PHOTO: The Arkadelphia Badgers pose for a team photo after defeating the Southside Southerners 35-6 in the 4A state semifinals on Friday night. | Free photo

By CHRIS BABB | Especially for 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 against the Southside Southerners.

That bump referred to the 4A state semifinals, a spot that had marked season-ending for Arkadelphia twice in the past three seasons. Arkadelphia lost heartbreaking semifinal games in 2021 and 2022, both on the road and by three points each.

Last Friday night, the Badgers overcame that hurdle with a 35-6 win over Southside, handing the Southerners their first loss of the season. The game marked the first time Arkadelphia hosted a semifinal game at Badger Stadium since its construction just over 20 years ago.

On the other side of the hump is a date with the Elkins Elks in the 4A state championship at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock at noon Saturday.

“We’ve been preaching to our guys for years about how to get there,” Arkadelphia head coach Trey Schucker said in his postgame interview with the broadcast. “The whole thing this week was that we were at the top of the mound and we just had to take that extra step to get over it and we did that.”

And they did it in good fashion, dominating a Southside team that came into the game averaging just over 36 points per game. The Southerners reached the end zone on the final play of the game after Arkadelphia invoked the mercy rule.

The win puts Arkadelphia in the 4A state championship game for the first time since 2018, a game in which the school won its second straight state championship game. Arkadelphia defeated Warren 28-27 in 2017 and capped a memorable 2018 season with a 28-0 win over Robinson. The Badgers started the 2018 season 0-5 and rattled off 10 straight wins to win the title. They defeated the Senators, which was the last of five losses to open the season. In total, 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 ranked No. 1 in 4A-1. Elkins rallied to defeat Mills 33-22 in the semifinals in Little Rock last week.

The Badgers and Elks were viewed by many who cover Arkansas high school football as the top two teams in Class 4A this season. The teams have three common opponents. Both teams defeated Gentry, Dardanelle and Malvern. The results were reasonably comparable between the Malvern and Gentry games, with the outlier being the results against Dardanelle. The Elks defeated the Sand Lizards 51-0 in a non-conference game earlier in the season and the Badgers defeated the Sand Lizards 35-27 in the quarterfinals two weeks ago. Elkins also scored an impressive 49-14 win over Warren in a non-conference neutral game in September.

Elkins is aiming for the program’s first state championship on Saturday, which would cap a perfect season. Schucker knows the Elks will pose a tough challenge to the Badgers, which is to be expected in a state championship game.

“Elkins is a good team and we have to play really well to win,” Schucker said on his weekly coaching show. “They are coached really well and coach (Zach) Watson and his staff do a really good job at everything they do.

“Defensively they are very strong. They’re physically strong and they tackle things really well. Offensively, they have a good quarterback and running back, and they are very good at running and passing on offense. They also have good special teams. Normally we don’t see as much sound in a special operations unit as what we’re going to see with Elkins this week.”

Schucker also knows that his team is good and needs to be ready to play at a championship level.

“We’re happy to get over the hurdle and make it to championship week,” said Schucker, who will be appearing in a state championship game for the second time, having been the offensive coordinator in 2019 when Searcy won a state championship. “We’re excited, but we’re still hungry.”

Due to its placement in the state playoff round, Arkadelphia will be considered the home team on Saturday and fans will be seated in the press box at War Memorial Stadium. Gates open at 10:30 a.m. Saturday morning. All tickets must be purchased online at this link. Digital tickets will be presented by fans at the entrance. All tickets are general admission and cost $9 each plus applicable GoFan fees.

Arkadelphia fans should plan to enter the stadium from the west side of the stadium, the press box. The last two times Arkadelphia played in the title game, the Badgers were the visiting team and sat across from the press box.

Parking is available in the main parking lot closest to the visitor side. War Memorial Stadium will open more parking on the site of the former War Memorial Golf Course if additional parking is needed.

War Memorial Stadium also strictly enforces a clear bag policy and other security measures. This policy and other security measures can be found here.

All AAA state championship games will be broadcast live on Arkansas PBS affiliate, formerly known as AETN. Fans in the state of Arkansas can watch the game online for free through the Arkansas PBS website. Fans outside the state of Arkansas can watch the game on pay-per-view on the NFHS Network. Fans are encouraged to purchase a monthly or annual subscription to gain access to the game.

The game will also be broadcast live on The Buzz radio station on 106.7 FM Buzz2.

Arkadelphia’s regular broadcast team with 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 via the Arkadelphia Badger app, available in the Apple App Store or Google Play. Fans can continue to hear the Southern Bancorp Badger pregame show and the Roger Wingfield State Farm interview with Schucker starting at 11:15 a.m

Fans are also invited to a pep rally for the state championship game on Friday afternoon at 2:30 p.m. at Badger Stadium.

Fans should bookmark the Arkadelphia Public Schools website to stay up to date on game information throughout the week. Those on Facebook can also follow this information on the Arkadelphia Public Schools, Arkadelphia High School and Badger Athletics Facebook pages.

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