Change of position leads to big season for Dardanelle’s Witt

Dardanelle’s Parker Witt, No. 5, makes a tackle against Fountain Lake during the 2014 season. Witt is the River Valley & Ozark Edition Defensive Player of the Year.
Dardanelle’s Parker Witt, No. 5, makes a tackle against Fountain Lake during the 2014 season. Witt is the River Valley & Ozark Edition Defensive Player of the Year.

DARDANELLE — Parker Witt made an unselfish position change for the greater good of the Dardanelle Sand Lizards last fall, and it paid off for everyone.

Witt, a 6-3, 220-pound senior, moved from his natural defensive end slot to, depending on the offense they were facing, outside linebacker or safety duties for the Sand Lizards, who matched the best finish in school history by reaching the semifinals of the Class 4A state playoffs.

The team closed 13-1, including a 7-0 romp through the 4A-4, and fell only in the state semifinals by a single point to Warren, the eventual state champion, 17-16.

Witt, who from his various positions recorded 84 tackles, including 7.5 tackles for loss, 11 pass breakups, two interceptions (including one for a touchdown) and three fumble recoveries, is the River Valley & Ozark Edition Defensive Player of the Year for 2014.

“Because of personnel and weaknesses in other positions, we moved him from the defensive end he played as a junior,” Dardanelle coach Josh Price said. “He played linebacker mostly, but when we played a run team, we moved him to defensive end, or when we played a spread team he’d go back to safety.

“He was so versatile. He did an outstanding job being a team leader. He’s a great teammate. He could’ve had better stats at defensive end, but he was glad to do what we needed. He is very unselfish,” Price said.

Witt, who committed to Ouachita Baptist University just before press time, said he preferred defensive end, where he’ll likely play in college.

“Me and Coach both knew I wouldn’t have as big a season [with the position move], but it ended up being better for the team,” Witt said. “It hurt my stats, but it helped the team in the end.”

Witt also started on offense at tight end and wide receiver. He made 32 catches for 621 yards and four touchdowns, and rushed for two more TDs.

All year, the Sand Lizards were dominant, starting with their 68-34 season-opening win at rival Danville. They outscored their opponents by a combined 601-162, an average of 43-12. The defense recorded four shutouts.

Price said his senior captain exceeded his expectations.

“I knew he’d have a good year, but I didn’t know he could do so much as far as our game plan was concerned,” Price said. “He didn’t come off the field. We’d have coaches call or text us every week, asking, ‘Where are you going to play No. 5 this week?’”

During Witt’s Sand Lizard career, the furthest the team had gone was the second round of the playoffs two years ago.

But this year seemed destined from the start, Witt said.

“Before the season started, there was kind of a buzz going around the football team because of the way the coaches were coaching us up,” he said. “They were coaching harder in the offseason. They knew we were a special group.”

A 28-0 win over Booneville, the defending Class 4A state champion, in Week 2 cemented the good vibes.

“[In the playoffs], it seems like we were always picked to get beat, but we beat Fountain Lake, which had tradition (52-13 in the first round); then we beat Hamburg, a really good football team (28-14), and then we went to Nashville, which has lots of tradition,” Witt said. “We beat them at their place (35-19), and I think that was when the town first started to think we might go all the way.”

Against Warren, another traditional powerhouse, at home in the semifinals, the Sand Lizards maintained the lead for most of the game but a missed PAT would come back to haunt them. Down three, Warren tried a field goal for the lead with about three minutes left.

“We blocked it, but they called roughing the kicker, and when we watched the film, there was hardly any contact,” Witt said. “We lined up again, and they kicked it and made it, so they were up one. We got the ball on our 30 but fumbled and gave it right back to them. They held it until there was a minute left; we got it back, but we didn’t have enough time.

“I feel like we were prepared mentally and physically for Warren, and then we would’ve been prepared for Mena in the state championship.”

Instead, Warren rolled at War Memorial Stadium, spanking the Bearcats, 48-14, to add to Warren’s trophy stash.

“I feel like if we’d had another minute, we could’ve won it,” Witt said. “There’s no doubt, us against Warren was the [Class] 4A state championship game.”

Dardanelle hadn’t reached the state semifinals since 1987 under former coach Phil Collins. Jimmy Witt, Parker’s father, graduated from DHS in 1983, so he followed both teams closely.

“We have compared the ’87 team with this one all year,” Jimmy Witt said. “That year, they were very good, but I think this team would beat the ’87 team, and here’s why: The ’87 team had a pretty solid team, but this year’s team, every single position was solid on both sides of the football. They didn’t have any holes anywhere.

“The ’87 team had some holes, and the offense wasn’t as strong as this year’s offensive weapons. I think this year’s team would’ve beaten them by probably three touchdowns,” he said.

Parker Witt agreed that his senior season left nothing to regret.

“There’s always that feeling that we let the town down a little bit,” he said. “I don’t think we let them down at all, but right after the game was over, that was the first thing that popped into my head.

“I knew we would go further this year than we did in the past, but I didn’t expect the semifinals. I was expecting second or third round,” he said.

Besides OBU, Witt also drew interest from Arkansas Tech, Henderson State, Southern Arkansas, Arkansas State, the University of Central Arkansas, Missouri State and, late, Arkansas. But the Hogs’ interest wasn’t enough to sway his commitment to the total package at OBU.

Witt said he’d had his eye on college football since he was a sophomore. He wanted to play wide receiver, but at a Razorback camp, assistant coach Barry Lunney Jr. told Witt he wasn’t fast enough for that position but encouraged him to hit the weight room for a move to DE. Witt took Lunney’s words to heart, building up from 185 pounds to 230 over one summer.

Witt also plays shortstop on the Dardanelle baseball team and is a state qualifier for the Sand Lizard track team. He is in the history, science and French clubs at DHS and is also involved in the EAST (Environmental and Spatial Technologies) program.

He said he hopes to earn a kinesiology degree with a history background so he can teach history and coach in high school.

Price, who has known Witt since he was in the fifth grade, knows the void he’ll leave next year.

“He will be missed,” Price said.

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