NWADG Prep Rally Football Preview

15 PREP RALLY: CLASS 7A | 8.22.2021 CLASS 7A BENTONVILLE WEST WOLVERINES 2020 RECORD 6-4 overall, 4-2 COACH Bryan Pratt RETURNING STARTERS 5 offense, 5 defense KEY PLAYERS WR Carson Morgan (Jr., 6-1, 195), WR Dakota Gaines (Sr., 5-11, 175), WR Landon Grigg (Sr., 6-0, 180), WR Ty Durham (Jr., 6-0, 175), OL Micah Pinales (Sr., 6-0, 285), OL Richard Stout (Sr., 5-11, 250), DB Nick Bell (Jr., 5-9, 160), LB Breyndon Tally (Sr., 6-3, 205), LB Braden Jones (Jr., 6-1, 190), DB Quade Curtis (Sr., 6-1, 185). THE SKINNY One of the biggest issues facing the Wolverines during the offseason is finding a starting quarterback, and it appears that the heir apparent to the position will be a sophomore. Jake Casey, Dalton Rice and Collier DeClerk are the frontrunners. … Morgan earned all-conference honors last year after he caught 35 passes for 363 yards, while Grigg and Durham provide experience at the receiver positions. … Running back duties could also be rotated between Aiden Honeycutt, Jay Herndon and Cole Edmondson, who also could see time at receiver. … Pinales, an all-conference selection last year, returns at left guard to head up the offensive line, while Stout is back at right guard. … Tally, a returning starter at outside linebacker, may shift to inside linebacker if necessary. … Jones, the son of offensive coordinator Dale Jones, also returns at outside linebacker and ran the 40 in 4.3 seconds during an Arkansas camp this summer. … Bell, the son of former Arkansas player Geno Bell, returns at cornerback and brings speed to the West defensive backfield (10.9 seconds in the 100, 22.6 seconds in the 200). … Curtis is a returning starter at safety but Pratt said he plays and hits with a linebacker mentality. … West has qualified for the playoffs in each of its first five years of play, but the Wolverines weren't able to host a playoff game last year because of coronavirus and quarantine issues. THAT'S WHAT HE SAID "The expectations of this team are like they are every year — to compete for a conference championship and get a bye in the playoffs, then see where you go from there. When you get into the second and third round of the playoffs, everybody is good. So you have to be able to play at the top of your game and be able to peak at the right time." — Bryan Pratt SCHEDULE Aug. 27 ..... Mansfield, Texas Oct. 8 ................at Rogers* Sept. 3 ...... at Muskogee, Okla. Oct. 15 ................. Har-Ber* Sept. 10 .... LR Central Oct. 22 ....Rogers Heritage* Sept. 24 .... Fayetteville* Oct. 29 .... at FS Southside* Oct. 1 ........ at Springdale* Nov. 5 .............Bentonville* * — Denotes 7A-West Conference game All kickoffs 7 p.m. unless noted FAYETTEVILLE BULLDOGS 2020 RECORD 4-6 overall, 4-1 COACH Casey Dick RETURNING STARTERS 7 offense, 8 defense KEY PLAYERS QB Bladen Fike (Sr., 6-2, 190); RB/LB Kaiden Turner (Sr., 6-2, 220); WR Isaiah Sategna (Sr., 5-11, 165); WR Dylan Kittell (Sr., 5-10, 175); SS Braelon Palmer (Sr., 6-0, 170); DB Ryan Maxwell (Sr., 5-8, 165); DE Jayson Johnson (Sr, 6-2, 215); WR Jalen Blackburn (Sr., 6-2, 200); DB Ryan Maxwell (Sr., 5-8, 165). THE SKINNY Sategna garners a lot of attention after first committing to Texas A&M, then backing out and opting for Oregon. … Sategna, an all-state receiver and track standout finished with 41 receptions for 814 yards and seven TDs and returned a kickoff for a score, but he was injured during the season finale against Springdale Har-Ber and missed Fayetteville's playoff game. … Fike took over the QB role against North Little Rock and finished with 1,779 yards and 15 TDs passing with six interceptions. … Kittell caught 17 passes for 287 yards and two TDs, while Blackburn caught 15 passes for 281 yards and two scores). … Johnson returns at defensive end, where he compiled 27 tackles and a fumble recovery last season. … Turner, who verbally committed to Indiana, had 69 tackles, 5.5 quarterback sacks, three interceptions and three fumble recoveries. He returned an interception for one score and returned a blocked field goal for another. … Palmer was an all-conference selection after he recorded 48 tackles from the strong safety slot, while Maxwell had 21 tackles at cornerback. … Fayetteville's defense gets bolstered with the addition of Manu Turner (Sr., 6-3, 225), a linebacker who has already committed to Arkansas and joined the Purple'Dogs in the first week of August. THAT'S WHAT HE SAID "When you look at the group, with the amount of snaps they have played in a number of positions, they look really comfortable with what we are doing. They're playing fast. I like where we are at right now. There are things that we obviously have to improve on, as anybody else in the country does at this time, but we're looking forward to getting the season started and get some games under our belt." — Casey Dick SCHEDULE Aug. 27 ..... Conway Oct. 8 ...... at FS Southside* Sept. 3 ...... at Owasso, Okla. Oct. 15 ............Bentonville* Sept. 10 .... North Little Rock Oct. 22 ........ at Springdale* Sept. 24 .... at Bentonville West* Oct. 29 ............ at Heritage* Oct. 1 ........ Rogers Nov. 5 .................. Har-Ber* * — Denotes 7A-West Conference game All kickoffs 7 p.m. unless noted FORT SMITH NORTHSIDE GRIZZLIES 2020 RECORD 5-5 overall, 2-4 COACH Mike Falleur RETURNING STARTERS 8 offense, 6 defense KEY PLAYERS WR/QB Walker Catsavis (Sr., 6-4, 175); RB Ty Massey (Sr., 5-11, 200); LB Kendre Esaw (Sr., 5-10, 215); OL Brandon Bailey (Sr., 6-2, 290); DB Jack Green (Sr., 5-9, 170); OLB McCade Moody (Sr., 6-5, 175); OL James Collie (Sr., 5-10, 240); QB Jett Frazier (Sr., 5-11, 170); RB/WR T'kavion King (Jr., 5-9, 165); TE Julian Martinez (Sr., 6-0, 205). THE SKINNY Northside started last season 4-1, then lost four of its last five games. … Catsavis, who has earned major-college attention, started seven games at receiver before he moved to quarterback. He should play more receiver again this fall. … Frazier returns to quarterback this season as he played in the secondary while recovering from elbow surgery. … Massey, whose father played at Oklahoma State, earned all-conference honors after he had almost 1,000 yards rushing. … King is labeled the team's fastest player and will split between running back and slot receiver in order to give him more touches. … The Grizzlies will have a number of players switch from offense to defense and vice versa this fall. … Collie, a two-year starter at center, will move over to left tackle as Adrian Falcon returns from an injury. … Bailey, moves to tackle after three starts last fall at left guard. … Green will be a three-year starter at safety after he recorded 49 tackles last fall. … Esaw and Moody provide the Grizzlies with depth at linebacker. THAT'S WHAT HE SAID "This group was able to do its normal stuff all summer like practice and team camps, and I think that's going to help us tremendously. We have a good group of kids coming back — the biggest group of seniors I've had, 31, so that's a lot of experience. We may not have that one superstar like we have had in the past. But we have some really good football players, and they care about each other and put the team first." — Mike Falleur FORT SMITH SOUTHSIDE MAVERICKS 2020 RECORD 2-9 overall, 1-5 COACH Kim Dameron RETURNING STARTERS 4 offense, 5 defense KEY PLAYERS QB David Sorg (Jr., 6-5, 205); WR Luke Wyatt (Sr., 5-11, 170), WR Des Lopez- Fulbright (Sr., 5-9, 155); TE Dmitri Loyd (Sr., 6-2, 230); OL Miguel Solis (Jr., 6-1, 300); DB Zach Medlin (Sr., 6-0, 170); DB A.J. Williams (Jr., 5-10, 165); OL/LB Jabe Lovett (Sr., 5-10, 190). THE SKINNY The Mavericks will make changes offensively and lean toward a pass-oriented attack out of a spread formation. … Sorg threw for 1,049 yards and 15 touchdowns with eight interceptions after he took over quarterback duties last fall … Wyatt, who started the season at quarterback, switched to receiver when Sorg took over and became an all-conference player with 37 receptions for 576 yards and seven TDs. … Lopez-Fulbright caught 25 passes for 220 yards after taking over the slot receiver role in midseason. … Lloyd hauled in 23 passes for 309 yards and two scores last season and earned all-conference honors. … Solis is the lone returning starter on the offensive line at left tackle, but he has also worked some at guard and center. … Lovett is expected to see double duty since he plays middle linebacker and also takes part in the offensive line. … Medlin will be a three-year starter at cornerback, where he had 55 tackles last year, but could switch to safety if needed. … Williams also returns at the other corner, where he took over last fall and recorded 33 tackles and a fumble recovery. THAT'S WHAT HE SAID "The personality of this year's team remains to be seen. We've got a good group of seniors and juniors that have actually played quite a bit, and I think we will be a team that is exciting to watch and enthusiastic with its play. If we'll just go out and play really hard, it gives us a chance. But we're still going to be really young. We'll play a lot of sophomores, and there will be a lot of kids out there getting their first taste of high school football in that first game." — Kim Dameron SCHEDULE Aug. 26 ..... at FS Southside Oct. 8 ......... at LR Catholic* Sept. 10 .... Greenwood Oct. 15 .................Conway* Sept. 17 .... at Har-Ber Oct. 22 ... at North Little Rock* Sept. 24 .... at Bryant* Oct. 29 ....................Cabot* Oct. 1 ........ LR Central* Oct. 6 ..... at LR Southwest* * — Denotes 7A-West Conference game # — Denotes 5 p.m. kickoff. All kickoffs 7 p.m. unless noted SCHEDULE Sept. 26 .... FS Northside Oct. 8 ..............Fayetteville* Sept. 3 ...... at Greenwood Oct. 15 ............ at Heritage* Sept. 10 .... Trumann Oct. 22 ................. Har-Ber* Sept. 24 .... Rogers* Oct. 29 ...Bentonville West* Sept. 1 ...... at Bentonville* Nov. 5 ......... at Springdale* * — Denotes 7A-West Conference game All kickoffs 7 p.m. unless noted Palmer Maxwell Massey Gaines Wyatt 479-521-6611 479-636-2200

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