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Booneville rolled through an undefeated season a year ago to claim the Class 3A state title, but coach Scott Hyatt said that has noth- ing to do with the upcoming season. "You've just got to come back and go to work and see what you can do the next year," Hyatt said. "We lost 14 pretty good seniors." That didn't stop the 3A-1 conference coaches from voting the Bearcats as the fa- vorite. Mansfield coach Tim Cothran, the former Tigers offensive coordinator who took over for Craig Bentley, said the Bearcats are al- ways in the conversation when talking about the conference title. "They are just a perennial power," Co- thran said. "Even when I was in school at Greenwood, nobody wanted to play Boon- eville. They just have such a strong tradition." Booneville returns 10 starters from last year's team, which finished 15-0 and blanked an athletic Osceola team 35-0 in the state finals. "We're not as big this year, but we've got some good skill kids," Hyatt said. Quarterback Evan Schlinker (5-foot-11, 155 pounds) stepped in after starter Brandon Ulmer suffered a season-ending knee injury in the season-opener and didn't miss a beat. He set a school record with 14 touchdown passes for the run-oriented Bearcats. The senior also rushed for 353 yards and three TDs. Halfback Andrew Robertson returns, after rushing for 1,000 yards on just 95 carries (10.5 avg.) and 13 touchdowns. Linebacker Cam Brasher anchors an op- portunistic Bearcats defense, which inter- cepted 31 passes and recovered 37 fumbles a year ago. Brasher finished with a team-high 97 tackles. Gabe Fennell is the lone returner in the secondary and picked off five passes. Mansfield is coming off its best season in some time and hoping for more, returning 15 starters. Senior quarterback Ethan Stovall (6-2, 205) threw for 2,309 yards and 26 touch- downs and is receiving some D-1 interest. Receivers Tyler Holmes and Layton Howard give Stovall two strong targets. With those returnees, Cothran acknowl- edged his team has its sights set on a con- ference title. The Tigers won eight games last season, after winning only seven in the previous three seasons combined. "That's been a three-year plan," Cothran said. "With all the lumps and the bruises and the tail-kicking when they were sophomores, coming in this year the goal is to win a con- ference championship." But he acknowledged the league will be competitive from top to bottom. Lamar is another team which should contend for the top spot. The Warriors went three rounds deep in the playoffs and knocked off Mansfield last season. Senior Ja- cob Parmenter (5-8 190) shifted from running back to quarterback in the spring. He rushed for more than 1,077 yards and 13 touchdowns but should now present a problem for oppos- ing defenses as a dual-threat quarterback, Lamar coach Josh Jones said. "He's gonna put pressure on the defense as a run-first guy and should open things up for play-action pass," Jones said. "And he can make those throws." Speedy Brady James, along with Josh Sa- linas and sophomore Joe Dalton should give the Warriors good options in the backfield. Tight end Drake Bacchus (6-4, 250) also pres- ents a nice target for Parmenter. Greenland and Charleston are always in the mix. Coaches point to Cedarville as a team possibly ready to break out. The Pi- rates defeated Mansfield in the season finale a year ago and have won back-to-back con- ference titles in junior high. Paul Boyd can be reached at pboyd@nwadg. com or on Twitter @NWAPaulb. PAUL BOYD NWA DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE Conference race still goes through Booneville Jacob Parmenter SCHOOL Lamar POSITION Quarterback CLASS Senior HEIGHT 5-9 WEIGHT 165 TWITTER HANDLE Does not have a Twitter account THE DIGITS Parmenter was a huge focal point of the War- riors' attack last season. At running back, he gained 1,007 yards on 162 carries (6.6 yards per carry) and scored 13 touchdowns. Parmenter had a scoring run of 74 yards in one game. As a receiver, caught 14 passes for 230 yards and 3 more scores. … Parmenter averaged 26.2 yards on 5 kickoff returns, and his 17 total touchdowns led the team by a wide margin. CRUSHING ON Doesn't really have a crush. I LISTEN TO Hip-hop. Favorite artist is J. Cole I BINGE WATCH The All-American on Netflix. The series is about a high school football star at South LA's Cren- shaw High named Spencer Paysinger who is recruited to neighboring ultra-affluent Beverly Hills High. The second season of the show will premier in October. I DRIVE A 2000 Chevrolet Tahoe MOST PEOPLE DON'T KNOW Jacob works at the Dollar General store in Clarksville. MY HERO IS LeBron James FAVORITE MEAL Crab legs from Joe's Crab Shack WHAT I LOVE MOST ABOUT FOOTBALL IS I love to play under the lights on Friday nights. IN 10 YEARS I WILL I hope to be a coach and have a family. NWA Democrat-Gazette/J.T. WAMPLER Lamar senior Jacob Parmenter will make the move from running back to quarterback this season for the Warriors. S H I N E O N 2018 Conference Standings 3A-1 Team Overall Conference Booneville .................... 7-0 ............................. 17-0 Lamar .......................... 5-2 ............................. 11-3 Mansfield ..................... 4-3 .............................. 8-4 Greenland.................... 4-3 .............................. 6-5 Charleston ................... 4-3 .............................. 6-5 Cedarville .................... 3-4 .............................. 4-6 West Fork .................... 1-6 ...............................1-9 Paris ............................ 0-7 .............................0-10 2019 Hooten's Coaches' Poll 1. Booneville 2. Mansfield 3. Lamar 4. Charleston 5. Cedarville 6. Greenland 7. Paris 8. West Fork Arkansas Democrat-Gazette File Photo Booneville running back Andrew Robertson (right), shown during Booneville's 35-0 win in the Class 3A state championship in 2018, returns for the Bearcats this season. Tree Trimming done right.... you betcha!!!! 4 7 9 - 84 6 - 4 3 3 3 T R E E S E R V I C E PR A I R I E GR O V E 4 7 9 - 6 0 1 - 5 5 9 1 4 7 9 - 8 4 6 - 43 3 3 Best of luck this season! • Tree Trimming • Fence Row Clearing • Tree Removal • Stump Grinding • Storm Clean-Up • 479-282-1020 | www.circlebprairiegrovetreeservice.com 46 | 8.22.2019 | PREP RALLY: CLASS 3A