4-2A in 2018

[beach bum]

Well since Danville is moving to 3A in 2018 that leaves all 8 teams in the 4-2A next year moving to basketball or the offseason program? Any others want to take a crack at the next year? What are the key players lost that they will need to replace their production and what are the key returning pieces. Glad to see the Hector posters come back to the 4-2A. They bring a lot of good things to the board on fearless.

Contenders: Mountainburg, Hackett, and Hector..... These 3 teams should have some great games and Mountainburg will have this thing decided by September most likely the way their schedule falls. They draw the other two early again. Something tells me Mountainburg may be able to break through and get their first conference title. Those two other teams could easily put that hope to a halt. We will see.

Battling in the middle: Magazine, Lavaca, JC Westside, Western Yell.... Something tells me that Magazine and Lavaca will probably get the 4 and 5 seed in that order with Westside and Western Yell looking on from the outside.

Will they be playing in 2018: Decatur.... I hope for the other 7 schools sake of not missing another game and having the dreaded bye week in conference play. As well you hope for the kids sake in Decatur they have enough interest for their own kids.

[Prouddragondad]

Actually next year everyones first 3 games will be non conference games and Mtburg plays Hector week 10 and I believe we play Hackett week 7 or 8.

[beach bum]

Actually next year everyones first 3 games will be non conference games and Mtburg plays Hector week 10 and I believe we play Hackett week 7 or 8.

That is great they jumbled up the conference schedule.... Always much better to space the harder opponents apart.

[Hornet4ever]

Good stock of kids coming up from the undefeated junior high this season. Losing some seniors this year, but a lot of our playmakers remain.

[Wildcatalumni21]

Hector will have to replace quite a few key roles after graduating a large SR class. But we always seem to regroup and rebuild and be competitive year in and year out. The kids know the expectations and that's a conference championship every year so the work ethic is unbelievable in those young men! Nobody gave us a chance this year and we won another conference championship and IMO was one of the top teams in the state, just got upset in 1st round. Hate to leave the 5-2A but good to be back in the 4-2A. Always had great games with Hackett and M'burg is back from their down years, so look forward to some great games next year!

[HorseFeathers]

Hector will have to replace quite a few key roles after graduating a large SR class. But we always seem to regroup and rebuild and be competitive year in and year out. The kids know the expectations and that's a conference championship every year so the work ethic is unbelievable in those young men! Nobody gave us a chance this year and we won another conference championship and IMO was one of the top teams in the state, just got upset in 1st round. Hate to leave the 5-2A but good to be back in the 4-2A. Always had great games with Hackett and M'burg is back from their down years, so look forward to some great games next year!

Second year in a row losing 10+ seniors isn't it?

[Wildcatalumni21]

Second year in a row losing 10+ seniors isn't it?

Yep sure is, and we always bounce back! Just like Coach Russell told the paper in our season recap, we will not disappear and will continue you to be successful

[Dragonsvoice]

The Burg did Graduate eleven Sr's this year but we also had 10 Jr's this year, with some good starters returning and with a good Jr high class moving up I don't believe the Burg will slip much next year if at all.

I know Hackett was young this year so expect them to be more mature and ready for next with coach Hester at the helm.

Next year will be a good year I think for the 4-2A I think the completion will be more competitive all around.

Keep waiting for Lavaca to make a statement sure its coming.

Hector haven't followed much since they moved out now that their back in sure they will be tough like always.

hated that the burg lost in the second round keep waiting for us to break through that celling its been since 2007 its time for us and Coach Harrell to have a conference title maybe next year will be the only time will tell.

good luck to all teams in Bball this winter and baseball this spring.

[Hornet4ever]

Yeah as Dragonvoice said Hackett was really young this season. Luckily we return most of our starting lineup with the exception of a few guys. Hopefully we get back on track this year after a slow season this year.

[estep0520]

Westside has a lot of young talent. The Juniors coming up are the ones who battled Magazine for confrence title 2 years ago.

