Clark Watkins won two state championships as the student.
Now he has one as the teacher.
Watkins, Warren's defensive coordinator, orchestrated a dominating performance in the Lumberjacks' 48-14 victory over Mena in the Class 4A state championship game Saturday afternoon at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock.
"It's great to win one as a coach vs. being a player, because playing you never think about it," said Watkins, a celebrated quarterback/defensive back on Fordyce's Class AA state title teams in 1990 and 1991. "You're thinking about what the coach is telling you when you're out there. Now, you're coaching and it's like, 'Gosh, I hope he's doing this, or I hope he's doing that.' It's a very different feeling."
Mena entered Saturday with a 35.9 per-game scoring average and a Spread scheme that featured a 3,000-yard passer (senior Sage Kesterson) and a 1,000-yard rusher (senior Jackson Daugherty).
But the Bearcats (12-3) had trouble shaking the quicker Lumberjacks (12-3) and were limited to 130 total yards through three quarters, when they trailed 35-0. Mena gained 136 yards in the fourth quarter, but the bulk of that was against backups.
Kesterson finished 16 of 32 passing for 131 yards with 2 fourth-quarter touchdowns.
"Not many teams scored on our first-team defense," Warren Coach Bo Hembree said. "Nobody knows that because we sub so quick."
Senior safety Jaylon Marshall, who has orally committed to Arkansas State, had two interceptions. The Lumberjacks recorded 4 sacks for 9 yards in losses and 5 other tackles for 17 yards in losses.
Senior defensive end LaFoy Smith, a 240-pound college prospect, had 3 tackles, 1 sack, 2 tackles for loss and 1 recovered fumble.
"LaFoy Smith is the best football player we saw all year, no doubt," Mena Coach Tim Harper said. "We couldn't run. We couldn't double-team him and block him. He's a great football player."
The game's final 17:16 was played under the Arkansas Activities Association's sportsmanship rule after senior tailback Kilay Cox's 8-yard touchdown run extended Warren's lead to 35-0.
A running clock was used in a state championship game for the ninth time since the sportsmanship rule was instituted more than a decade ago.
"We haven't had a pass batted down all year, and we probably had seven or eight today, it seemed like," Harper said. "Our defense probably made them punt four or five times, but we weren't able to do anything offensively."
Junior defensive end Peyton Hargis knocked down three passes, including one on Mena's second play from scrimmage in the second half. On the following play, Hargis pressured Kesterson into a poor throw that was intercepted by Marshall at the Warren 45.
Senior quarterback Justin Gorman threw a 29-yard touchdown pass to Marshall three plays later to bump Warren's 21-0 halftime lead to 28-0 with 10:28 remaining in the third quarter.
"We knew that he had a sidearm release," Watkins said, referring to Kesterson. "We were like, 'If you don't get a rush, especially on the end, get in that lane and get your arms up.' We knocked some big passes down. They were actually open a few times that could have extended a drive for them. They were big plays."
Sports on 12/14/2014