Clarksville Football Proposal To Get Statewide Vote
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by Janice Penix
A Clarksville-led proposal that would allow struggling football teams to move down a classification will be voted on by school representatives statewide this summer.
Michael Banning, Clarksville athletic director, led the push for the Competitive Equity Football Classification proposal.
If approved, public schools with a conference winning percentage of 20% or less in three of the last four years will be given the option to play down one classification. To remain in the lower classification, schools must have had a winning percentage lower than 30% in either year of the two-year block and cannot have won a state playoff game.
For example, in a conference with eight teams, a team cannot win more than two conference games in one season of the two-year block in order to stay in that classification.
Banning said he has been motivated to push for a change after watching Clarksville, and other schools in similar situations, struggle to compete with larger conference opponents year after year.
“We have struggled since we went to 5A football in 2012,” Banning said. “It’s difficult to motivate our students to go out there every week when they’re playing these type of opponents. And it spills over. Football starts the school year off, and our struggles have hurt the community, and hurt our hallways.”
The Panther football program, including seventh through 12th grades, has a record of 8-112 over the last four years. The senior high team has won two games over the last four years.
Clarksville currently competes in the 5A-West conference, with opponents that include Alma, Farmington, Greenwood, Harrison, Morrilton and Pea Ridge. A newcomer to the conference beginning this fall will be Dardanelle, which moved up this cycle from 4A to 5A.
While classifications are based on student enrollment, Banning said Clarksville’s football participation numbers are far lower than many of their 5A counterparts.
According to reclassification data from the Arkansas Activities Association for the 2026-28 cycle, the smallest 5A school, based on high school enrollment has 468 students, and the largest has an enrollment of 852. Clarksville’s enrollment increased from 581 in the 2024-26 cycle to 614 students for 2026-28, ranking it 20th out of 32 5A teams.
Banning said the growth in student enrollment has not resulted in an increase in the number of students participating in football. At the beginning of the 2026 football season, the Panthers had 45 players listed on their roster. By mid-season, the number had dropped by almost half.
“We went from having 50 kids on the team to 28 players,” Banning said. “When we played Greenbrier this season, they had 28 seniors on their team. Just seniors.”
The Competitive Equity proposal was approved by a vote of delegates from Clarksville’s activity district last week. The district includes schools as far south as Caddo Hills, north to the Fort Smith area and east to Atkins, according to Banning.
After receiving a majority vote from those delegates, the proposal will next be considered by voting representatives from football schools at the state administrator’s conference in July. There, it must get a two-thirds majority to pass.
Banning said the proposal would not just benefit Clarksville, but numerous other schools in the state.
“We’re one of about 32 teams in the state that would benefit,” he said. “We all have the same stories. It touches all the way from 7A to 3A.”
If the proposal is approved, data will be collected from conference play in 2024, 2025, 2026 and 2027. Schools that have left eight-man football to enter 11-man football will be required to gather four years of consecutive data to be included. Only one classification drop will be allowed under the policy, and participation is optional.
Under the proposal, conferences could have more than eight teams, as schools moving down a classification would not force another school to move up.
Read this story and others in the April 15 issue of The Graphic, available online and at businesses throughout Franklin and Johnson counties. Subscribe or donate here to support more hometown journalism.
