

Ouachita has Kiehl Frazier, who was the USA Today National Offensive Player of the Year coming out of high school at Shiloh Christian in Springdale and signed with Auburn University. Frazier was starting as a quarterback in the Southeastern Conference by his sophomore season. He lost the job, wanted to play quarterback his senior year, came home to Arkansas and enrolled in the small school where his brother is an offensive lineman.

The rest, as they say, is history. He has helped give Ouachita a dream season, leading the Tigers to the first 9-0 start in school history.

Ouachita is ranked No. 9 nationally in the American Football Coaches Association Division II poll.

Henderson is ranked No. 14.

Henderson and Ouachita have the two top college programs in the state during the past five seasons based on winning percentages. It only adds to the intrigue that they’re right across the street from each other.

This reminds me of the final game of 1975, when the roles were reversed, though the stadium was the same.

Henderson was undefeated coming into that Battle of the Ravine 39 years ago and had already ensured itself a share of the Arkansas Intercollegiate Conference championship.

Ouachita had won loss, having slipped up three weeks earlier against Southern Arkansas in Magnolia.

In what still ranks in my mind as the greatest college football game I’ve ever attended, Ouachita came from behind late to win 21-20 and earn a share of the AIC title.

Henderson will be trying to make Ouachita share the title this Saturday.

There’s one aspect in which the roles aren’t reversed. Henderson was favored in 1975, and Henderson is favored again this year. When I last checked the GAC message board on the main Division II website, 100 percent of those who had picked the game had gone with the Reddies.

Henderson has won four consecutive games in the series, which dates back to 1895 and was suspended from 1951-63 due to excessive vandalism. Last year’s battle was a classic with Henderson winning 60-52 in three overtimes. Ouachita led in the second overtime and had Henderson down to fourth down twice. But Rodgers converted passes each time to stave off defeat, the first one for a first down and the second one for the touchdown that sent the game to a third overtime. It makes me tired just thinking of that game.

We were 7-0 on the picks last week, making the record for the season 74-8.

Here are the picks for Week 12 of the college football season:

Henderson 38, Ouachita 35 — Based strictly on talent, Henderson should be a two-touchdown favorite. But rivalry games like this one are tough to call. In a magical season, the one weak spot for Ouachita has been the Tiger secondary. Southern Arkansas quarterback Si Blackshire torched the Tigers for 415 yards passing two weeks ago even though Ouachita won 38-28. Rodgers should throw for even more yards on Saturday. Based on that and the fact that the Reddies are playing on their side of the ravine, we’ll give the slight edge to Henderson.

LSU 19, Arkansas 14 — Is this the game when the Razorbacks finally get over the hump against an SEC opponent? It’s hard to figure out how Arkansas was established as a slight favorite when the Hogs are 4-5 overall and 0-5 in the SEC. LSU is 7-3 and 3-3. The Tigers began the season with wins against Wisconsin, Sam Houston State and Louisiana-Monroe before falling to Mississippi State, 34-29. A victory over New Mexico State was followed by a decisive loss at Auburn and an overtime victory over Florida. LSU has played well in its past three games, beating Kentucky by a score of 41-3, upsetting Ole Miss by a score of 10-7 and then falling in overtime to Alabama by a score of 13-10. Remember that the Tigers have only lost two consecutive games once in Les Miles’ 10 seasons as head coach.

Arkansas State 37, Appalachian State 31 — Arkansas State played its best game of the season last Saturday in Jonesboro. The Red Wolves didn’t commit a turnover and scored on six of eight possessions en route to a 45-10 victory. It was the fourth consecutive game for the ASU offense to top 40 points, the first time in school history that has happened. The Red Wolves are now 6-3 overall and 4-1 in the Sun Belt Conference. They’re back in Jonesboro on Saturday afternoon for a 2 p.m. game against an Appalachian State team that’s 4-5 overall and 3-2 in the Sun Belt. Applachian State’s victories have come over Campbell, Troy, Georgia State and Louisiana-Monroe. The losses have been to Michigan, Southern Mississippi, Georgia Southern, South Alabama and Liberty. The visitors have won three consecutive games following a 1-5 start.

Alcorn State 34, UAPB 15 — The Golden Lions got blown out on homecoming last Saturday by a score of 51-23 against Prairie View A&M. UAPB is 3-6 overall and 2-5 in the SWAC and must visit an Alcorn State team that has already wrapped up the SWAC East Division title with records of 6-1 in conference and 8-2 overall. Alcorn’s only defeats have come against Southern Mississippi and Grambling. Alcorn has won its past three games by scores of 40-25 against Texas Southern, 77-48 against Prairie View and 41-14 against Alabama A&M.

