For the second year in a row, the Harding Academy Wildcats football team will not play a game on Homecoming. The Rose Bud Ramblers, the Wildcats’ scheduled opponent, had to forfeit their season due to injuries and players leaving the team for the second consecuitive year.
This year, when it was official that Rose Bud had forfeited its season, the superintendent, coaches and athletic director James Simmons searched all over Arkansas and other states to find a team with the week off so that a Homecoming game would be possible.
“We looked on the websites of the athletic associations in Tennessee, Missouri, Kentucky, Oklahoma and Mississippi,” Simmons said. “We couldn’t find anybody that had an open date.”
Simmons also added that they called the Arkansas Athletics Association (AAA) to see if there were any other teams that were on the verge of or already had canceled their season, but none were found.
As the administration and coaches were searching for a team to play, the AAA informed them that they were not going to be able to replace Rose Bud with a different team.
“We found out, in fact, that there was a rule that said we couldn’t (find a replacement) anyway,” Simmons said. “We were going to be awarded a win because Rose Bud forfeited the game. So without physically playing a game, we will have won a game.”
The AAA went on to have a board meeting about this situation. They decided that because this is the second year in a row where the same team forfeited Harding Academy’s Homecoming game, they would allow the Academy to play a game if they found an opponent.
The Academy continued to search for someone to play but were unable to find a team with an open date. On the morning of Oct. 5, the administration announced to the school that the game had officially been canceled.
The administration decided that Homecoming activities will still take place on Oct. 21. The student association and the high school principal are working together to form an itinerary for that night with different activities in place of the game.
First year head coach Neil Evans said that from a football standpoint they are going to use this week off to their advantage.
“We have had four really difficult, physical games,” Evans said. “We’re a little bit nicked up and a little bit banged up. So, what I’m hoping is that we can use this to our advantage and let it give us a chance to heal up.”
Evans added that since this happened last year, he knows he has a mature, experienced team that will be able to handle this well.
“I think the biggest thing is that I have to make sure I am in tune with the players and have good communication with them,” Evans said. “I can’t do what’s best for me. I have to do what’s best for them as far as addressing and figuring out if this is a big deal to these players.”
Every year for Homecoming, alumni and family members make plans to come back to their alma mater to celebrate and to watch a football game. It is usually a highly attended game that students and players look forward to every year.
Although the Harding Academy Wildcats will not have a Homecoming game, they will still have the crowning of the queen and activities in place of the football game on Friday, Oct. 21.
