Watson Chapel Coach Jared Dutton said that getting the Wildcats back on track after an 0-4 start was a process.
"It takes time," said Dutton, who is in his first season as the head coach. "Everybody had to trust the process and continue getting better every week. The kids have bought into it. Everybody has the same goal in their mind."
Watson Chapel has won three consecutive since losing its first four games to Batesville, Pine Bluff, Nashville and Hot Springs. The Wildcats (3-4) are in a two-way tie for second place in the 5A-South with Camden Fairview after beating Jefferson County rival White Hall 42-30 on the road last Friday.
Taking care of the football has been the key for the Wildcats in their three-game winning streak.
"We had to keep preaching to stop shooting ourselves in the foot," Dutton said.
Watson Chapel lost its first two games by a combined 79-18 to Batesville (34-6) and Pine Bluff (45-12). While the Wildcats were closer in their next two games at Nashville and Hot Springs, they still lost 22-13 and 24-7, respectively.
The Wildcats won their first game in Week 5, a 37-7 rout of De Queen at home Oct. 3, before holding off Hope 17-14 in a game that was played over two days Oct. 10-11 because of a lightning delay.
Dutton admitted that starting 0-4 was rough, but the Wildcats have put that behind them.
"A lot of the kids knew the things that we were trying to do," Dutton said. "We knew we had to get better each week. We didn't have a major blowup. Nobody shut it down."
Junior running back Trayvarious Cole was instrumental in Watson Chapel's victory at White Hall. Cole rushed for touchdowns of 35 and 11 yards and returned a kickoff for a score in the fourth quarter after White Hall had pulled within 28-24.
"He's a leader," Dutton said. "He wants to see us win. It's not about him. I can watch him on film and he blocks as good or better than he runs the ball. That's a true team player. He's not going to get his head down if he doesn't touch the ball."
Watson Chapel plays at Magnolia on Friday. Magnolia (3-4) is 1-3 in the 5A-South, but its lone conference victory was a 29-0 shutout of Camden Fairview.
"They're a much improved team," Dutton said. "Coach Painter is doing a great job. He knows how to win. They beat Fairview. They played El Dorado close. They're playing good football. They have been in every game. A break here and there, they could be 3-1 instead of 1-3.
"They have very scary athletes. They play hard. Any time you go on the road, it's a challenge for you. Our kids have to stay hungry. They can't get overconfident."
DARDANELLE
Lizards on run
A 7-0 start has put Dardanelle among the top teams in Class 4A.
With 10 offensive starters back, Coach Josh Price was confident that 2014 could be a special one for the Sand Lizards. It has been so far.
"It's been a total team effort," Price said. "In my years here, we've always said if we're good on defense and on special teams, we'll always have a chance."
Dardanelle (7-0, 4-0 4-4A Conference) is led by senior quarterback Kristian Thompson, senior running back TJ Tucker and receivers Parker Witt and Chris Kershner.
Thompson has completed 46 of 69 passes for 926 yards and 11 touchdowns. Tucker has rushed for 793 yards and 12 touchdowns on 80 carries and is averaging 9.9 yards per carry. Kershner, a junior, leads the Sand Lizards' receivers with 19 catches for 520 yards and 7 touchdowns, while Witt, a senior, has 300 yards and 1 touchdown on 17 catches.
Kershner, who plays linebacker, also has five interceptions. Junior linebacker Daniel Craig leads the team in tackles with 61, while senior linebacker Easton Carter has 57 for a Sand Lizards defense that has allowed an average of 10.1 points per game.
"The kids have been taking coaching," Price said. "They're doing their assignments, playing sound football and getting to the ball."
The Sand Lizards visit Pulaski Robinson on Friday night. Thompson played his sophomore season at Robinson before moving to Dardanelle, but Price said Thompson has treated the matchup like any other game.
"We've made this as little of a deal as we can," Price said.
Robinson is led by junior receiver T.J. Hammonds, who has 1,416 all-purpose yards and 13 touchdowns, including 7 receiving.
"They're super talented," Price said. "They're a really good team. They're huge and fast."
MALVERN
1-loss pile up
Malvern is one of five teams tied at 3-1 in the 7-4A Conference.