Harding 30, Arkansas Tech 10 — Harding is 8-1 with only an overtime loss to Ouachita. Harding fans are in a tough situation this week. They need Henderson to win in order for their Bisons to earn a share of the GAC title. But they need Ouachita to win for Harding to have a chance at a playoff berth. A very, very good Harding team may stay at home during the postseason. Arkansas Tech is 3-6 with an excellent defense and an awful offense. Tech fell last Saturday by a score of 22-5 at Southeastern Oklahoma. Harding should win with ease this week.

Southern Arkansas 36, UAM 17 — It has been a frustrating season for both of these south Arkansas teams. Southern Arkansas has a fine quarterback in Blackshire but has managed only a 4-5 record. UAM is 2-7 and trailed Ouachita last Saturday by a score of 44-0 at the half.  Blackshire should be too much for the Boll Weevils on Saturday.

Rex’s Rankings: Let the playoffs begin

Tuesday, November 11th, 2014

It’s playoff time.

Wrap up for a cold Friday night, and let’s start on the Road to the Rock.

It’s my favorite time of the year.

Here are the rankings at the end of the regular season:

Overall

1. Conway

2. North Little Rock

3. Pulaski Academy

4. Benton

5. Bentonville

6. Fort Smith Southside

7. Jonesboro

8. Batesville

9. Greenwood

10. Bryant

Class 7A

1. Conway

2. North Little Rock

3. Bentonville

4. Fort Smith Southside

5. Bryant

Class 6A

1. Benton

2. Jonesboro

3. Greenwood

4. El Dorado

5. Pine Bluff

Class 5A

1. Pulaski Academy

2. Batesville

3. Maumelle

4. Wynne

5. Camden Fairview

Class 4A

1. Dardanelle

2. Nashville

3. Pine Bluff Dollarway

4. Pea Ridge

5. Warren

Class 3A

1. Charleston

2. Prescott

3. Smackover

4. Little Rock Episcopal

5. Booneville

Class 2A

1. Junction City

2. Hazen

3. Rison

4. Bearden

5. Hector

College football: Week 11

Thursday, November 6th, 2014

Razorback fans can take a week off from their agony, left to debate whether they should still declare “moral victories” in the midst of a 17-game Southeastern Conference losing streak.

The school record for consecutive conference losses is 20, set from 1940-43. So Arkansas must win one of its final three games — LSU, Ole Miss or Missouri — to keep from tying that record this season.

I was in the stands on that cold day last November when Mississippi State escaped War Memorial Stadium with an overtime victory over the Razorbacks. None of us could have guessed at the time that it would mark the start of what’s now an 11-game winning streak for the Bulldogs. That’s one of the many reasons I love college football. You can go from agony to ecstasy from one year to the next. Razorback followers should keep that in mind.

It helps to have a quality quarterback, of course. Even on only one good leg, Mississippi State’s Dak Prescott was 18 of 27 passing for a career-high 331 yards against the Hogs.

Arkansas is now 4-17 against No. 1 teams with the most recent win over a No. 1 being that 50-48 triple-overtime victory against LSU at Baton Rouge seven years ago to end the HDN era. The Razorbacks have now lost 14 consecutive games to ranked teams with the most recent win over a ranked opponent being the victory over Kansas State in the Cotton Bowl on Jan. 7, 2012.

So here’s to the Hog faithful taking a break, enjoying the first day of deer season or even checking out one of the other teams in the state. Try it. You might like it. There are games Saturday at Jonesboro, Conway, Pine Bluff, El Dorado and Monticello, so there’s no excuse not to get out and enjoy a college football game.

We were 6-2 on the picks last week, making the record 67-8 for the season.

Let’s get to the predictions for Week 11:

Arkansas State 30, South Alabama 28 — Two 5-3 teams square off at Jonesboro on Saturday afternoon. Arkansas State improved to 3-1 in the Sun Belt Conference last week with a 44-28 victory at Idaho. It was the third consecutive road game for the Red Wolves, who were sluggish in the first half. ASU now has three of its final four games at home. Michael Gordon had a Sun Belt record five touchdown runs last week as ASU scored 35 points off Idaho turnovers. The Red Wolves led only 30-28 going into the fourth quarter. They’ll have to play better this week. South Alabama’s victories have come against Kent State, Idaho, Appalachian State, Georgia State and Troy. The losses have been to No. 1 Mississippi State, Georgia Southern and Louisiana-Lafayette. We’ll give the inconsistent Red Wolves a slight edge since they’re playing at home.

UCA 27, Lamar 21 — Speaking of inconsistent, it’s hard to know which UCA team is going to show up from week to week. The Bad News Bears showed up in Plano, Texas, last Saturday as UCA fell to 5-5 overall and 4-2 in the Southland Conference with a 52-35 loss to Abilene Christian. The Bears had seven turnovers, and Abilene Christian scored 31 points off those turnovers. Abilene Christian did it despite its starting quarterback not playing. This is a pretty good Lamar team that comes to Conway on Saturday. Lamar has posted six wins. They’ve come against Grambling, Texas College, Mississippi College, Abilene Christian, Nicholls and Houston Baptist. Granted, that’s a weak slate of teams. The losses have been to Texas A&M, Sam Houston State and Southeastern Louisiana. Once more, the advantage goes to the home team.

