The Sports Guys - with David Pierce

Getting ready to embark on another season of Arkansas high school football here in the northeast tip of the state.

So like the nine teams in the Sports Connection coverage area, our three-man newspaper squad is prepping as well.

Hurriedly meeting with coaches and players to snap photos, conduct interviews. The target being completion of a preseason publication highlighting the Mississippi and Poinsett County teams.

And someone even had the idea for the trio of Steve Knox, Cosmo Cossey and myself to do a Face-book live commentary on the upcoming season. If you haven’t seen it, don’t make it a priority and that’s with all due respect to my counterparts.

Those two came off as well-groomed analysts talking up the respective teams, players, while yours truly gave a brief bum-bling, fumbling cameo.

Still, it was an avenue to showcase this area of the state as a hotbed of formidable teams and high-caliber athletes.

Since the turn of the century, five (Rivercrest, Gosnell, EPC Osceola and Marked Tree) of the nine teams have winning records. Which has the most wins?

Considering their two state titles in 2010 and 2017, the Colts have been victorious 188 times in their 217 games - that’s a near 70 percent winning percentage. Thirty-seven of those wins came in the postseason where RHS owns an identical win ratio. And the southern-most team in the county has 16 winning seasons in that same span.

But those 16 winning seasons aren’t tops among the nine. That honor goes to the Gosnell Pirates with 17 plus-.500 finishes. The swashbucklers hold the second best winning percentage over that time at 64 percent, winning 160 games. They also have 15 playoff wins against 19 losses.

Surprisingly, Osceola comes in third with 156 wins in 253 games as their winning percentage is just behind East Poinsett County’s 63 percent success rate. The Warriors are just two behind the Seminoles in the win column and also just one of three teams among the nine with more victories than losses in the postseason. OHS holds a 25-17 mark, while EPC has posted a 21-16 slate.

Marked Tree is the final school of the nine with a winning mark over the same period. The Indians sit at 125-104-1 since 2000. That includes a 6-16 post-season record.

Harrisburg and Trumann are neck and neck with the Hornets holding a 2-win advantage at 109 to the Wildcats 107. The teams dropped 125 and 126 games, respectively. HHS has won 7 of its 12 playoff games, while the Wildcats have posted a 5-15 mark.

Blytheville is eighth among the nine teams with a 42 percent winning percentage based off a 97-132-2 record. The Chicks have two playoff wins in 14 tries and will seek their first conference crown since 2007.

Bonus question: Who was a member of that team?

Ironically, it’s first-year BHS coach Gerrett ‘Jett’ Howard.

Manila, while only competing since 2008, has posted 40 wins against 112 losses. The Lions, too, have experienced the postseason and hold a 1-4 mark in four playoff appearances.

And like Blytheville, Manila, Harrisburg and Trumann all welcome new coaches to the fold. Howard earned the promotion at Blytheville, while former Chick coach Ben Fisher moves a little west to Manila.

Austin Jarrett makes the transition from Mountain Home to take the reins at Harrisburg, while Gunner Cook was elevated from defensive coordinator to Trumann head coach.

How will the 2023 campaign unfold? Will River-crest win its first conference title since 2020? Can the Seminoles repeat as 3-3A champs? Will EPC and Dennis Gaines run roughshod over the competition? Are Gosnell and Blytheville being overlooked? Can Marked Tree capitalize on its 2022 success? What impact will these new coaches have on their respective programs?

All questions to be answered beginning Aug. 25.