NWADG Prep Rally Football Preview

2017 Edition

Issue link: http://www.epageflip.net/i/866745

Contents of this Issue

Navigation

Page 39 of 51

HIGHWAY 412 W • TONTITOWN, AR • 479-361-9101 HIGHWAY 71B • SPRINGDALE, AR • 479-750-7775 P i z z a • P a s t a Dine in S u b s • S a l a d s Carry out 38 PreP rally: Class 4A Thursday, augusT 31, 2017 4 a - 1 C O N F e r e N C e C a P s u l e s r. Pickthall h. holtgrewe d. Winn J. Witcher GeNTry PIONeers 2016 RECORD 2-8 COACH Paul Ernest RETURNING STARTERS 7 offense, 6 defense KEY PLAYERS QB Jon Faulkenberry (sr., 6-1, 195), rB Myles McFerrin (sr., 5-9, 205), OL Mason Clark (sr., 6-5, 285), OL J.T. Crosby (sr., 6-3, 240), OL Tomas gomez (sr., 5-7, 240), dT Chance Cooper (sr., 6-2, 230), dB Pey - ton Wright (Jr., 5-11, 170), QB Brandon atwood (so., 6-1, 180). THE SKINNY The Pioneers return one of the best athletes in the 4a-1 Conference in senior quarterback Jon Faulkenberry, who pow- ered his way to 1,430 rushing yards and 19 Tds last season, and another 746 passing. … senior rB Myles McFerrin gives the Pioneers a bruising back capable of moving the chains. Last season McFerrin ran for 561 yards and 4 Tds. … sophomore quarterback Brandon atwood will be used in a variety of roles, including receiver to take advantage of his explosiveness. … gentry missed earning a playoff berth last season with narrow losses to both Berryville and Lincoln. The Pioneers will have to improve defensively to take that next step, Ernest said. … Peyton Wright leads the defensive unit after recording 64 tackles a year ago. Faulkenberry and atwood will also see action on the defensive side, Ernest said. … senior OL Mason Clark, a three- year starter, is drawing college interest. … The Pioneers must replace their leading receiver and leading tackler from a year ago, but Ernest feels like the pieces are in place for gentry to compete for a playoff spot. COACH SPEAK "We return quite a bit on both sides of the ball, including our quarterback Jon Faulkenberry. We're excited about him being a third-year starter. We also return our back - field almost intact, and our offensive line has three three-year starters, so we're excited about that group. defensively, we're still trying to find our identity. We have to get our kids to play at a more consistent level, run to the ball, be more physical. It's a culture thing. There's not as much glamour on defense," Ernest said. sCHeDule sept. 1 ........................... Lavaca Oct. 6 ...................... at huntsville* sept. 8 .......................... decatur Oct. 13 .............. shiloh Christian* sept. 15 ................at greenland Oct. 20 ...............at Prairie grove* sept. 22 .............. at Pea ridge* Oct. 27 ........................ at Lincoln* sept. 29 .................... Berryville* Nov. 3 ............................ gravette* * — denotes 4a-1 Conference game C. Childress a. O'Brien J.T. Crosby J. Faulkenberry B. soulé T. White T. gomez P. Wright Pea rIDGe BlaCKHaWKs 2016 RECORD 13-2 COACH stephen Neal RETURNING STARTERS 5 offense, 3 defense KEY PLAYERS QB Jakota sainsbury (sr., 5-11, 180), rB/dB drew Winn (sr., 5-11, 170), Wr/dB hayden holtgrewe (sr., 6-1, 160), Wr Jordan Witcher (sr., 6-2, 165), LB robbie Pickthall (sr., 6-0, 195), OL denver yates (sr., 6-3, 250). THE SKINNY The Blackhawks enjoyed the best season in school history last fall, advancing to the Class 4a state championship game and 13 wins. Pea ridge is one of the favorites in the 4a-1 Conference again this season. … Jakota sainsbury triggers an explosive offense. The senior was 122-of-216 for 2,080 yards and 18 Tds last season. … senior hayden holtgrewe is one of the top players in the 4a-1 on both sides of the ball. holtgrewe had a breakout season in 2016 with 73 catches for 1,153 yards and 10 Tds. he also 50 tackles on defense and was a special teams star. … senior drew Winn has drawn a lot of college interest after rushing for 1,386 yards and 23 Tds last season while splitting time. Winn averaged an incredible 11 yards per carry and also caught 16 passes for 250 yards. On defense he had 75 tackles. … senior LB robbie Pickthall leads the defense. The NWadg division II defensive Player of the year had 120 tackles, 8.0 tackles for loss and forced two fumbles. … senior Jordan Witcher moved into the district last spring from Bryant and will be another weapon for the Blackhawks. … The Blackhawks' only two losses last year were in the finals to War - ren, and a loss to semifinalist Prairie grove. … Pea ridge plays two games the first week of the season, against hamburg on Monday at uCa, then traveling to Booneville on Friday. COACH SPEAK "Just like every other coach says, if we stay away from injuries, if some of our key kids don't get injured, we feel like we can be pretty good. you don't ever want to jinx anything with key out - looks, but we feel like we can compete for a conference championship. We feel like we can, if we stay injury-free, to make a playoff run. some of our skill kids are pretty talented. But that all goes out the window if our starters on offensive line don't continue to progress. The good thing here is, we have a chance," Neal said. sCHeDule aug. 28 ............... vs. hamburg# Oct. 6 ............................ gravette* sept. 1 .................. at Booneville Oct. 13 ...................Prairie grove* sept. 15 .................. Farmington Oct. 20 .....................at Berryville* sept. 22 ........................ gentry* Oct. 27 ........................ huntsville* sept. 29 ....................at Lincoln* Nov. 3 ............ at shiloh Christian* # — at uCa, Conway 5:30 p.m. * — denotes 4a-1 Conference game GraVeTTe lIONs 2016 RECORD 7-5 COACH Bill harrelson RETURNING STARTERS 5 offense, 8 defense KEY PLAYERS QB Tajae White (sr., 5-9, 155), rB/dB austin O'Brien (sr., 5-11, 180), Wr/dB Brady Moorman (sr., 5-5, 145), dL Bailey soulé (sr., 6-1, 250), LB Kenton Tajchman (sr., 5-8, 240), dB Brandon Ballard (sr., 5-10, 180), K/P Chris Childress (sr., 6-4, 175). THE SKINNY The Lions are gearing for their best season in a while with a defense that is loaded with almost everyone back from a year ago. … senior austin O'Brien is one of the top players in the 4a-1 on both sides of the ball. O'Brien rushed for 1,034 yards last season, but added 55 receptions for 551 yards. he scored 9 Tds total. On de - fense, O'Brien had two interceptions and batted away eight passes to go along with 50 tackles. … Tajae White takes over at QB after moving over from decatur. he will give the Lions a dual run/pass threat. … The defense will be the team's strength, and senior Bailey soule' is the anchor. The defensive lineman had 86 total tackles and 11 tackles for loss last season to go along with two sacks. … Linebacker Ken - ton Tajchman led the team in tackles last season with 96 and returns to lead that unit. … Brady Moorman is about as big as an arkansas mosquito and bites like one, too. The senior is fearless despite his 5-5, 145-pound frame and had 39 catches for just under 400 yards last sea - son. Moorman also starts on defense. … Chris Childress plays a little of everywhere for the Lions, but he is most valuable as a kicker, where he was 11 of 12 on field goals last year with a long of 45 yards. he also averages more than 40 yards per punt and gives the Lions a huge weapon in the kicking game. … gravette's offensive line is huge with Jarrod Barker and aidan Patton each tipping the scales at 250-plus. Center Justin stelting is around 245 pounds. COACH SPEAK "We feel like we will be in the running for the con - ference title this year in the strongest conference in the state. We have 16 seniors that we will be counting on to be our leaders this year. We are playing a very tough nonconference schedule of Ozark, Booneville, and Jay, Okla, and we feel like that will help us get ready for conference play," harrelson said. sCHeDule sept. 1 .........................at Ozark Oct. 6 .....................at Pea ridge* sept. 8 ...................... Booneville Oct. 13 ......................... Berryville* sept. 15 ......................Jay Okla. Oct. 20 .................... at huntsville* sept. 22 ........................Lincoln* Oct. 27 .............. shiloh Christian* sept. 29 ........... at Prairie grove Nov. 3 ...........................at gentry* * — denotes 4a-1 Conference game PraIrIe GrOVe TIGers 2016 RECORD 12-1 COACH danny abshier RETURNING STARTERS 4 offense, 4 defense KEY PLAYERS rB anthony Johnson (5-9, 185, sr.), QB J.d. Elder (6-3, 170, sr. ), TE demarkus Cooper (6-1, 240, sr.), OL Will hawkins (6-3, 320, sr.), LB dustin Burton (5-11, 210, sr.), dB stone Bryant (6-0, 165, sr.) THE SKINNY The Tigers will be going for their third consecutive conference title this season, but will have to do it without their quartet of all-state performers from last year in receiver Isaac disney, quarterback Zeke Laird, offensive lineman Jack stone and linebacker reid Orr. … abshier said he's excited about his team's skill positions this year, like the return of all-conference running back anthony Johnson, who rushed for 1,168 yards on 134 carries last season. … abshier said J.d. Elder, who takes over for Laird, has been coming along well in his first season at the position. … Linebacker dustin Burton returns as the leader of a defense that gave up only 13 points per game last season. The senior racked up 71 tackles and added three interceptions in 2016. … defensive back stone Bryant returns to the secondary on the heels of a strong playoff performance that saw him notch three interceptions and five passes defended. COACH SPEAK "strength of the team is out of the backfield. We re- turn Johnson and Burton and J.d. has done it a bunch and demarkus Cooper so our skill set is really good. are we faster than everybody? No. are we bigger than everybody? No. We do have a spread of de- cent speed, decent size and decent strength, like we've usually got," abshier said. sCHeDule sept. 1 ................ at Farmington Oct 6 ................. shiloh Christian* sept. 8 ..................... Vian, Okla. Oct. 13 ...................at Pea ridge* sept. 15 ................ at West Fork Oct. 20 ............................. gentry* sept. 22 ............... at huntsville* Oct. 27 .....................at Berryville* sept. 29 ......................gravette* Nov. 3 .............................. Lincoln* * — denotes 4a-1 Conference game s. Bryant d. Burton d. Cooper J.d. Elder a. Johnson

Articles in this issue

Links on this page

Archives of this issue

view archives of NWADG Prep Rally Football Preview - 2017 Edition