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A l m a f o o t b a l l c o a c h D o u g Loughridge said he was a little amazed that league coaches picked his Aire- dales to win the 5A-West in the annual Hooten's Arkansas Football Preview magazine. After all, they lost 27 seniors, in- cluding a 2,400-plus yard passer, a 1,000-plus yard rusher and five line- men with a combined 24 starts over two years, off last season's team that finished tied for first in the final con- ference standings. They've been to the state quarterfinals two years in a row and reached the semifinals in 2013. But they haven't played for a state cham- pionship since winning three in a row under former coach Frank Villines in the late 1990s. "I think expectations are always high when you see the name Alma," Loughridge said. "A lot of teams have a lot more coming back than we have, but because of the tradition of Alma football, there are a lot of expectations that goes along with it." Conversely, Harrison is a team that was picked to finished fourth in the same poll despite the number of key Goblins returning, including three all- staters. Third-year Harrison coach Joel Wells doubled his win total from four in Year 1 to eight wins in Year 2. Morrilton and Greenbrier are the teams picked to finish second and third, respectively, in the same coach- es' poll. Morrilton lost to Wynne in the first round of the playoffs despite for- feiting four early wins due to using an ineligible player. Greenbrier tied Alma for the conference title with identical 6-1 league records, but Alma got the top seed by virtue of its 49-28 home win against the Panthers in Week 9. GOOD LUCK BLACKHAWKS! www.equitybank.com 22 PREP RALLY: Class 5A THURSDAY, AUGUST 31, 2017 High hopes abound for teams MIKE CAPSHAW NWA DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE SHINE ON … BRAYDEN JOHNSON SCHOOL Alma POSITION Receiver CLASS Senior HEIGHT 6-3 WEIGHT 205 TWITTER HANDLE @BJohnson_21 THE DIGITS All-state, All-Arkansas Preps selec- tion had 81 receptions for 1,153 yards and 9 TDs. Also completed 4 passes for 73 yards and 2 TDs. CRUSHING ON All the sports: Basketball, base- ball and football I LISTEN TO Last Breath by Future before a game I DRIVE Toyota Tundra MOST PEOPLE DON'T KNOW My favorite sport is a sport I don't even play at school: Golf MY HERO IS My dad. He's always pushing me to be great FAVORITE MEAL Steak dinner WHAT I LOVE MOST ABOUT FOOTBALL It's the only one of the three sports I play where you can hit someone. In baseball and basketball, you can't. IN 10 YEARS I WILL Be either a personal trainer or a coach. BRAYDEN JOHNSON NWA Democrat-Gazette/JASON IVESTER Farmington coaches are hoping to use Caleb Williams, shown above tacking Prairie Grove fullback Reed Orr, primarily at tailback this season. Alma picked to win; Harrison one to watch in 5A-West See 5A, Page 23