Prairie View A&M 19, UAPB 17 — It’s homecoming at Pine Bluff on Saturday afternoon, which means the biggest crowd of the season. This is a battle of two 3-5 teams. UAPB won its second consecutive game last Saturday, 24-14, against Mississippi Valley State to go to 2-4 in the SWAC. The Golden Lions took a 17-0 lead at halftime and then hung on. Prairie View started the season 0-4 with losses to Texas Southern, McNeese State, Southern University and Grambling. Prairie View then won games against Jackson State, Alabama State and Mississippi Valley State before falling to Alcorn State. UAPB was hit hard by NCAA sanctions this week, and Prairie View has had two weeks to prepare for this game.

Ouachita 39, UAM 29 — Ouachita goes to Monticello on Saturday afternoon with a chance to wrap up at least a share of its second Great American Conference championship in four years. The Tigers also have an opportunity to go to 9-0 for the first time in school history. Ouachita improved to 8-0 for the first time since 1914 last week with a 38-28 win over a decent Southern Arkansas team in Arkadelphia. The Tigers trailed 21-17 after three quarters but scored 21 consecutive points to start the fourth quarter and put the game away. SAU quarterback Si Blackshire passed for more than 400 yards against Ouachita. The Tiger secondary has been suspect this season so you should expect the 2-6 Boll Weevils, under the guidance of quarterback Hunter Leppert, to score plenty of points.

Henderson 47, Southern Arkansas 31 — The Reddies and Muleriders square off in the Boomtown Classic at El Dorado on Saturday afternoon. SAU is 4-4 with all of its wins coming at home and the four losses coming on the road. It will be interesting to see how the Muleriders compete at a neutral location. Between Blackshire and Henderson’s Kevin Rodgers, there should be plenty of yards gained and points scored. The Reddies bounced back from their loss to Harding to beat UAM, 49-7, last Saturday at Arkadelphia. Rodgers was 28 of 36 passing for 346 yards and three touchdowns. Henderson is 7-1 and needs to win its final two games to secure at least a share of the GAC title and a trip to the NCAA Division II playoffs.

Harding 45, East Central Oklahoma 25 — Just looking at the records, you would expect 6-2 East Central to give 7-1 Harding a close game. But except for Ouachita’s last-second heroics on Oct. 18 at Searcy, no one has been able to handle the Bisons this year. Harding cruised to a 51-6 victory over Southeastern Oklahoma a week ago with 467 yards on the ground. Six Bisons had rushing touchdowns in that game. Harding looks well on its way to a 9-1 regular season.

Southeastern Oklahoma 13, Arkansas Tech 10 — It has been a frustrating season for the 3-6 Wonder Boys, who have a good defense but no offense to speak of.  Tech lost 15-0 last week in Russellville to East Central Oklahoma. The Wonder Boys had just 47 yards rushing and 114 yards passing in that game. Southeastern has a record of 5-4 and typically plays well at home in Durant.

Rex’s Rankings: One week left

Monday, November 3rd, 2014

There’s only one week left in the regular season, and the playoffs are beginning to take shape.

This is that strange week when almost half of the games are played on Thursday rather than Friday night.

Sylvan Hills fell out of the Top 10 following a 41-37 loss to Beebe.

Batesville moved into the No. 10 slot after its 40-7 victory over Greene County Tech.

The top nine teams remained the same.

Games to watch this week: Benton vs. Pine Bluff, Fort Smith Northside vs. Fort Smith Southside, Conway vs. Bryant, Fayetteville vs. Bentonville, Pulaski Academy vs. Sylvan Hills.

Here are the rankings after nine weeks of the high school football season:

Overall

1. Conway

2. Fayetteville

3. North Little Rock

4. Pulaski Academy

5. Fort Smith Northside

6. Bryant

7. Benton

8. Pine Bluff

9. Jonesboro

10. Batesville

Class 7A

1. Conway

2. Fayetteville

3. North Little Rock

4. Fort Smith Northside

5. Bryant

Class 6A

1. Benton

2. Pine Bluff

3. Jonesboro

4. Greenwood

5. El Dorado

Class 5A

1. Pulaski Academy

2. Batesville

3. Maumelle

4. Wynne

5. Sylvan Hills

Class 4A

1. Warren

2. Dardanelle

3. Nashville

4. Dollarway

5. Pea Ridge

Class 3A

1. Charleston

2. Prescott

3. Smackover

4. Little Rock Episcopal

5. Booneville

Class 2A

1. Junction City

2. Hazen

3. Rison

4. Bearden

5. Hector