PHOTO: The Arkadelphia Badgers pose for a team picture after defeating the Southside Southerners 35-6 Friday night in the 4A State semifinals. | Courtesy photo
By CHRIS BABB | special to arkadelphian.com
The Arkadelphia Badger football team heard the phrase “get over the hump” several times from the coaching staff last week before the team’s 4A state semifinal game vs. the Southside Southerners.
That hump referred to the 4A State semifinals, a place that had marked the end of the season for Arkadelphia two times in the last three seasons. Arkadelphia lost heartbreaking semifinal games in 2021 and 2022, both on the road and both by three points.
Last Friday night, the Badgers got over that hump with a 35-6 victory over Southside, giving the Southerners their first loss of the season. The game was the first time Arkadelphia had hosted a semifinal game at Badger Stadium since its construction just over 20 years ago.
On other side of the hump rests a date with the Elkins Elks Saturday at noon in the 4A State Championship at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock.
“We’ve been preaching to our guys for years how we can get there,” said Arkadelphia head coach Trey Schucker in his postgame interview with the broadcast. “The whole deal this week was that we were standing on top of the hump and we just have to take that extra step to get over it and we did that.”
And they did it in fine fashion, dominating a Southside team that came into the game averaging just over 36 points per game. The Southerners found the end zone on the last play of the game after Arkadelphia had invoked the mercy rule.
The win puts Arkadelphia in the 4A state championship game for the first time since 2018, a game that saw the school win its second state title game in a row. Arkadelphia defeated Warren 28-27 in 2017 and capped off a memorable 2018 season with a 28-0 win over Robinson. The Badgers started the 2018 season 0-5 and rattled off 10 straight victories to win the title, defeating the Senators who were the last of the five losses to open the season. All totaled, the Arkansas Activities Association recognizes four titles for the Badgers. Arkadelphia also won state titles in 1979 and 1987.
The Badgers will face Elkins, which comes into the game with a 14-0 record and as the 1-seed from the 4A-1. Elkins went on the road to defeat Mills 33-22 last week in their semifinal matchup in Little Rock.
The Badgers and the Elks have been considered the top two teams in class 4A this season by many of those who cover Arkansas high school football. The teams have three common opponents. Both teams defeated Gentry, Dardanelle and Malvern. The scores were somewhat comparable for the Malvern and Gentry games, with the outlier being the results against Dardanelle. The Elks defeated the Sand Lizards 51-0 in an early-season non-conference game and the Badgers defeated the Sand Lizards 35-27 in the quarterfinals two weeks ago. Elkins also had an impressive 49-14 win over Warren in neutral site non-conference action in September.
Elkins will be looking for the program’s first state title Saturday which would cap off a perfect season. Schucker knows that the Elks will present a strong challenge for the Badgers, which is to be expected in a state championship game.
“Elkins is a good team and we have to play really good to win,” Schucker said on his weekly coach’s show. “They’re coached really well and Coach (Zach) Watson and his staff do a really good job in everything they do.
“Defensively they’re very sound. They’re physical and they tackle really well. Offensively they’re really good at the run and pass with a good quarterback and running back as well as on the offensive line. They have good special teams, too. Typically we don’t see as sound of a special teams unit as what we’ll see this week with Elkins.”
Schucker also knows that his team is good and will have to be ready to play at a championship level.
“We’re glad to be over the hump and to make it to championship week,” said Schucker, who will be making his second appearance in a state championship game, as he was the offensive coordinator in 2019 when Searcy won a state championship. “We’re excited, but we’re still hungry.”
Due to the placement on the state playoff bracket, Arkadelphia will be considered the home team Saturday and fans will sit on the press-box side of War Memorial Stadium. Gates open at 10:30 Saturday morning. All tickets must be purchased online at this link. Digital tickets will be presented at the gate by fans. All tickets are general admission and are $9 each plus applicable fees from GoFan.
Arkadelphia fans should plan to enter the stadium on the press-box side of the stadium which is the west side. The two most recent times Arkadelphia has made the title game, the Badgers have been the visiting team and sat opposite the press box.
Parking will be available in the main parking lot nearest the visiting side. War Memorial Stadium will open up more parking on the area that was formerly War Memorial Golf Course should additional spots be needed.
War Memorial Stadium also strictly enforces a clear bag policy and other security measures. That policy and other security measures can be found here.
All AAA state championship games are televised live on Arkansas PBS affiliates, formerly known at AETN. Fans inside the state of Arkansas can watch the game free online via the Arkansas PBS site. Fans outside the state of Arkansas can watch the game via pay-per-view on the NFHS Network. Fans will be asked to purchase a month-long or annual subscription to gain access to the game.
The game will also be broadcast live on the radio by The Buzz radio network on 106.7 FM Buzz2.
Arkadelphia’s regular broadcast crew featuring play-by-play from Dr. Jeff Root and color analyst Cooper Darr will produce an audio-only broadcast of the game at www.arkadelphiabadgertv.com/broadcasts . The Arkadelphia broadcast can also be heard on the Arkadelphia Badger app available on the Apple App Store or on Google Play. Fans can still hear the Southern Bancorp Badger pregame show and the Roger Wingfield State Farm interview with Schucker beginning at 11:15 a.m.
Fans are also invited to a State Championship game pep rally Friday afternoon at 2:30 at Badger Stadium.
Fans should bookmark the Arkadelphia Public Schools website to keep up with information regarding the game throughout the week. Those who are on Facebook can also keep up with that information on the Arkadelphia Public Schools, Arkadelphia High School, and Badger Athletics Facebook pages.
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