Football playoff overview

The first round of the football playoffs will be played at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 13 across the state of Arkansas. Here is an overview of regional teams in each bracket.

7A

Bentonville, North Little Rock, Cabot and Springdale Har-Ber get byes in the first round among the big schools. And of course, there are no 7A schools in Northeast Arkansas.

6A

Jonesboro, West Memphis, Lake Hamilton and El Dorado all get byes in the first round of the 6A bracket. The Hurricane will take on the winner of the Watson Chapel-Searcy game in round two.

5A

Greene County Tech, Blytheville and Forrest City will be in action Friday night in the 5A bracket. The Golden Eagles of Tech meet Magnolia, the Blytheville Chickasaws meet Camden Fairview and Forrest City takes on Little Rock Christian as the top seed from 5A-East.

4A

Shiloh Christian (or Shiloh Christian University as some like to call it) along with Booneville are the only 4A teams to get a bye in the first round this year.

The top teams, in order, from the Northeast Arkansas region of 4A-3 are Osceola, Newport, Gosnell, Valley View and Trumann as they send five teams to the first round.

The Seminoles of Osceola draw Huntsville, Newport faces Stuttgart, Gosnell draws DeQueen, the Blazers of Valley View take on Gravette and Trumann meets the Dover Pirates.

One other 4A team of note is the Bald Knob Bulldogs, who drop down to 3A for the next two years and join the 3A-3 conference with the Piggott Mohawks. The Bulldogs were conference champions in 4A-2 and meet Subiaco Academy in the first round. Bald Knob took the title over Heber Springs, Lonoke and Stuttgart.

3A

The Rivercrest Colts get a bye in the first round as champions of 3A-3 and will take on the winner of the contest between Bauxite and Episcopal Collegiate in the second round. Others getting first round byes are Perryville, Prescott, Fountain Lake, Charleston and Harding Academy. Meanwhile, second place Harrisburg takes on Jessieville in round one; third place Cave City meets Yellville-Summit (a team they beat 34-16 in week three) and the Earle Bulldogs will take on the Rison Wildcats.

A win by the Colts in the second round will likely set up a meeting with Perryville in the quarterfinals and a possible showdown with Prescott in the upper half of the bracket.

If the Hornets can get by Jessieville they'll face the winner of the game between Camden-Harmony Grove and Green Forrest, and a win in that round should set up a showdown with Harding Academy.

Of course, Cave City could determine that as they will face the Harding Academy Wildcats in the second round, providing they take care of business against the Panthers in round one.

The Earle Bulldogs will have the task of facing powerhouse Charleston if they get by Rison in the first round. And if they can better the Tigers they'll likely face the Cobras of Fountain Lake in the quarters.

2A

The McCrory Jaguars get a bye in the first round as champs from 2A-3 and will take on the winner of the contest between the Mt. Pine Red Devils and the Palestine-Wheatley Patriots in round two.

Second place Augusta draws the Strong Bulldogs in the first round, and will face the winner of the Des Arc-Cutter Morning Star game in the second round should they advance.

The third place Walnut Ridge Bobcats meet Woodlawn in round one, and with a win over the Bears will meet the winner of the Hazen-Smackover contest in the top half of the bracket.

The Thunderbirds of Cross County finished fourth in conference, and are in the lower half of the bracket with Augusta. They take on Conway-Christian in round one and if they can get by the Eagles they'll face the winner of the contest between Danville and Westside-Johnson County.

The Salem Greyhounds are also in the top half of the 2A bracket as the fifth place team, and draw 2A-8 champion Bearden in the first round. Should Salem get by the Bears they'll take on the winner of the Hackett-Mineral Springs game in round two.