6A Arkansas high school football playoffs preview: 5 contenders, 1 sleeper

The contenders and sleeper in the Arkansas Class 6A football playoffs

By Kyle Sutherland | Photo by Jimmy Jones

Ten weeks down and a new season is upon us as the playoffs begin Thursday. Over the course of this week, we will be releasing five contenders for each class along with a sleeper. Here is the list for Class 6A:

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CONTENDERS

Benton

After having to opt out of the postseason due to complications from COVID-19, Benton has been the hottest team in 6A this year. Though county rival Bryant handled the Panthers 42-3 in the Salt Bowl, as has happened more than once in recent years, head coach Brad Harris will tell you that a lot of people are going to get beat by Bryant. 

A similar story was written in 2019 and Benton responded by going undefeated in conference play, just as it did this season, and came within a 2-point conversion of winning the state title, falling to Searcy 28-27. The Panthers feel they still have plenty to prove heading to the postseason and have continuously proved themselves up to this point. 

Already with an abundance of talented skill players, the addition of quarterback Stran Smith transferring from Monticello has brought this offense to new heights. Running back Casey Johnson III has taken his game to an entirely different level, particularly over the past three weeks, and wide receiver Cam Harris has become one of the most reliable wide receivers in the state, putting up 100-plus yards and multiple touchdowns each week. Junior wide receiver Donovyn Pearson has also stepped up to become a solid option alongside Harris. 

Seniors Beau Wright and Cain Simmons lead a Panthers defense that has been susceptible to giving up points, but stout nonetheless. Simmons made the key stop on a 2-point conversion against Lake Hamilton in Week 9 that sealed the victory and the 6A West title. 

El Dorado

Benton might be the hottest team in the state (on a 9-game winning streak), but El Dorado is not too far behind. The Wildcats dropped two games earlier in the year, a 41-35 loss to Class 7A Cabot and 6A-East Conference foe Jonesboro 31-20 in the opening game of conference play.

Since that time, they have only been challenged once and averaged 53 points per game. Cabot coach Scott Reed, who coached at El Dorado from 2007-18, said after the Panthers' close victory that El Dorado just might have the best skill players in the state from top to bottom. Through an entire regular season, it is very hard to argue that. 

Quarterback Sharmon Rester has put up more than 3,500 yards of total offense and 41 touchdowns while receivers DeAndra Burns, Jackie Washington and Kam Bibby all have over 700 yards and 22 touchdowns combined. Shadarious Plummer has assisted Rester with a strong rushing attack, eclipsing 934 yards and 17 touchdowns.

Greenwood

It appears the defending champs are the healthiest they have been since the infancy of this season. The Bulldogs lost junior quarterback Hunter Houston for a few weeks and sophomore Slade Dean took most of the snaps in his absence.

Despite multiple players missing due to injury, the Bulldogs went on a winning streak following back-to-back losses to Fort Smith Northside and Little Rock Parkview before falling at Benton, a game in which they were up 40-28 with 5:13 remaining. It was clear that lit a fire under them, and they have outscored their previous two opponents 77-0. 

Jonesboro

The Hurricane had a rough start during the nonconference part of the schedule, going 1-2, but to be fair, all of their opponents were from Class 7A with the two losses being Cabot and Conway. 

Since then, they have hardly been challenged through the 6A-East schedule, averaging 39 points per game. That was the case until this past Thursday night in the regular-season finale on the road against Marion, losing a 50-43 shootout to the Patriots after surrendering 30 points in the second half. 

They have a bye week in Round One to learn from the mistakes of last week while awaiting the winner of Thursday’s matchup between Little Rock Parkview and fellow 6A-East rival Searcy.

Senior Rykar Acebo has led the offensive charge, completing 68% of his passes for 2,748 yard with a 34/7 TD/INT ratio. Classmates Kavon Pointer, Tyrin Ruffin and Jesse Washington all have eclipsed 500 yards receiving and all have been on the receiving end of at least eight touchdowns, Pointer leading the team with 15.

Lake Hamilton

Coming into the season, Lake Hamilton was one of the favorites in Class 6A coming off a state runner-up finish in 2020 with multiple starters returning.

The Wolves benefited from a schedule in which they were superior to their opponents and were not challenged until the second game of the conference slate against Parkview. They continued to win and came into one of the most anticipated games of the year at home against Benton, losing a heartbreaker 42-41 after being stopped on a 2-point conversion, almost identically opposite to how they defeated Sylvan Hills to advance to the state title game last season. 

Things completely fell apart last week when the Wolves traveled to defending champion Greenwood and were shut out 35-0. After giving up just nine points per game through five games, Lake Hamilton has surrendered 30-plus points in four of the past five contests. 

Though the past two games are reason for concern, head coach Tommy Gilleran didn’t just forget to coach overnight, and the players know how to win (senior class has won 28 games), so despite the adversity, there is still plenty of reason to believe they will get back to War Memorial Stadium.

All-state running back Tevin Hughes is the workhorse on offense and leads the team in rushing with 1,207 yards, averaging 7.2 yards per carry. After fellow all-state player Owen Miller went down with a knee injury early against Malvern, all-conference safety Justin Crutchmer moved to offense and has taken off, gashing defenses for 1,063 yards on an eye-popping 10.3 yards per carry.

SLEEPER

Little Rock Parkview

Parkview began the season very strong, winning its three nonconference games by a combined 107-10 before beating up on an already injured Greenwood team 48-28 to begin 6A West play.

All of those highs were countered with multiple blows as the very next day the Patriots were hit with AAA sanctions due to an ineligible player and had to forfeit their Week 0 game with Little Rock Southwest.

A two-game losing streak to Lake Hamilton and Benton put the Patriots behind in the conference standings, but they were able to close the final month on a four-game winning streak. With a handful (plus one or two) Division I prospects on the roster, there is no doubt this team has a strong chance to make it to Little Rock.

Jaylon White (Ole Miss commit) leads the offense at quarterback, along with running backs James Jointer (Arkansas commit) and Willie Eackles, who has an offer from Memphis. White also leads the secondary along with Trent Bennett and Xavier Branch. Along the defensive front Alex Martin, Jude Onuoha and Isiah McKenzie have been a headache for opposing offensive lines.

If Parkview plays its game, it’s not crazy to think they will play for the title. They just have to finish games when the lights are brightest.

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