[estep0520]

I️ lied they lost to mountainburg by 8 that year and got 3rd.

[rattlerfan24]

Westside has a lot of young talent. The Juniors coming up are the ones who battled Magazine for confrence title 2 years ago.

don't mean any disrespect but there was no battle.  The game was a blowout.

[rattlerfan24]

Going to be a blast next year.  Look forward to getting football fired back up...basketball just doesn't compare.

[Prouddragondad]

IMO Westside has aways to go. Didnt see a lot of talent on the team and they finished 7th in conference this year. I believe Hackett, Hector and Mtburg will be battling it out for the top spot. Magazine will be very competitive and could take 4th from Lavaca. WYC will also be competitive especially since they have everyone back on their team except for one senior who wasn't a starter. 

[Coach Jones]

I'm a bit of a kid homer, but I feel like Magazine will sneak into one of those top three spots.
They will have a solid Jr class that is complemented well by the sophomore class.

[DnA Prostaff]

Hope your right!

I feel like it will be a good year for the conference as a whole.

1. Burg
2. Hackett
3. Hector
4. Magazine
5. Western Yell
6. Lavaca
7. Westside
8. Decatur

[beach bum]

Anyone have more of a grasp of where their team stands headed into the 2018 season?

-Hector is breaking in a new coach, but he is a good one from Morrilton's staff. I imagine he will run a similar offense as the Devil Dogs lately and keep Hector's offensive success rolling

-Mountainburg may be a little smaller as a team, but will still be solid again(they have been massive for 2A standards as of late with a lot of big bodies). That really gave them quite a nice front 7 on defense too lately.... They still have that speedy kid and I wonder what type of offense they are leaning towards with him back? They lose that big QB who kept the chains moving, but that speedy kid they have back can break long runs at anytime still.


-I think Hackett may have the highest upside from a shear overall athletes standpoint, but we'll see when the pads come on if that comes to fruition. It sure is going to be a good battle between the top 3


- I expect Magazine to put out a little better product as well

[friscokid]

Who has everyone scheduled to replace Decatur?

[HorseFeathers]

Hector plays junction City week 9 at Henderson state

[beach bum]

I have gained a lot of respect for Hector the last half decade or so from those non conference games they have been scheduling against tough opponents. I wish we would see more of those in the state where two teams from the same classification in the top 10 or at least near the top 10 play each other in non conference. I think it has really helped Hector too. It seems even when they lose finally in the playoffs they are still losing close, competitive games it seems most of the time. I would think those non conference games have helped tremendously.

[HorseFeathers]

Didn't help last year with the first round exit at home against Salem....Hector over achieved IMO winning conference last year though...

[beach bum]

Yes I was a little shocked they took a conference crown again last year. I think they may be able to surprise again back in the 4-2A with a lot of balance of good teams in the top half, but no state wide powerhouse. I think I am more excited about following the 4-2A than even the 1-3A, 4-3A, 1-4A, and 4-4A this year because on paper it looks so close between the 3 at the top. We will see though.

[HorseFeathers]

Mountainburg is that consistent 2-3 seed....Hackett is snake bit against the other good team in the league, and Hector has at least a share of 4 conference titles in 5 years

[Hornet4ever]

I've been a little out of the loop this summer. Having a kid, buying a new house, and working long hours can do that to you! From what I've gathered it appears that we've got plenty of talent returning, with 11 starters coming back. We may lack in size some, which isn't uncommon for us. As far as numbers go we have back slid a little bit, with only 25 or so players. Hester returns for his senior season at QB and will be hard to stop. Shipman (RB) is also still here and will play well I imagine. Also can't forget about senior linebacker Carter, dude is an animal.

I say we fight for a conference title and really play well.

