Little Rock McClellan Coach Maurice Moody understands exactly what is at stake tonight in the Class 5A semifinals.
The Lions, who have been one of the more surprising stories of the Arkansas high school football season just two seasons after going 1-9, travel to Batesville tonight to face a Pioneers team that has been to the semifinals six times in the past 10 seasons.
“It’s for the all the marbles to play at Fair Park and Markham,” Moody said.
Fair Park Boulevard and Markham Street just happens to be the location for War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock, home of the high school state championship games.
It’s also where McClellan hopes to find itself next Friday night. The Lions have not won a state championship in football since 1971.
“That’s been my vision since Day One when I started at Earle [in 2001],” said Moody, who coached at Earle and Blytheville before coming to McClellan. “We’re right up the street from War Memorial, and we’re so close.
“It would be nothing short of a miracle, given everything they’ve been through and everything that’s happened in their lives.”
Just talking about playing for a state championship is a far cry from where the Lions were when Moody opened his first practice at McClellan in August 2013.
Five players quit the team and an assistant coach also left on the first day. The Lions finished that season 1-9, beating only North Pulaski in Week 9.
It looked like McClellan was on its way to the postseason last year before it was forced to forfeit two victories for using an ineligible player. The Lions finished 5-5 and missed the postseason again.
This season already has been a special one for the magnet school located off Geyer Springs Road in southwest Little Rock.
The Lions (9-2) earned the No. 2 seed from the 5A-Central Conference and advanced to semifinals by beating Morrilton and Hot Springs Lakeside in first two rounds of the playoffs. McClellan is the first Little Rock School District member to play in the semifinals in any classification since Little Rock Central won the AAAAA state championship in 2004.
Moody said the atmosphere surrounding the football program has been electric, and he said the Lions were as loose as they have been all season during Wednesday morning’s practice.
“The kids are truly excited about what’s going on around here,” Moody said. “They’re playing for something more than themselves. It’s bigger than McClellan football. It’s about the community.
“I’m enjoying it. We want to keep it rolling.”
Moody said playing football has helped provide a safe haven for many of McClellan’s players. He said players don’t want to leave practice and have embraced the structure and discipline that comes with being a part of the football team.
“We know the challenges they face going home,” Moody said. “There may not be any food. There may not be a mother or a father there and they’ll have to babysit their brothers or their sisters. We understand all of that. We’re willing to help out any way possible.
“Our hat goes off to our kids. They have every excuse to veer off the path and do the wrong thing, but they’re doing the right thing. We’ve taught integrity, and they’ve responded to it.”
Three players — senior offensive lineman Raymond Ivory, C.J. Lightner and David Moore — remain from that 2013 team. When Moody arrived at McClellan, he spoke with the ninth-grade class that was led by Pierre Strong. He saw that group as the key to what he hoped to build at the school.
“I told them I needed a foundation and a base,” Moody said. “I want you guys to be the class because I have you guys from ninth grade through 12th grade. They’ve stuck through it. Now we’re starting to see some of that hard work paying off.”
Strong has been among the state’s top running backs this season, rushing for 1,977 yards and 28 touchdowns on 148 carries. He rushed for 218 yards and three touchdowns and caught a touchdown pass in last week’s 50-37 victory at Hot Springs Lakeside.
“He’s one of those special talents,” Moody said. “He has fun. It’s never me, me, me with him. He never asks a coach how many yards does he have or how many touchdowns he has. He doesn’t ask anyone. If he knows, then someone told him.”
Strong saw what his older teammates had done in the past and knew that wasn’t what he wanted for his class.
“They were trying to do their own thing just because they were seniors,” Strong said. “We’ve stayed closer and learned how to play with each other.”
Moody’s leadership has been critical, Ivory said.
“Everybody believes and nobody gives up,” Ivory said. “The practices have been great, and it leads into the games.”
While the Lions’ success may have come as a surprise to many across the state, it hasn’t been for Moody.
“I knew they had it in them,” Moody said. “We’ve established our identity. Once we got rid of all the negativity, no one was going to outwork us. What we’ve done this year is to build for what’s to come.
“The moment isn’t too big for these kids. They’re living in it.”