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defense," Laird said. "His experience is huge. Last year, in one of his highlight plays he got a tipped interception at Vian, Okla. Every kid on Vian's offense missed him. They eventually got him down, but it was work. J.D. Elder For the fourth time in as many years Prairie Grove will start a new quarter- back. The past three Tiger signal-callers have all been seniors in Ryan Marrell, Sam Dodd, and Zeke Laird, and 2017 starter John David Elder (6-2, 168) is no exception. His three predecessors have all led Prairie Grove beyond the first-round of the playoffs losing only to quality teams: Nashville, 49-32, quarterfi- nal in 2014; Nashville, 39-20, state cham- pionship 2015; and Warren, 48-28, state semifinal 2016. Dodd took the Tigers into the 2015 Class 4A state championship game at Little Rock's War Memorial Stadium. There is no doubt carryover from the 2015 championship bout, in which Prairie Grove led 20-19 at the half before injuries derailed their running attack, served as motivation last season. In 2016, Prairie Grove exceeded expec- tations of everybody except themselves. Having graduated a dozen skilled seniors, the Tigers were picked to finish third in their conference, yet, their will to get back to the state title game drove them. Prairie Grove won the 4A-1 with a new quarterback by sweeping league oppo- nents, two of which, Pea Ridge (42-21 Tiger home win) and Shiloh Christian (45-15 Tiger road win) advanced to the 4A state semifinals on the opposite side of the bracket. Tiger fans are eager to discover if Prai- rie Grove can replicate that feat. Like his predecessors, J.D. Elder, lines up under center with a bit of a chip on his shoul- der, not having played starting quarter- back since his freshman year. Playing behind upper classmen, J.D. Elder has kept the faith, finding other ways to contribute. He was on special teams as a sophomore., but kept pressure on Dodd and Zeke Laird. If they weren't ready to go, he was more than willing. J.D. Elder punted last season and started in the secondary on defense. Prairie Grove head coach Danny Abshier notes J.D. Elder took a lot of snaps in practice and saw action as a backup in mop-up duty last year. "He has done a bunch, he took care of things in junior high well," Abshier said. "He has had snaps, played in some clean-up detail. He's ready to go. Well, everybody can improve and we're doing that right now." Abshier praises J.D. Elder for having a nice arm, bettering his speed and main- taining straight A's in the classroom. "He has good grades, he's smart, he can throw it a good, long ways and he's accurate," Abshier said. Quarterback/safety/outside linebacker J.D. Elder (6-2, 168) starts at quarterback, yet makes valuable contributions playing defense. J.D. Elder chipped in 33 tackles and a big interception while splitting time on defense in 2016. Last year Elder worked at both free safety and strong safety. Coaches think he is really smart and good at knowing where to be on the field. "He definitely got better with his foot- work," Laird said. "He's smart and he'll hit. J.D. is a quarterback, but he's not afraid to hit. We like that." AARON PRESTON Fullback/cornerback Aaron Preston (5-7, 143) picked up 278 yards on the ground as a back-up last year averag- ing 12.1 yards every time he ran the ball on 23 carries and scored 3 touchdowns. Like Johnson, Preston is fast and capa- ble of accelerating into the secondary. He represents a genuine threat running north/south at the point of attack in the Tigers' Wing-T offense and has the speed to run down ball-carriers on defense. SUPPORTING CAST The rest of the supporting cast may not be as flashy, yet they are every bit as valuable. Prominent players include: left tackle/defensive tackle Will Hawkins (6-4, 335); right tackle/defensive tackle Landon Walldrop (5-10, 296); wide receiver/strong safety/outside linebacker Stone Bryant (5-11, 165), senior; and his twin brother, wide receiver/cornerback Collin Bryant (6-0, 172). Stone Bryant was second in total tack- les last year, racking up 97 with 41 solo stops. He picked off 3 passes, one of which he returned for a touchdown. Flowers & Gifts for all occasions 35+ years serving Prairie Grove 479-846-2137 114 E. Buchanan 209 W. Buchanan Prairie Grove, AR 479-846-4884 Yancey Realty wishes ALL area teams a winning season! Wednesday, aug. 23, 2017 enterprise-Leader | 9 2017 Prairie Grove Football Schedule Prairie Grove Varsity Date Opponent Time Aug. 29 at Farmington **7 p.m. Sept. 8 Vian, Okla. 7 p.m. Sept. 15 at West Fork 7 p.m. Sept. 22 at Huntsville * 7 p.m. Sept. 29 Gravette * 7 p.m. Homecoming Oct. 6 Shiloh Christian * 7 p.m. Oct. 13 at Pea Ridge * 7 p.m. Oct. 20 Gentry * 7 p.m. Oct. 27 at Berryville * 7 p.m. Nov. 3 Lincoln * 7 p.m. * — 4A-1 Conference game **Tuesday game Prairie Grove 7th Grade/Junior High Date Opponent Time Aug. 31 Farmington 5:30 p.m. Sept. 7 at Vian, Okla. 5:30 p.m. Sept. 14 West Fork 7 p.m. Sept. 21 Huntsville * 5:30 p.m. Sept. 28 at Gravette * 5:30 p.m. Oct. 5 at Shiloh Christian * 5:30 p.m. Oct. 12 Pea Ridge * 5:30 p.m. Oct. 19 at Gentry * 5:30 p.m. Oct. 26 Berryville * 5:30 p.m. Nov. 2 at Lincoln * 5:30 p.m. * — 4A-1 Conference game Prairie Grove 8th Grade/Junior Varsity Date Opponent Time Sept. 11 at Gentry * 5:30 p.m. Sept. 18 at Cedarville 5:30 p.m. Sept. 25 Huntsville * 5:30 p.m. Oct. 2 at Gravette * 5:30 p.m. Oct. 9 at Farmington 5:30 p.m. Oct. 16 Pea Ridge * 5:30 p.m. * — 4A-1 Conference game 2017 Prairie Grove varSity NO. PLAYER YEAR 1 Anthony Johnson 12 2 Graham Guenther 10 3 Kaine Caswell 11 4 Harrison Lowe 10 5 Ethan Guenther 11 6 Rylan Shrum 12 7 Ethan Skates 11 8 Aaron Preston 12 10 John David Elder 12 14 Tyler Davidson 12 20 Garrett Heltemes 11 23 Demarkus Cooper 12 24 Jacob Watson 11 25 Cody Kruse 10 28 Dustin Burton 12 33 Stone Bryant 12 34 Dalton Lane 11 35 Jared Harger 10 43 Matt Jones 11 44 Keiandrae Hobbs 10 52 Allen Couper 11 53 Stormi Hankins 12 54 Daytona Pinkley 11 56 Ben Beason 12 60 Charles Edwards 11 61 Dakota Dickerson 11 62 Austin Medina 10 65 Cameron Cox 11 67 Joe Reynolds 12 72 Will Hawkins 12 74 Cade Horne 10 77 Hayden Black 10 78 Landon Waldrop 12 81 Clayton Spinks 12 88 Colin Bryant 12 91 James Mayers 12 Head coach: Danny Abshier Assistants: John Elder, Craig Laird, Mason Pinkley, Nic Paroubek CONTINUED FROM PAGE 8 VARSITY: A Preview Of Prairie Grove Football For 2017