[Wildcatalumni21]

Good luck to all teams this year! My prediction is
1. Hector
2. Mountainburg/Hackett
3. Hackett/Mountainburg
4. Magazine
5. Lavaca
6. JCW
7. WYC

[friscokid]

Good luck to all teams this year! My prediction is
1. Hector
2. Mountainburg/Hackett
3. Hackett/Mountainburg
4. Magazine
5. Lavaca
6. JCW
7. WYC

No doubt, Hector-Mountainburg will be the game of the year. Hackett might get a boost from the Hartford kids and be a player, though. Would not be shocked if there was a 3-way tie for the championship.

[Hornet4ever]

After getting a little recon about the scrimmage game, I now have a little better idea on the Hornets. I wasn't able to make it due to work

So, apparently we still have a lot of skill players from last season, including QB Hester, RB's Mcbride and Shipman which are big playmakers. We are lacking in numbers compared to recent past. I hate to say it, because I don't have this confirmed, but the talk is very little Hartford players are on our roster. There apparently was not a big "going out" as far as Hartford kids on the team. Possibly 3-4, if that. I will confirm this soon though and let everyone know. I spoke to some sources who all stated we played very well in the scrimmage against all teams.

Don't sleep on the Hornets, a lot of senior playmakers in business this season. I figure it will be like the last few seasons with a running from the top 3 teams.

[Prouddragondad]

After watching Mtburg at practice this is what I think about our team this year. Numbers are still up this year to. I counted 34 at practice which will help with not playing guys both ways. I believe that has been a big difference for them the last few yrs only having to play 2 or 3 both ways and from what I'm hearing it sounds as if it will be only 1 or 2 going both ways to start the season. This may be hard to believe but I think we are bigger then last year you can tell that several guys got serious in the weight room during off season. I was really impressed with the o-line and d-line both lines haves some big boys my opinion they are better and I thought are o- line and d-line was really good last year. Yes are speedy rb is back and he looks even faster if that possible lol. I think we got a team that can finally finish 1st in conference but with that said it wouldn't surprise me if we started off 0-2 cause Cedarville is better and I'm sure they are ready to end the 3 game losing streak against us and Greenland always has a pretty good team. Once conference starts though I believe this team will be hard to beat. Good luck to all the teams this yr it should be a interesting year several teams in conference have improved.

[beach bum]

After watching Mtburg at practice this is what I think about our team this year. Numbers are still up this year to. I counted 34 at practice which will help with not playing guys both ways. I believe that has been a big difference for them the last few yrs only having to play 2 or 3 both ways and from what I'm hearing it sounds as if it will be only 1 or 2 going both ways to start the season. This may be hard to believe but I think we are bigger then last year you can tell that several guys got serious in the weight room during off season. I was really impressed with the o-line and d-line both lines haves some big boys my opinion they are better and I thought are o- line and d-line was really good last year. Yes are speedy rb is back and he looks even faster if that possible lol. I think we got a team that can finally finish 1st in conference but with that said it wouldn't surprise me if we started off 0-2 cause Cedarville is better and I'm sure they are ready to end the 3 game losing streak against us and Greenland always has a pretty good team. Once conference starts though I believe this team will be hard to beat. Good luck to all the teams this yr it should be a interesting year several teams in conference have improved.

Those two RB's are speedy and quick that Mountainburg has. I think their first two games will have a lot to do with how quick the offense clicks for them overall. As for every team its always hit or miss on the offense early on. Greenland can put up some offense, but if your running game is clicking then I think you be just fine. Greenland's defense is extremely bad at stopping the run even though they can put up points quick. There were some games last year you scratched your head how many rushing yards Greenland gave up. Cedarville will all come down to how quick their 9th grade group that won their conference last year makes an impact in high school. Those should be two really close and competitive non conference games for Mountainburg. Hackett's non conference game against Mansfield, Hector's games vs Atkins & Perryville, as well as Mountainburg's vs the Pirate duo of Greenland & Cedarville are really good matchups that should shed light on the three teams competing for the 4-2A crown. I like the non conference scheduling all three of those 4-2A teams have.

[Wildcatalumni21]

Hector also has Junction City in non conference as well