THREE RIVERS AREA — Tim Harper's 2008 football team was the Des Arc Eagles, a team that finished runner-up in 2A. Harper's new team is the Searcy Lions, a program that has won a total of three games in four years..
"I love a challenge," the Lions' new head coach told the Three Rivers Edition when he accepted the Searcycoaching position in January. "There's nowhere to go but up."
With 16 seniors,eight returning starters on offense and sevenreturning starters on defense, the foundations for a successful 2009 season are in place, although Harper is quick to point out no returning starters have a guaranteed job.
"I think if we play to our potential and play as a team, I think we can contend for a playoff spot this year," Harper said.
The 2009 Lions' offensive attack will start with junior Hayden Mercer, a 5-11, 170-pound running back and wide receiver.
"He's got good speed and great vision," Harper said. "He's elusive. He runs the ball well, and he catches the ball well. He's a hard person to contain. Confidence
shouldn't be an issue with him. The kids believe in him.
They know he's one of our go-to guys." But the strength of the offense is the Lions' line: senior
left tackle Patrick Bingham (6-0, 260); junior left guard
Josh Lorton (6-0, 220); junior center Adam Hammond
(5-11, 240); junior right guard Blake Cooper (6-1, 230);
and junior right tackle Drew Merrell, (6-2, 280).
"Four of the five started last year," Harper said. "We
feel like we've got a good [offensive] line. We feel like we
can get better there, but we feel like that's the place where
we've got to start, and these guys have been getting after
it and trying to improve." As good as the offensive line should be in Harper's
Shotgun Wing-T attack offense, he is concerned about
the quarterback position.
"At quarterback, we've got three kids who have had
good summers in their own way, but we've got a long
way to go," he said. "We're very inconsistent right now.
Our quarterback play has been inconsistent throughout
the summer.
"There is a real possibility we could play two of them,
but to be point-blank honest I want to play one." Additional skill players the Lions will depend on
include junior running back Jacob Mowrer and senior
fullback Kyle Crawford.
The leader of the Lions' defense is 6-1, 215-pound
inside linebacker Mike Brown, a junior who runs a 4.7-
second 40-yard dash.
"He'll stroke you," Harper said. "He'll hit you. He's had
a good summer at camps. He's going to be a good one."Two seniors on the defensive line - 6-3, 280-pound
defensive tackle Larry Kilpatrick and 6-2, 190-pound
defensive end Drew Wilson - are also keys on defense
along with junior safeties B.J. Slaughter (6-1, 185), and
Steven Seitz (6-0, 180).
"They've both had good summers," Harper said. "I
look for them to do big things this football season." After watching the team during spring practice and
reviewing film, Harper said the Lions need to be more
physical and gang tackle on defense.
"We've got to learn to play team defense," he said.
"Everybody taking care of their assignments and then
flying to the football, but taking care of their assign
ments first.
"I want to see a lot of gang tackling. That's my desire
to see four, five, six guys in on the tackle instead of just
one guy. I want to see them fly to the football." Another concern of Harper's is the mental state of the
Lions' players - young men who haven't experienced a
lot of success in the past few years.
"A lot of times when you've been in a situation where
you haven't won a lot of games - you don't do it inten
tionally; I don't know how this really happens - but you
find a way to lose instead of find a way to win," Harper
said. "We've been trying to get them into a lot of competi
tion situations. We're trying to build a trust between the
players where everybody is in this thing together whether
it's a quarterback or a [defensive] lineman. Everybody is
required or expected to do the same things to be a part
of this program."BREAKING DOWN THE LIONS2-26 combined conference record in the past four years8 returning offense starters7
returning defense starters
16 seniors
3-37
combined overall record in the past four years
SEARCY LIONS
Sept. 4 .................. at Vilonia
Sept. 11 .................Batesville
Sept. 18 .................... LR Fair
Sept. 25 ..............at Marion*
Oct. 2 .............. LR Parkview*
Oct. 9 ......at West Memphis*
Oct. 16 ............ Jacksonville*
Oct. 23 ...........at Jonesboro*
Oct. 30 ................... LR Hall*
Nov. 5 ... at Mountain Home*
Special, Pages 154, 155, 156 on 08/23/2009