Airedales face No. 1 Parkview
By Kevin Taylor
Alma Schools
The Alma Airedales are headed back to post-season play.
Alma will face No. 1 Little Rock Parkview on Thursday at 7 p.m. at War Memorial Stadium. General admission is $8 and parking will be $5, officials said in a release.
Alma hasn’t won a road playoff game since the opening week of the 2019 playoffs when they rallied late to stun Forrest City, 34-33. The team built a 14-0 first-half lead against White Hall the following week before eventually falling, 24-17.
“That’s the standard around here; that’s what we want to be able to do,” Alma football coach Rusty Bush said. “The last week, or the last two weeks, you want to be competing for a conference championship. (But) it’s a tough league we’re playing in. One week you’re playing for a conference championship, and if you lose that game you’re going to a No. 4 seed.
“It just tells you how tight it is.”
How competitive is the 5A-West? Alma is a single play away from a different first-round opponent. Had the team held on against Harrison last month, when the Goblins threw a late touchdown pass to eke out a 39-35 victory, Alma would have earned a No. 3 playoff seed and a date with Hot Springs Lakeside.
As it was, despite the heartbreak, the team was still in a position to win the outright conference championship last week against Shiloh Christian.
Alma last earned a playoff berth during the COVID-19 pandemic season of 2020, when they traveled to Texarkana to play the unbeaten Razorbacks (5-0) that season, 28-24. That season, the Arkansas Activities Association declared everyone was eligible for post-season play, including the Airedales, who finished 2-8 that season.
Since that season, Bush has compiled a 16-14 record, including 13-7 over the last two seasons.
“We’re getting to go to the playoffs,” Bush said. “That’s what it’s all about; anything can happen in the playoffs. That’s the standard around here. We’re going to go play at War Memorial and that’s special.”