Tigers And Wolves Change Classifications

FOOTBALL CONFERENCES NOT YET SET FOR 2022-2024

MARK HUMPHREY  ENTERPRISE-LEADER/Prairie Grove defenders take all available routes including going aerial when pursuing the football. Last week the Tigers were notified in a surprise announcement by the Arkansas Activities Association that they will be bumped up to the 5A Classification for the 2022-2024 school years.
MARK HUMPHREY ENTERPRISE-LEADER/Prairie Grove defenders take all available routes including going aerial when pursuing the football. Last week the Tigers were notified in a surprise announcement by the Arkansas Activities Association that they will be bumped up to the 5A Classification for the 2022-2024 school years.

PRAIRIE GROVE -- The intense gridiron rivalry played annually betwixt Farmington and Prairie Grove will once again become a conference game, according to numbers released by the Arkansas Activities Association for 2022-2024.

In the upcoming 2022-2024 cycle, Prairie Grove jumps to 5A while Lincoln reverts to 4A -- a reflection of major changes across three of the top four high school football classifications with 27 schools changing classifications.

Arkansas Activities Association Director Derek Walter said the numbers are drawn from Arkansas Department of Education counts compiled on Oct. 1 taken from a 3-year average enrollment.

Private Schools Evaluation

One reason for the drastic changes is a recent public policy initiated by the AAA's board of directors Walter refers to as the "Classification and Competitive Equity Factor proposal," which passed during a workshop Tuesday, June 8.

"We took all the private schools out," Walter said in a telephone interview Friday. "They don't count as part of that number."

According to Walter, the private schools such as Springdale's Shiloh Christian, the Class 4A state champion for 2020 and currently a member of the 4A-1 Conference in football, will be classified based on their sports program's performance over a four-year period.

That four-year evaluation won't conclude until the end of the 2021-2022 school year, which is also the end of the current sports classification cycle, and conferences won't be set until determinations are made at what level each private school will compete at.

Walter noted that out of all the private schools in the state only eight of them compete in football.

Going 5A Football

Prairie Grove will be among six teams new to the 5A Classification, including Pine Bluff, which due to a dramatic decrease in enrollment, falls from the 30th largest high school in the state as a member of the 6A East all the way to No. 9 among Class 5A schools. The Zebras enrollment declined from 893.33 to 726.67 -- a loss of almost 167 students -- the largest difference among the schools included in this report.

Pine Bluff is the only school descending into Class 5A. Prairie Grove, which has been a member of the 4A-1 Conference since 2006, ascends in classification like Dardanelle (4A-4), Mills (4A-2), Southside Batesville (4A-2), and Joe T. Robinson (4A-7).

Prairie Grove's average enrollment jumped from 459.33 to 471.33, an increase of a dozen students, and enough to boost the Tigers into the 29th slot out of 32 Class 5A schools that play football.

Five schools, Pocahontas (456.67), Huntsville (449.33), Gravette (446), Nashville (440.33) and Berryville (437.00) at the top of the 4A football enrollments, were spared having to change classifications despite Nashville taking a big jump from 407.33, up by 33 students.

The AAA's numbers show Huntsville's enrollment declined by 27 students from 476.33 while Gravette diminished by 14 students from 460 and Berryville saw a four-student reduction down from 441.33. Pocahontas showed a slight decrease from 457.67.

Lincoln Enrollment Declines

Schools like Lincoln, which has been a member of the 3A-1 Conference, and saw its enrollment decline from 286.67 in the last cycle to 273.33, a loss of 13 students, were surprised when they got bumped up to 4A for football.

Walter acknowledged that issue, saying in some situations, "There were schools that lost students, but schools beside them that actually lost more, so they moved up."

Riverview (3A-2), Mayflower (3A-4), and Genoa Central (3A-5) also declined in enrollment, but will make the jump to 4A football. Riverview's enrollment decreased from 285.00 to 274.67, almost 11 students, yet moves up in classification. Genoa Central's drop was minimal, but it also goes to 4A for football. Mayflower lost almost 15 students going from 279.00 to 264.67 and still moves up.

Walter said the state's population is increasing in some areas, while declining in others. The AAA's numbers reflect that.

McGehee (3A-6) received a boost of nearly 20 students going from 244.67 to 264.00 while Mountain View (3A-2) increased from 268.33 to 285.33. Both will go to Class 4A football.

Farmington Unaffected Now

Farmington was unaffected by the policy change for the next cycle. The Cardinals, who were bumped up in 2014 will continue as a 5A school in football and 4A in other sports; while Harrison, which has been a member of the 5A West in football since 2006, goes to 5A for all sports in the 2022-2024 cycle. Farmington's enrollment increased from 582.33 to 599.0 moving it up four spots from the 22nd largest 5A school to No. 18.

Harrison's jump was bigger, marking an increase of nearly 36 students. The Goblins increased from 600.67 to 636.33, which moved them up five spots to becoming the 15th largest Class 5A football school.

Three schools left the 5A classification for 6A. Greenbrier (821) moves up despite a four-student drop from 825.67, while Greene County Tech shows an increase from 841.67 to 861.33, and Jacksonville's numbers are also up from 782.67 to 825.00.

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SCHOOLS NEW TO 5A FOOTBALL FOR 2022-2024

School^Class Rank^2020^2022^Difference^Old League

Pine Bluff^9^893.33^726.67^-166.66^6A East

Farmington^18^582.33^599.0^+16.67^5A West*

Joe T. Robinson^23^442.67^527.00^+84.33^4A-7

Mills^27^465.33^481.67^+16.34^4A-2

Prairie Grove^29^459.33^471.33^+12.00^4A-1

Dardanelle^30^472.33^465.00^-6.67^4A-4

Southside Batesville^32^434.33^457.00^-22.67^4A-2

*Included for comparison only — 5A football school in 2020-2022