Fountain Lake Coach Tommy Gilleran knows how important running back Parker Ross is to his Veer offense.
So when Ross was held to 91 yards on 20 carries in his first two games this season, Gilleran said Ross needed to break out against Maumelle last Friday night.
Ross answered his coach's wish.
The senior rushed for a season-high 205 yards and 5 touchdowns on 19 carries in the Cobras' 57-21 rout of last year's 5A-West champions at Beckham Memorial Stadium in Fountain Lake. It was Ross' third 200-yard game of his career.
Ross, 6-1, 200 pounds, scored on runs of 39, 4, 25 and 9 runs in the first half to help Fountain Lake (2-1) take a 43-8 lead into halftime. He added a 24-yard touchdown run in the third quarter that put the Cobras up 50-8.
"He saw the holes," Gilleran said. "He made some good runs. Overall, it was a great night."
Fountain Lake finished with 471 rushing yards and didn't complete a pass against the Hornets.
Ross had 61 yards on 14 carries in the Cobras' season-opening 47-7 loss at Little Rock Christian. He had 30 yards and 2 touchdowns on 6 carries Sept. 11 at Jessieville, a 58-7 victory.
Gilleran said Little Rock Christian bottled up Ross, which was a source of frustration for Ross over the past two weeks leading into the Maumelle game.
"To have a game like he had, it's huge," Gilleran said. "We need him to have those type of performances because of what he brings with his size and speed."
One of Ross' goals, Gilleran said, is to rush for more yards than his brother Mackenzie did at Fountain Lake. Parker Ross, who had 1,651 yards and 23 touchdowns on 205 carries last season, has 2,731 yards. Mackenzie finished his high school career with 3,048 yards.
"He wants to eclipse that," Gilleran said. "He's right up there."
Mark Makin, who played for Fountain Lake's 2009 Class 3A state championship team, holds the school record in rushing with 3,883 yards (2008-2010).
Fountain Lake hosts Waldron in its 7-4A Conference opener Friday.
PULASKI ROBINSON
Flagged for dunking
Pulaski Robinson junior defensive lineman David Porter showed off his basketball skills Friday night.
After picking up a Rogers Heritage fumble, Porter ran 29 yards for a touchdown late in the first half of the Senators' 43-22 victory. After the touchdown, Porter attempted to dunk the football over the right end zone's goal post. His dunk wasn't successful, but the celebration brought out an official's flag.
"We've told our d-line if they can ever score and they can dunk it, we'll take the 15-yard penalty," Robinson Coach Todd Eskola said. "He got pinned on the rim, so he owes us two miles. ... If had not gotten pinned, he'd been OK."
The Senators' defense turned in a good effort in the victory over the 7A War Eagles. Robinson turned three Heritage turnovers into 21 points and the Senators' first-string defense held the War Eagles to one touchdown.
"We saw an article this week that called us a finesse team," Eskola said. "We heard a bunch of that last year. This team is not a finesse team. Last year we weren't able to handle the teams that ran right at us. We committed to the weight room. ... We're not the same team we were last year.
"This time, we expect to win every time we get on the field. We don't want to punt, and we didn't with our first team tonight. We executed real well, and I'm proud of these kids."
CHARLESTON
Rowland back
Charleston junior quarterback Jackson Rowland will return to the starting lineup Friday against Danville after missing the past two games with a knee injury, Coach Greg Kendrick said.
Rowland, 6-0, 185, suffered a noncontact knee injury in practice Sept. 9. He ran a quarterback draw and planted his right foot into the FieldTurf surface at Charleston.
"He's had a really good week of practice," Kendrick said.
In the Tigers' season-opening 77-49 loss against Shiloh Christian on Sept. 1 in Fayetteville, Rowland completed 13 of 23 passes for 322 yards with 4 touchdowns and 1 interception.
Senior Wade Gerlick, who plays linebacker and running back for Charleston, filled in for Rowland at quarterback. Gerlick, 6-2, 205, completed 20 of 34 passes for 179 yards and rushed for 154 yards and 2 touchdowns on 34 carries the past 2 games.
Charleston (1-2) beat Ozark last Friday 7-3 behind Gerlick's 1-yard quarterback sneak. Gerlick rushed for 46 yards on 18 carries and completed 3 of 6 passes for 11 yards last week.
Kendrick admired Gerlick's toughness over the past two weeks playing an unfamiliar position.
"He's a linebacker playing quarterback," Gerlick said. "I've never had a kid in my years of coaching who has gutted it out more than that kid did.
"He put us on his back and carried us. He's one of the toughest kids in terms of a two-game span. He was Mr. Everything for us -- defense, special teams and offense."
EXTRA POINTS
Little Rock Christian has averaged 48.0 points and allowed 11.0 points per game in its 3-0 start. The Warriors have scored at least 47 points in each of their first three games. The 5A-West Conference school beat Fountain Lake 47-7 on Sept. 4 at Warrior Field and earned road victories at White Hall, 48-13, and at Jacksonville, 49-13. Little Rock Christian hosts Farmington on Friday. ... Wynne is 0-3, one year after playing in the Class 5A state championship game against Pulaski Academy. The Yellowjackets, who host Blytheville on Friday in their 5A-East Conference opener, were shut out 20-0 last Friday at West Memphis. ... Pulaski Academy is the only 5A-Central Conference team this season that was able to fill its open week left vacated by North Pulaski's football program ending. The Bruins host Jennings, Mo., on Friday night before opening 5A-Central play Oct. 2 at Little Rock McClellan. Mills brings the 5A-Central's string of open dates Oct. 2.
Sports on 09/24/2015