LITTLE ROCK, Arkansas — In the 3A-4 the Glen Rose beavers lead the pack.
Last season they were strong defensively, holding opponents to 7 points or less in half of their games.
The beavers fell in the playoffs to Booneville last year. The excitement to get it going again is high.
"This community gets fired up for football every season. This one is no different we're just getting ready," Glen Rose head coach Mark Kehner said.
Jessieville will be compeitive too.. They also made the playoffs last year and fell to Rison. However, they've got some veterans to replace in veteran all-star quarterback Carson Hair and standout running back Matthew Huff, who are now freshmen at Arkansas tech and Ouachita Baptist respectively.
Then there are the Centerpoint knights. A team that was playoff bound as well but fell to the eventual state champs, Harding Academy.
They've got depth but also lost 15 seniors to graduation.
Up next we've got the Magnet Cove Panthers, a conference champion team that jumped from 2 to 3A.
Last season they fell to Fordyce who made it to the state championship game.
"We return a lot of guys in the skill spots, receivers, quarterbacks, couple spots in the secondary. We'll count on them early. The leadership we have. Hopefully, that'll carry over and carry down with the team," Magnet Cove Head Coach Caleb Carmikle said.
Moving over to the Danville Little Johns, they also made the playoffs and have some returning linemen. 2022 will be head coach Kody Hamlin's second season. He's the third coach the little johns have had in four years.
"It's been really nice to step on the field and kids already know the plays. Last year when I got the job we had four kids—hitting the hallways and recruiting. Having to teach a whole offense. They worked hard to get there." Hamlin said.
Finally, we've got the Two Rivers Gators, a team that went winless last season. This will be the first year of Jonathan Ellis being the head coach. The gators have also struggled with finding kids to come out for football, but this group is devoted to getting better
"Mostly discipline we're just got to where we're getting more kids. Years past we had 11 kids. And it was hard to do stuff like that"