Malvern, Fountain Lake, Nashville, Arkadelphia and Mena are all tied up in conference play with three weeks remaining in the regular season, but there will be some separation after Friday with two of the five 3-1 teams picking up a second loss. Malvern plays host to Fountain Lake that night, while Nashville travels to Mena.
"It's a pretty unique situation," Malvern Coach Mike Scarbrough said.
Fountain Lake runs the Wing-T offense, which has been something different for Scarbrough to game plan for this week.
"It's a foreign concept in this conference," Scarbrough said. "We've always had predominantly Spread football teams in this conference. It's a different situation. We've had to change our philosophy to stop the Wing-T offense."
The Leopards will have to find a way to contain junior fullback Parker Ross.
"He's a tremendous football player," Scarbrough said. "I don't look forward having to stop them all night, but we look forward to the challenge."
Malvern has won two consecutive games after losing to Mena two weeks ago, including a 41-7 rout at Waldron last Friday. Scarbrough called loss to Mena a wake-up call for the Leopards.
"We had seven fumbles, lost four of them," Scarbrough said. "We haven't done that since. If we don't do that, then we have a chance."
HAMBURG
Getting better
Cecil Ray Cossey isn't a believer in moral victories, but Hamburg's first-year coach said a team can get better in a loss.
The Lions had an opportunity to start 4-0 in the rugged 8-4A Conference, but Pine Bluff Dollarway defeated Hamburg 42-35 last Friday.
"I think we got better last week," Cossey said. "Our kids truly believe that if we play our best football, we can beat anybody in the state. That's the mentality I'm trying to solidify."
Hamburg was coming off a 37-20 victory at Star City and with a victory over Dollarway could have been atop the 8-4A with Class 4A perennial power Warren.
That didn't happen, but Cossey is confident about the future of the Lions, who haven't played for a state championship since 1997 when Cossey played at the school.
Hamburg hosts Ashley County rival Crossett on Friday. The Lions have won four in a row in the series, and a fifth consecutive victory could put them in position to earn a home game in the Class 4A playoffs.
"I think in sports, a lot of games are built into being a rivalry when there's not passion," Cossey said. "This is a true rivalry where there's a lot of pride and passion poured into this week. Having played in it, I know it's a huge week for these players.
"We want to promote that rivalry, but we want to maintain our focus."
WYNNE
Tough loss
Wynne didn't have to deal with much adversity leading up to its game against Batesville last Friday at Yellowjacket Stadium.
The Yellowjackets led 28-17 with 3:49 left in the third quarter after controlling the ball for the first 8:11. Over the first 8:11 of the second half, Wynne scored on a 1-yard run by senior Zach Morris and a 13-yard run by sophomore running back Jamar Dixon.
"We wanted to come back in the third quarter and set the tone," Coach Chris Hill said. "Our kids did a great job of that. We scored on the first two drives that put us up. ... You want to put the game away, but we were unable to do that."
Wynne blew an 11-point lead as Batesville scored the final 17 points on two touchdown passes by quarterback Kenton Crawford and a 43-yard field goal by senior Osvaldo Espericueta. The Yellowjackets failed to convert on fourth and goal with less than a minute left, and Batesville held on to hand Wynne its first loss.
Wynne turned over the ball twice on interceptions and allowed Batesville to recover an onside kick.
"The big deal is how we respond to this," said Hill, whose team travels to Paragould on Friday night. "Are we going to let it hurt our feelings and mope about it? Or are we going to bow our neck, grit our teeth and get better?
"If we learn from it, we're going to be fine. If we don't learn from it, we'll get beat again."
EXTRA POINTS
Sylvan Hills senior quarterback Tra Doss is 61 all-purpose yards away from reaching 5,000 in his career. Doss has 2,470 rushing yards and 51 touchdowns while totaling 2,469 passing yards and 27 touchdowns. He’s started 24 of 26 games in his three-year career at Sylvan Hills (7-0, 4-0 5A-Central), which travels to Little Rock McClellan on Friday. … Harrison senior quarterback Brock Humphrey threw for 416 yards and eight touchdowns in the Goblins’ 63-14 rout of Clarksville last Friday to improve to 3-1 in the 5A-West. Humphrey has thrown for 2,191 yards and 28 touchdowns in 7 games this season.
Sports on 10/23/2014