LITTLE ROCK — The latest in a series profiling Gulf South Conference football teams in Arkansas.
MONTICELLO - The unofficial title of Arkansas' best Gulf South Conference football team means less and less each season.
The emergence of North Alabama, Delta State and Valdosta State as perennial NCAA Division II championship contenders has all but marginalized the conference's six Arkansas teams. In terms of talent, facilities and recruiting connections, no in-state Gulf South program has hung with "the big three" since Central Arkansas left the conference for the Football Championship Subdivision in 2006.
At Arkansas-Monticello, this has fifth-year coach Gwaine Mathews seething.
"I will have failed here if we don't knock one of them off," said Mathews, aDelta State alumnus and former North Alabama assistant. "With a winning season. I'm not talking about a fluke knockoff."
For the 2009 season at least, Mathews and the Boll Weevils may have the best shot at making Division II football in Arkansas matter again. Picked to finish last in the 11-team Gulf South last season, Arkansas-Monticello instead started the season 7-2 and found itself in the national top 25 before a 45-14 loss at North Alabama practically ended their hopes for a playoff berth.
The Boll Weevils also lost 37-31 at Delta State earlier in the season. In retrospect, beating either would have landed Arkansas-Monticello in the postseason.
Any chance of disrupting the conference power structure begins and ends with Scott Buisson. The junior quarterback earned Gulf South Offensive Player of the Year honors as a sophomore after running for 1,319 yards, passing for 2,700 yards and accounting for 37 total touchdowns.
For the first time in his career, Buisson is working with some semblance of stability under first-year offensive coordinator Derek Warehime. Warehime coached the offensive line in 2008, but given that Mathews has failed to hold on to an offensive coordinator for more than a season, he qualifies as a veteran on the Boll Weevils staff.
"It's mainly the same stuff, same concepts, same names," Buisson said.
Warehime has a big asset in Buisson, but he must employ it wisely. Listed at 5-10, Buisson wore down near the end of the season and had his mobility limited by a bruised foot.
Warehime has been focused on making Buisson a better drop-back passer, but he'll still have the green light to tuck and run. To that end, Mathews plans to give more snaps to senior backup Casey Cathcart, if only to keep Buisson fresh.
"During the off-season, I worked out hard," Buisson said. "I wanted to make sure I was strong enough to take hits during the game."
Providing senior running back Johnny Polite stays healthy after missing the end of last season, Arkansas-Monticello will be as much of a handful as it was in 2008, when it averaged 34.3 points per game.
The Boll Weevils' ultimate undoing was lackluster pass coverage in what's become a Spread-happy conference. Arkansas-Monticello gave up 14.6 yards per catch last season, and the secondary will have to do a better job of tackling in space.
In what could be an ominous sign, the Boll Weevils pass coverage will be further stressed, thanks to a blitz-happy defensive package designed to make up for the lack of a dominant pass rusher.
"I'm still going to have tosmoke-and-mirror the pass rush," Mathews said.
If it sounds like everything has to break just right for Arkansas-Monticello to beat the Gulf South elite, it's because that's the case. But even with an undersized quarterback and a suspect secondary, the Boll Weevils are the state's best hope in 2009.
"Our kids have the attitude that we're going to knock those suckers down," Mathews said. "People can gun for me all they want. I'm going to gun for someone higher."
Sports, Pages 15, 22 on 08/27/2009