Arkansas Sports 360.com - July 2008 - (Page 61) Another 10 Noteworthy Rivalries in Arkansas RUSSELLVILLE VS. CONWAY The Cyclones and the Wampus Cats is another old-fashioned rivalry that has been around since 1909, with 82 meetings in all. Conway leads the series 48-29-5, but only 12-11 since 1988. The two teams have played consecutively since 1949. What makes it a rivalry: The signature game in this rivalry is a three-overtime classic in the first round of the playoffs in 1992. Conway won the slugfest 34-28 after Russellville had won the regular-season meeting 32-21. In the playoff game, both teams had chances in the first overtime with Conway suffering a blocked field goal while Russellville had a bad snap foiling its field-goal attempt. Conway scored first in the third overtime, then recovered a fumble on Russellville’s turn to prevail. Bowl also is a holdover from the old Thanksgiving Day rivalries. According to Gridiron 2001, The Ashley News Observer, by Heath Waldrop, the 1931 game decided the southeast Arkansas championship in the days before official conferences and districts were formed by the Arkansas Activities Association. Hamburg prevailed 20-0 over the Eagles to cap a second straight undefeated season. What makes it a rivalry: In 1981, Benton’s student-council had pink spraypainted marshmallows dropped from an airplane on Bryant’s fans. Winds blew them past the stadium, however. The game is now the traditional season-opener and routinely draws playoff-type and statechampionship-type crowds. Ironically, the battle of the two Saline County schools has moved to the big stage of Little Rock’s War Memorial Stadium. NASHVILLE VS. HOPE In 1924, very few of the current rivalries were playing, but Nashville and Hope was one of them. The two began playing on Thanksgiving Day in 1910 with Hope winning 28-6, according to research performed by Mike Morrow for the Nashville Leader. What makes it a rivalry: Nashville and Hope did not play from 1985-95 but, other than that, have played consecutively from 1921. The two teams will kick off the season in the traditional season opener on Sept. 5. BENTONVILLE VS. ROGERS The Battle of Benton County was first played in 1913 and is another Thanksgiving Day game from long ago. This wouldn’t have even been in the top 20 high school football rivalries 15 years ago. The two teams have only played consecutively since 1981 due to a disparity in the size of towns. With the population boom in northwest Arkansas, however, Bentonville’s growth spawned a new football stadium and a renewed emphasis on sports. Rogers has benefited from the growth as well, so much so that the new Heritage High will open this fall. Like Fayetteville and Springdale, this rivalry could suffer with the addition of a new high school in one of the cities. Rogers leads the series 49-20-2. What makes it a rivalry: Despite playing consecutively only since 1981, Rogers and Bentonville have played a recorded 71 times since that first meeting in 1913. When star player Kim Dameron transferred from Bentonville to Rogers for his senior season in 1978, Bentonville wouldn’t play Rogers in 1979 and 1980. Consider the small blue lab rats with big R’s on their backs that Rogers students let loose in the halls of Bentonville back in the 1990s. CABOT VS. JACKSONVILLE Jacksonville dominated the early days of the rivalry, which began in 1949. The addition of Little Rock Air Force Base in 1955 prompted Jacksonville’s growth, and the two teams discontinued the rivalry after a 33-0 win by Jacksonville in 1965. Jacksonville won consecutive games when the series was renewed in 1981 and 1982, but Cabot owns a 14-8 advantage since the two began playing every year in 1987. What makes it a rivalry: Mike Malham Jr. and Johnny Watson were assistant coaches on the 1978 and 1979 staff at Jacksonville. Watson left for Fordyce in 1980 and returned to Jacksonville in 1986. Malham took over at Cabot in 1981. The two renewed the rivalry in 1987, even meeting in the playoffs that season, and the two schools have played every year since. NEWPORT VS. BATESVILLE This is another holdover from the old Thanksgiving Day games, long before the modern playoffs when the annual holiday day game was the biggest and most heated on the schedule. By the most accurate account, Newport and Batesville began playing in the 1910s and have played every year since 1926. Newport won 25 straight over Batesville from 1976-98. Since then, Batesville has turned the tables and has won seven of eight. What makes it a rivalry: In the first Thanksgiving Day game the two teams played in 1926, Batesville won 31-0. Batesville racked up 240 yards of penalties while Newport had 100. That’s just bad blood there. N FORREST CITY VS. WEST MEMPHIS Fortunately, a necessary ingredient of a good rivalry is not equality. West Memphis has dominated over the past 20 years with the Mustangs winning just once. Forrest City and West Memphis began playing in 1954 and have played consecutively since, with the Blue Devils holding a 26-16-2 advantage. Forrest City’s main rival was Wynne until the 1960s. What makes it a rivalry: Forrest City and West Memphis play for the Cotton Bale Trophy, which was first presented to the winner in 1964. RISON VS. FORDYCE VAN BUREN VS. ALMA Another classic dogfight, except this is between bird dogs: Pointers and Airedales. Van Buren leads the series 35-22-4. What makes it a rivalry: The Battle of Crawford County began in 1923, and the two schools played consecutively from 1932-49 but ended after Van Buren won four straight by large margins. The two met again in 1955, but after Van Buren rolled up a 71-19 win the series ended again until 1962. Van Buren won three more and the series again ended until 1971, when the two schools were united in the same conference. Even when Van Buren was elevated into the state’s largest classification in 1991, Van Buren and Alma continued playing to open the season. Rison supplanted Warren as Fordyce’s main rival once the game was moved to the season opener in 1964. Fordyce leads the series, which began in 1952, by a 30-21-5 margin. What makes it a rivalry: Jimmy “Red” Parker is the poster child for the rivalry. He played for Fordyce in the 1950s and then coached Rison from 1993-95 before coaching Fordyce from 2003-05. Both teams opened the 1991 season as defending state champions, and the game finished in a 21-21 tie. The Wildcats and Redbugs would not lose that season, as both repeated as state champions. ❍ BENTON VS. BRYANT CROSSETT VS. HAMBURG The Ashley Bowl goes back so far that no one is really sure when it started. The rivalry between the two neighboring towns goes back at least to the 1920s. Since 1945, Crossett leads the series 41-19-2. What makes it a rivalry: The Ashley The Salt Bowl is definitely a Johnnycome-lately as far as high school rivalries. Benton was always one of the biggest football-playing schools in the state and competed in the big school conference some years before Bryant’s growth allowed the two schools to start competing against each other in 1974. Benton leads the short but heated series 24-10-1. — Leland Barclay July 2008 ArkansasSports360.com 61 http://ArkansasSports360.com
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