Delays not hindering ‘rebirth’ at Maumelle

 Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/STATON BREIDENTHAL
6/9/11
Maumelle High School coach Mike Buchan Thursday during the Summer Showdown 7-on-7 tournament at Pulaski Robinson High School.
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/STATON BREIDENTHAL 6/9/11 Maumelle High School coach Mike Buchan Thursday during the Summer Showdown 7-on-7 tournament at Pulaski Robinson High School.

— Outside of nationally ranked Pulaski Academy, no high school program in central Arkansas will be more scrutinized this fall than Maumelle.

The crown jewel of the Pulaski County Special School District, Maumelle’s new school will eventually be armed with the area’s finest facilities, including a stadium with a synthetic playing surface, a 9,500-square foot field house with room for an indoor workout area and a 2,500-square foot weight room.

Maybe a better illustration of the upgrade is the office for Maumelle’s coaches is larger than the weight room at the outdated, cookie-cutter field house several miles away at the school’s predecessor, Pulaski Oak Grove.

But new digs also bring new expectations, said Maumelle Coach Mike Buchan, who was 15-15-1 the past three seasons at Oak Grove.

“I always have felt pressure, but I’d say it’s gone up about, oh, 1,000 or 1,200 decibels,” Buchan said. “But you have to be kind of realistic right now. I think we’re going to be better than we were last year. We have twice as many kids.”

Buchan said students have flocked to the Class 4A school, bumping the football roster from a little less than 30 at the endof the last season to more than 60 this month.

There are more than 50 ninth-graders playing football, Buchan said.

The Hornets (Oak Grove’s mascot was retained but the school colors were changed from green and white to scarlet and black) still haven’t a completed a permanent move.

Because of construction delays, Maumelle isn’t scheduled to play its first game at home until Oct. 7 against Nashville.

Maumelle has moved its first two home games to Pulaski Robinson, Sept. 9 against North Pulaski as part of a doubleheader and Sept. 30 against De Queen, while Robinson will play Little Rock Fair as the second game in the Sept. 9 slate.

Buchan said the games weren’t moved to Oak Grove because the field hasn’t been maintained.

Maumelle’s practice field also isn’t completed, which forced the team to Oak Grove for the first two weeks of fall camp.

Players now ride a bus three or four miles to Maumelle Middle School for workouts.

Maumelle won’t be on its new practice field until at least mid-September, Buchan said.

Buchan, who began coaching at Oak Grove in 1989, said the football-related delays are a small price to pay.

“It’s a beautiful school,” Buchan said. “It’s a gorgeous field house. We’ve just to go through the growing pains here at first.”

Maumelle’s first team will feature many holdovers from Oak Grove’s last team, including senior running back Eric Parks and senior offensive lineman Cordell Robinson.

The starting quarterback will be senior Ryan Edens, a transfer from North Little Rock.

Buchan said he believes his move from the Wing-T to the Spread will attract more players to Maumelle, which he said will likely grow into a Class 6A or Class 7A school in the 2014-2016 cycle.

“This is like having a rebirth, kind of,” Buchan said. “It’s brand new. It’s very, very hectic. You want to pull your hair out sometimes. I think you can kind of see when all the parts fit where they’re supposed to be that it’s going to be a great place to be. It’s going to be a magnet for kids to come and play.”

Sports, Pages 8 on 08/28/2011

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