LITTLE ROCK — Coach finally gets first
Kenneth Moore needed 14 games to reach a career milestone.
Moore recorded his first victory as a head coach when Cedarville beat Atkins 14-7 in the 4-3A opener Friday night.
Moore, 29, endured a nightmarish 2009 at Corning, his first head coaching job.
The short-handed Bobcats had only 16 players for most of the season, finished 0-10 and were outscored 404-34.
Cedarville had been 0-3 this fall.
“Man, I’d forgot what this felt like,” Moore said.
Moore succeeded Mike Guthrie, who left Cedarville in the offseason to coach wide receivers at Van Buren.
Guthrie was also an assistant at Wynne during Moore’s playing career there. Moore used his strong Wynne connections to help jump-start Cedarville’s season.
Moore said coaching icon Don Campbell watched practice Tuesday and delivered some encouraging words to the players.
Moore is a 2000 Wynne graduate and played tight end for Campbell, who won 147 games and two state championships with the Yellowjackets in 1991-2006.
Campbell, who is battling cancer, coached Corningin 1975-1986 and moved to Vilonia after retiring following the 2006 season.
“The kids were excited, with a legend like him coming in,” said Moore, whose father-in-law, Ray Shempert, succeeded Campbell at Wynne. “Of course, when he left they asked, ‘What do you think?
What do you think?’ When you have somebody like him come in, with the success that he’s had in coaching, it spoke volumes to the kids, especially with coach’s health issues.”
Moore, who runs Campbell’s patented Diamond-T offensive scheme, said the Pirates went back to the basics Friday night after fumbling 16 times in the first three games.
“We practiced on four plays all week - the trap, blast, sweep and toss,” Moore said. “That’s what we went into the game with. It worked out for us.”
Moore said Cedarville still lost a fumble in the Atkins end zone in the first quarter and lost another fumble at the Atkins 1 in the second quarter.
“We’re young and I’ve got to get that fixed,” Moore said. BRYANT Bouncing back
One of the biggest surprises in Class 7A this season was Fort SmithNorthside’s 36-21 victory at Bryant on Sept. 10.
Northside has been outscored 147-88 in its other three games, all losses.
Bryant (3-1) has outscored its opponents 101-22 in its other three games, all victories, including 31-7 at Little Rock Catholic in the 7A/6A-Central opener Friday night.
Bryant Coach Paul Calley said his team was emotionally flat against Northside after beating bitter Saline County rival Benton the previous week, had three turnovers, a punt blocked and a touchdown called back because of a penalty.
“Northside had given up 51 points to Pine Bluff the previous week, and I think our guys, offensively, just overlooked them,” Calley said. “Us as a whole overlooked them. Offensively, they’re good. ... But I think in the end, that loss is going to be a good loss for us.”
After losing to Northside at home, Bryant won at Texarkana (35-6) and scored the game’s final 31 points against Catholic.
Sophomore quarterback Hayden Lessenberry completed 10 of 13 passes for a career-high 176 yards.
CONWAY Top Cats?
Springdale Har-Ber and Conway have been Class 7A’s top-ranked teams throughout the season.
Both are 4-0 after opening conference play with victories Friday night.
Top-ranked Har-Ber beat Springdale 46-27, while No. 2Conway beat Cabot 41-7.
Cabot had lost the previous week to Har-Ber 28-10.
“Offensively, I don’t see a whole lot of difference,” Cabot Coach Mike Malham said. “Har-Ber may have a better offensive line, but I’m not so sure Conway’s skill people aren’t better than Har-Ber. And Har-Ber isn’t bad.”
Conway led Cabot 28-0 at halftime behind junior quarterback Tyler Langley, who completed 12 of 20 passes for 196 yards and 2 touchdowns.
Langley didn’t attempt a pass in the second half as Conway invoked the Arkansas Activities Association sportsmanship rule (a 35-point score differential) following a 4-yard touchdown run by senior running back JeMarcus Harmon with 8:10 remaining in the third quarter.
Harmon finished with 66 yards rushing on 14 carries.
Senior utility back Desmond Cox scored on two 1-yard runs and caught 4 passes for 46 yards, including a 10-yard touchdown with 52 seconds remaining in the first half.
“They’ve got a good running game, just like Har-Ber,” Malham said. “They can run it or throw it. And if you try and stack on the run, then you’re going to play some 1-on-1 against their athletes in open space.”
Conway can go 5-0 for the first time since 2002 with a victory Friday night at North Little Rock.
Sports, Pages 27 on 09/26/2010