LITTLE ROCK — Carlisle sticks to ground
Fayetteville quarterback Brandon Allen threw five touchdown passes in Friday night’s 34-20 victory over West Memphis in the quarterfinals of the Class 7A playoffs.
Then there’s Carlisle, which threw one pass in Friday night’s 34-28 overtime victory over East Poinsett County in the second round of the Class 2A playoffs.
Just typical Carlisle football, Coach Scott Waymire said.
“Our linemen were upset throwing that pass, because they want to run that ball,” Waymire said. “That says a lot about them.”
Carlisle runs a compacted Double-Wing formation, with two tight ends and linemen foot-to-foot.
Physicality is emphasized.
Waymire said his players lift weights four days a week and the goal is to dominate the line of scrimmage every Friday night.
The Bison rushed 56 times for 447 yards against the Warriors.
“We’ve got so much confidence in our linemen,” Waymire said. “We’re where we’re at, because we run the football. We run the football and control the ball.”
Carlisle (10-2) is at Magazine on Friday night.
EAST POINSETT COUNTY Team to watch
The 3-2A Conference produced a state championship contender last season in McCrory, which finished 11-1 and advanced to the playoff quarterfinals.
East Poinsett County could give the conference another major player next fall.
EPC is scheduled to return all but one player off a team that finished 8-3 andwas eliminated at Carlisle, 34-28 in overtime, in the second round of the playoffs Friday night.
Highlighting the returnees are junior quarterback Darius Barnes and junior wide receiver/middle linebacker A.J. Turner.
Barnes ran 121 times for 1,268 yards and 16 touchdowns and completed 73 of 143 passes for 1,255 yards and 18 touchdowns this fall.
Turner caught 30 passes for 670 yards and 11 touchdowns, rushed 63 times for 457 yards and 10 touchdowns and had 171 tackles, including 28 for loss, 5 forced fumbles and returned 1 interception for a touchdown.
Turner should be the school’s best recruiting prospect since Marcus Monk, who signed with Arkansas as a wide receiver in 2004.
Against Carlisle, Turner caught 4 passes for 107 yards and 1 touchdown, had more than 10 tackles and stopped the Bison’s only pass attempt in the closing seconds of regulation to preserve the tie.
On the pass play, senior halfback Caleb Carpenterwas wide open in the secondary before Turner recovered to bat the ball away near the EPC 25.
“No. 4, gee whiz,” Carlisle Coach Scott Waymire said, referring to Turner.
“Somebody needs to be looking at him. He’s the first inside linebacker I’ve seen cover a corner route, when the corner and safety come in. That was a heck of a play, and he’s a heck of a ballplayer. Turner’s a good ballplayer. They’re a good team.”
EPC closed the regular season with four consecutive victories and beat Conway Christian 46-38 in a firstround playoff game.
SHILOH CHRISTIAN
Offensive milestones
Shiloh Christian senior quarterback Kiehl Frazier surpassed 10,000 total yards at the school in Friday night’s 58-7 victory over McGehee in the second round of the Class 4A playoffs.
Frazier, who has started every game at the Springdale private school, has rushed for 2,634 yards and 44 touchdowns and thrown for 7,502 yards and 99 touchdowns. He has 10,136 yards running and passing at Shiloh after entering Friday’s game with 9,932 yards.
He was likely already over 10,000 total yards in his high school career after playing as a freshman at West Fork.
Frazier, who has orally committed to Auburn, transferred to Shiloh Christian in the summer of2008 and has led the Saints to consecutive Class 4A state championships.
Senior running back Garrett Harper surpassed 1,000 rushing this fall against McGehee. Harper is Shiloh’s first 1,000-yard rusher since Benny McDowell (1,380 yards) in 1997.
Harper has carried 83 times for 1,014 yards and 16 touchdowns this season.
Senior wide receiver Zann Jones has 52 career touchdown receptions and needs four more to set a state record.
Shane Williams and Josh Bell of Greenwood share the record (55). Williams was a standout tight end at Shiloh in the mid-1990s.
GLEN ROSE Kehner watch
Glen Rose senior tailback Steven Kehner needs 161 yards Friday night against West Fork to become the fourth-leading rusher in Arkansas history.
Kehner has 6,333 yards after rushing for 122 yards in last week’s 28-27 overtime victory over Fordyce in the second round of the Class 3A playoffs.
Jon Bradley of Barton is fourth on the state’s all-time rushing list with 6,493 yards.
Kehner has rushed for 2,438 yards this fall and needs 653 yards to set a single-season state rushing record.
In 13 games as a senior at Nettleton in 2006, Derek Lawson ran 335 times for a state-record 3,090 yards.
Kehner has rushed for more than 100 yards in 17 consecutive games and has 33 career games with more than 100 yards.
Sports, Pages 32 on 11/25/2010