State sports briefs

FOOTBALL

Marshall, Akers Cotton Bowl inductees

Former Arkansas football players Fred Marshall and Fred Akers were part of a six-man class inducted into the Cotton Bowl Hall of Fame on Friday in a ceremony at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

Marshall was the starting quarterback on the Razorbacks’ 1964 team that beat Nebraska 10-7 in the Cotton Bowl on Jan. 1, 1965, to cap an 11-0 season and win a share of the national championship. He was inducted into the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame earlier this year.

Akers, a Blytheville native, was a kicker and defensive back for Arkansas. A senior in 1959, he kicked a 28-yard field goal for the only score in the Razorbacks’ 3-0 victory over TCU in the Southwest Conference opener. Arkansas went to share the SWC title with Texas at 5-1 and finish 9-2 overall.

Akers was inducted into the Cotton Bowl Hall of Fame for his three appearances as Texas’ coach.

Friday’s other Cotton Hall of Fame inductees included Southern California offensive lineman Tony Boselli, SMU running back Eric Dickerson, Notre Dame linebacker Bob Golic and team selection chairman Dan Petty.

TENNIS

UCA gets first SLC Tournament victory

The Central Arkansas women’s tennis team earned its first victory ever in the Southland Conference Tournament on Friday.

The No. 7 seed Sugar Bears upset host and No. 2 seed Stephen F. Austin 4-1 in Nacogdoches, Texas.

The Sugar Bears (14-8) took the doubles point and rode that momentum throughout the match. Rada Manataweewat and QiLi Ma gave UCA an early edge in doubles play, taking the No. 3 match, 6-1, over Vanesa Calvo Pardo and Liza Aginskaya. Nataly Yoo and Amiru Shimoguchi secured the point with a 6-3 victory in the No. 1 mach against Denise Maxl and Dhanielly Quevado.

Marli Van Heerden took the No. 5 match, 6-4, 6-0. over Pardo, and Shimoguchi picked up a 6-3, 7-5 victory over Lauren Hidalgo-Smith in the No. 3 match. Xylia Chunan Xiang closed out the match with a 6-2, 3-6, 6-2 victory over Quevado.

Springdale High hires defensive coordinator

Charleston defensive coordinator Brett Hobbs was hired in the same role at Springdale High on Friday.

Hobbs is a Springdale alum and played for legendary coach Jarrell Williams before graduating in 2000 and continuing his career at Arkansas Tech. He played against Springdale head coach Zak Clark while Clark was at Fayetteville and then again when Clark transferred to UCA.

As a coach, Hobbs won two state championships in three years at Charleston after previously serving as Van Buren’s defensive coordinator for five years.

“We’ve kept in contact, and he has a tremendous work ethic,” Clark said. “He’s a great guy, and he’s done really, really well at Van Buren and Charleston. He’s excited, and I know the alumni around here are going to be excited to have him back.”

Hobbs fills the void left by former Bulldogs defensive coordinator Leroy Hood, who has accepted an assistant coaching position at Tift County High School in Georgia after spending a year in his second stint at Springdale.

Hobbs will coach the Bulldogs in spring practice, which begins Tuesday. He has run a 4-3 scheme at his previous jobs.

“He’s a good defensive coordinator, but where he really excels is with the kids and building relationships,” Clark said. “The kids flock to him are the comments that I get from everybody.”

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