A 2-0 start to the 2014 season can get any high school football coach excited.
But a 2-0 start coupled with debuting a new playing surface has Sylvan Hills Coach Jim Withrow in a spirited mood entering Friday's game against Newport at Bill Blackwood Field in Sherwood.
The new Shaw Sports Turf field at Sylvan Hills is part of the school's $1.5 million project for the football field and a new track and field surface. Sylvan Hills becomes the second school in the Pulaski County Special School District to have an artificial surface, joining Maumelle.
"It changes the whole outlook on the field," Withrow said. "We saw the kids pick it up a little bit. For the community, it's a big deal to have that place."
Sylvan Hills won 48-35 at Hot Springs Lakeside last Friday behind senior quarterback Tra Doss' three rushing touchdowns.
But Withrow is high on senior running back Fred Williams, who had backed up classmate Tyler Davis. Davis strained a hamstring before the season and Williams, who had only two carries in 2013, started in place of him. Williams has rushed for 225 yards on 25 carries and 4 touchdowns.
Davis is back for the Bears, but Withrow said both players will play.
"It's a two-headed horse," Withrow said of Williams and Davis in the backfield.
The Class 5A Bears host the Class 4A Greyhounds in a matchup featuring teams in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette's Super Six rankings. Sylvan Hills is No. 5 in Class 5A while Newport is No. 6 in Class 4A.
"We're expecting a huge crowd," Withrow said. "We told the kids, you might as well go ahead and be ready to treat this as a playoff game.
"It will be just like a playoff game."
NEWPORT
Turner on point
Newport junior running back Carl Turner has picked up where he left off last season.
A year after he rushed for 1,083 yards, Turner has 335 yards on 47 carries and 7 touchdowns in two games as the Greyhounds are off to a 2-0 start.
Turner, 5-10, 190, had 222 yards on 25 carries with 5 touchdowns in the Greyhounds' 46-31 victory over Nettleton in the season opener and finished with 113 yards on 22 carries and 2 touchdowns in a 38-7 rout at Greene County Tech last week.
"He's a big part of this program," Newport Coach Don Harrison said. "He does a good job of finishing runs. It's really hard for guys to get him down. He's always fighting for that extra yard."
Harrison credits Newport's offensive line for Turner's big first two weeks.
"They're the catalyst," he said. "You're not winning a hill of beans without your offensive line."
Turner is also playing nose tackle for the Greyhounds. Harrison said during the offseason Turner bench pressed 350 pounds, squatted 405 pounds eight times and power cleaned up to 275 pounds.
"He was committed to the weight room to get stronger," said Harrison of Turner, who started playing nose tackle during the middle of last season.
Newport travels to Sylvan Hills on Friday. The Greyhounds beat the Bears 30-13 last year at home and Sylvan Hills Coach Jim Withrow knows all too well about Turner.
"He's going to be tough to stop," Withrow said. "They've got four or five guys who can play on anybody's team.
"Their talent level is really up there. They got a lot of team speed. A lot of things they do cause people problems."
PULASKI ROBINSON
Defense saves the day
Time of possession was not on Pulaski Robinson's side last Friday, but the Senators came away with a 28-21 victory over Central Arkansas Christian, thanks to a defense that registered four sacks and caused the Mustangs to commit 11 negative-yardage plays.
Senior defensive end Hunter Hudson came up with two of the sacks, caused and recovered a fumble that set up the Senators' final touchdown, and batted down a pass on CAC's final drive.
"It's not a secret [Hudson] can play football," Robinson Coach Todd Eskola said. "He did a good job, not only in pass rushing but on the offensive line he did a good job of pass blocking. He almost made a pick six at the end of the game."
Robinson (2-0) held the ball for only 18:30 on Friday night and ran 29 fewer plays than CAC (1-1), but the Senators' final drive took 8:07 off the clock, allowing them to escape with the victory.
CAC led 14-7 at the half while holding on to the ball for 18:12, compared to only 5:48 for Robinson. CAC outgained Robinson 206-83 in total yards in the first half. The Mustangs held a 10-1 advantage in first downs in the first two quarters.
Robinson, however, used the big play to its advantage. All of the Senators' touchdown drives took five plays or less and all four of Robinson's touchdowns came on plays of 20 yards or more.
"That was as bad as we could play," Eskola said. "We prepared poorly all week. We didn't have a good week of practice and then we came out and played exactly the same way we practiced. We weren't going through our keys, our reads, we weren't executing and we weren't physical on the lines. ... We felt like [CAC] was giving us the big play. We ran 80 plays [against Bauxite in Week 1]. Tonight wasn't going to be like that."
Sports on 09/18/2014