The 2022 Booneville Bearcat football season schedule has been completed and will feature a defending state champion, two defending conference champions, and four other schools who made the playoffs.
The missing piece of the puzzle for several weeks has been a third nonconference game. That spot has been filled by Pine Bluff Dollarway out of the 3A-6 in week zero, August 26. The game is in Pine Bluff.
The Bearcats and Cardinals have met twice previously, both times in the playoff semifinals, and have split their games with Dollarway winning 22-21 in 2004 and the Bearcats winning 42-13 on the way to thee 2013 state title.
Going 5-4 in regular season Dollarway made the playoffs last year as a four seed and lost to Glen Rose in the opening round.
The nonconference portion of the schedule also includes Class 4A Ozark for the home opener for the second straight year, and Harding Academy, the three time defending 3A champions who are moving up to 4A and will make its first trip into Bearcat Stadium.
The Bearcats lead the series with 4A-4 defending champion Ozark 53-27-4, who lost an opening round game with Crossett in 2021. The Bearcats are 0-3 all time against the private school.
Assigned to the 3A-1 for the next cycle by the Arkansas Activities Association, the conference schedule kicks off at Hackett before closing out September with West Fork in town.
Both reached the postseason in 2021 with West Fork losing at Harding in round one and Hackett falling to Bismarck in the opener.
The Bearcats and Hornets have met just once, in the 2020 playoffs, a game the Bearcats won. The series with West Fork is a lopsided 11-1.
The October schedule finds the Bearcats at 2021 playoff school Greenland, facing Mansfield and 3A-1 defending champion Charleston at home, and at Lavaca.
Charleston reached the quarterfinals a year ago.
Booneville leads each series, 4-0 versus Greenland, 60-16-3 against Mansfield, 48-12-2 over Charleston, and 6-0 in games with Lavaca.
The week 10 game is at Cedarville, who won a playoff game in 2021. The Bearcats are 4-0 against the Pirates all time.
