Conway Christian clashes with East Poinsett County Friday for Class 2A grid crown

BY DUDLEY E. DAWSON

When Conway Christian and East Poinsett County take the field for Friday’s noon Class 2A state championship game at War Memorial Stadium, it will be a battle between two resilient high school programs.

Conway Christian (13-0) has battled through a slow ascension the last few years to this year’s title game while defending finalist EPC (10-3) started the 2024 season 0-2 and stood 3-3 before winning seven straight.

Conway Christian did not win a game in 2020, notched a single victory in 2021 and then started its push with 7 wins in 2022 and 9 victories last season.

It all came to fruition this season for head coach Justin Kramer’s team as it raced through its schedule unbeaten and has notched playoff wins over Hazen (48-16) Des Arc (50-36) and Junction City (25-21).

It’s all come together for the Eagles to reach a game that will be televised on Arkansas PBS.

“It’s funny because I have been asked that question multiple times now and you would think I would have come up with a better answer by now, but the only thing I can say with confidence is that it has been a bit of a process,” Kramer said.

“And with that, we are fortunate that we have kids in our program that have bought in over the last few years and allowed it to progress.

“I know it sounds coachy, but it really has been coaches and kids really sticking with it and bought into how we do things, because we do things a little bit different.

“It’s just been fun to watch and kind os see these kids fulfill their dreams. You do this and you set goals and have plans, but they don’t always work out.”

EPC opened the season by losing to Class 3A foes Walnut Ridge (37-0) and Rivercrest (56-32) with its only other loss coming at Cross County (36-28).

The Warriors, led by head coach Brandon Powell, advanced to the championship game by beating playoff foes Gurdon (26-20), Bigelow (36-12) and Mount Ida 54-33.

“The 0-2 start came because we played two really good football teams and we scheduled up to get us ready for conference play,” Powell said. “I knew that no matter how good our football team was, we could be 0-2 to start the season.

“It was a shocker to lose that first game 37-0, but we knew we had a lot of things to fix and correct and we had to do it quickly. We had a bye week after that game, changed quarterbacks, changed personnel around and competed a lot better against Rivercrest that next game.

“…We made some more adjustments and then kind of got rolling…won three road games (at Earle, Des Arch and Marked Tree) and it really built the confidence of our kids up and they started believing.”

Bigelow downed EPC 28-14 to win the Class 2A crown last season.

Kramer is impressed that EPC is back in the championship game after its 2023 playoff win that included a 34-20 second-round win over Conway Christian.

“EPC is really, really good and Coach Powell does a great job,” Kramer said. “We got our fill of that last year over and obviously here they are in the state championship game as well.

“I think that speaks a lot to the character of their team and their coaching staff as well because they lost a lot, and I think if he was honest, he’d tell you he wasn’t expecting to right back in it this year.

“So the fact that they are tells you a little about them and the challenge we are facing. They are kind of on a roll and have some great athletes. But as they say, no great victory comes without that challenge being worth it.

“I think there is something to be said about how our kids have endured and hopefully it will be an exciting match up.”

Powell is also excited about the match up with some youthful players from last season’s title game now more ready for prime time.

“We played seven or eight ninth graders in the playoffs last season and now all those guys have really grown up throughout the season,” Powell said. “They grew up faster than we expected and have played really good football down the stretch.”

They’ll play a veteran program in Conway Christian.

“Conway Christian is a veteran team, one that has been together for four years and have been competing well,” Powell said. “Everything they have done has been leading to this point.”

Graphic courtesy of Arkansas Activities Association