Where will West Memphis wind up in 2016?

Where will West Memphis wind up in 2016?

Chuck’’s Corrnerr

By Chuck Liiviingston

Welcome back to Prognostication Week 2016, everybody!

I’m sticking with that as the name because nobody came up with anything better and because I’m too lazy to come up with anything else on my own.

Yesterday, I put the Marion Patriots down for a 4-6 record and a 3-4 mark in the 6A-East.

People forget this now, but with the latest reclassification, Marion and West Memphis are actually league rivals once again.

So since I did Marion yesterday, it’s naturally time for West Memphis, so a lot of the matchups and opponents will stay the same as yesterday.

So sit down, put your feet up and save that Text The Times about me not writing about West Memphis in your drafts and read along as I write about West Memphis.

Friday, September 2, Forrest City Mustangs: 4110 win This is the third year of the Forrest City rivalry renewal and after a tight first edition in 2014, last year’s was not and this year’s shouldn’t be either.

In a lot of ways, the Forrest City game is what an opener should be for a competitive Class 6A team. You play a team that you should handle so that you can get reps for a lot of players.

Don’t get me wrong, you should also play somebody that can beat you out of league play, but the limited amount of snaps that teams get in their benefit scrimmages aren’t really enough.

The Cotton Bale Trophy remains in West Memphis. Friday, September 9, at Blytheville: 35-24 win West Memphis lost at Blytheville last year in an early-season surprise, but that Chickasaw squad was actually quality.

As I’ll remind you for the second straight day, Blytheville shared the 5AEast last season with Batesville and Wynne. As a point of comparison, West Memphis beat Wynne at home last year.

This year should be different, however. The Chickasaws lost a lot to graduation and West Memphis should theoretically still be ascending.

I also think that the revenge factor could be in play, and that certainly benefits the Blue Devils.

Friday, September 16, at Little Rock Central Tigers: 31-17 win The biggest win for Billy Elmore at West Memphis so far was last fall’s 21-14 victory against Central at Hamilton-Shultz Field.

It basically put the Blue Devils into the Class 7A playoffs for the first time since 2012, and while a lot of people think that the playoff pools are too deep nowadays, imagine what it’d be like to be one of those teams on the outside looking in.

Friday, September 23, at Marion Patriots: 31-21 win Hey look! It’s the same score that I predicted as yesterday. Wonders never cease.

I think that this is the first of three West Memphis swing games this fall.

The thinking is that a 3-0 West Memphis team riding into a wild and crazy Patriot Stadium for a conference opener could be a dangerous deal for the Blue Devils.

Additionally, if you’re new to town and haven’t heard yet, Marion has never beaten West Memphis in football.

You think that this group of Blue Devils may feel a little bit of pressure, not wanting to be the first team to lose to the Pats?

I do. That’s why it’s a swing game.

Friday, September 30, Searcy: 28-12 win Here’s another swing game, and the reason is a little more traditional as Searcy has bested West Memphis the past four years.

That’s an entire presidential term. That’s the entire time in between summer Olympic games.

That’s the entire time that Lebron James played for the Miami Heat.

If West Memphis is serious about being a player in the state again, they can’t lose to Searcy, and I think they win this year.

Friday, October 7, at Little Rock Hall: 55-14 win If you’re keeping score at home, the Blue Devils are 5-0 after this theoretically Searcy win.

Helping the cause has been a home-heavy first half of the slate as West Memphis only leaves Crittenden County one time in the month of September.

Their second trip comes to a team that could be one of the league’s worst teams this year, which will take some of the drama out of the first conference meeting between schools since 2011.

West Memphis can name its score en route to a 6-0 start.

Friday, October 14, Jonesboro Golden Hurricane: 45-33 loss West Memphis returns home to a mid-season showdown against one of their oldest rivals.

This is also swing game number 2 as I believe that Jonesboro is better than West Memphis, but if the Hamilton-Shultz mystique is present, then the Blue Devils could pull a shocker, like they did in 2013 in overtime.

Jonesboro boasts a Division 1 player in Jonathan Adams, as well as a philosophy that pushes most of their better athletes to the offensive side of the ball.

This means that the Blue Devils will be able to move the ball and put some points up, but I think that Jonesboro will do the same, more efficiently.

West Memphis takes its first loss of the year.

Friday, October 21, at Jacksonville Titans: 35-21 win I don’t totally know what to make of Jacksonville, as I explained yesterday.

The upside for the Blue Devils is that while Jonesboro is a good team and a nice test for them, they aren’t necessarily a physical team that will beat West Memphis up for the rest of the season.

That’s a good thing entering a new environment where the team needs a road win to stay in the hunt for a league title.

Friday, October 28, at Pine Bluff Zebras: 31-20 loss If you want to make the case for West Memphis, then you point to all of the graduation of a ton of key players that helped the Zebras to consecutive Class 6A titles the past two seasons.

The Zebras always seem to have great athletes, and are probably the most tradition- rich football program in the history of Arkansas, outside of Little Rock Central.

From where we’re sitting today, it’s hard to see West Memphis beating Pine Bluff, especially on the road.

Friday, November 4, at Mountain Home Bombers: 48-8 win Even riding a 7-2, 4-2 record into this game, it’s still a biggie for West Memphis in their playoff push.

A 5-2 league mark would likely give West Memphis a No. 3 seed from the 6AEast, and a first-round home playoff game.

They’d still likely pull a team like El Dorado, Lake Hamilton or Benton, but that’s a team that they’d have to play anyway, and it would almost assuredly be best to play that game at home.

That gives West Memphis an 8-2 overall record, 5-2 in the conference, and their best regular season record since 2011.