High School Football notebook

Defense leading way for Farmington

Farmington coach Mike Adams (center) watches as Josh Ball (left) and Jaden Carter work on a tackling drill Thursday during practice at Farmington High School's practice field.
Farmington coach Mike Adams (center) watches as Josh Ball (left) and Jaden Carter work on a tackling drill Thursday during practice at Farmington High School's practice field.

FARMINGTON -- The Cardinals have shown more bright spots defensively through the first two weeks of fall practice.

Coach Mike Adams isn't surprised to see his offense behind the defense at this point, but he still wants to see more as the offense attempts to keep up.

"Defensively we've had a really good camp," Adams said. "Offensively we've struggled to have some consistency with so many new players. We had another big scrimmage the other night and the offense just needs to be more consistent."

Jake Oskey returns at weak side linebacker and Adams pointed out the senior as a top communicator and leader among the defensive unit so far.

The Cardinals' secondary also has looked sharp, as free safety Skyler Montez is back from a knee injury and Kelton Price also returns.

"Skyler is starting to feel like he can play again," Adams said. "He's doing some good things."

Farmington will hold a Red-White scrimmage at Allen Holland Field on Tuesday before visiting Gravette for its preseason scrimmage on Aug. 23.

ROGERS HERITAGE

War Eagles start, finish scrimmage strong

Junior running back Dylan Qualls broke a 75-yard touchdown run on the first play of a 40-minute scrimmage, while senior Aaron Pavlak made a 29-yard field goal to finish it on Friday morning.

In between, the War Eagles struggled with penalties that killed drives and a bad snap that would have resulted in a safety. But Heritage coach Tony Travis said Qualls' big-play ability was on display, and senior receiver Roberto Palacios showed he will be a solid target.

"If we can get things blocked right, Dylan's capable of making a big play any time he gets the ball," Travis said. "Roberto showed he will be a reliable receiver for us. That's the first time we tried to make special teams game-like. For the most part, I thought we got in and out of that decent.

"Penalties were a killer. We had a big first-down catch on third-and-11, but we had a lineman flinch in his stance and we brought back and ended up punting. That's realistic to what happens. After the first big play and then the drive at the end, those possessions in the middle for the varsity offense we didn't do much. And penalties killed us and that's exactly what will happen on Friday night if we have that many penalties."

The varsity offense did finish the scrimmage strong, putting together a 13-play drive that ended on Pavlak's field goal. Palacios had three catches on the drive, including an eight-yarder on third-and-6 to keep the drive alive. Junior quarterback Trey Kitterman made plays with his arm and his feet.

Senior Tae Dixon also came up with a sack on fourth-and-2 to put the varsity offense in good position at their own 40 to start that final drive.

-- Paul Boyd • @NWAPaulB

SPRINGDALE HAR-BER

Wildcats wrap up second week with scrimmage

In Springdale Har-Ber's first fully padded scrimmage of the fall, coach Chris Wood was pleased with his team's physicality. Just to ensure and reiterate safety, game officials spoke to the players following the hour-and-a-half scrimmage Friday evening.

"They talked to them about targeting because that's really an emphasis this year," Wood said. "They just told the kids what they're looking for. You don't want anybody ejected over that rule, and I think it's very important you educate the kids on it."

As offensive line coach Robert Day's playlist blared from the indoor facility, the Wildcats rotated in all five potential starting quarterbacks, each finding success either on the ground or taking shots downfield. Aaron Henington, Payton Copher and Grant Allen all connected with receivers on long pass plays.

"It is a war in there," Wood said of the quarterback battle. "They really, all five of them, threw the ball really well tonight. This is where its really hard for a coach because I've got five kids that have gutted it out, and you can warrant something for each of them."

Har-Ber will not practice Monday to allow players to adjust to school restarting. But Tuesday, early morning practices begin. Friday's scrimmage, though, was a solid end to week No. 2.

"I thought they did a good job, and thought they were physical," Wood said. "We had a good little crowd here, too, watching them, and they were excited."

-- Scottie Bordelon • @NWAScottie

BENTONVILLE HIGH

Grant pleased with Tigers' progress

Bentonville coach Jody Grant said he has seen progress made on both sides of the football as the Tigers completed their second week of preseason workouts Friday.

It was the final morning practice for Bentonville, which will turn to afternoon workouts Monday as school goes back in session. The Tigers capped the week with a short scrimmage, with varsity, junior varsity and sophomore units sharing the game-type duties.

"I've been pleased with our guys," Grant said. "Each and every day, I think we are getting better in an area, which has been our focus. We want to get better each day and not take a step backward. I think we're ready to start preparing for an opponent.

"I've been pleased with the way we've advanced offensively. We struggled a little bit in the scrimmage, but if you look at the week as a whole -- with how our quarterbacks have operated and how our offense has done some things -- I've been pleased. Defensively, I'm excited about this group. They do some good things."

Bentonville has had its share of bumps and bruises during the last two weeks, but Grant said nobody has had a significant injury so far. Precautions have been taken toward those players to make sure things won't get any worse.

In the meantime, there were a significant amount of players missing during Friday's practice, and that is something Grant said he take care of those matters soon.

"As far as the absences go, this is the first time that it has been a situation," Grant said. "It will be addressed."

-- Henry Apple • @NWAHenry

Sports on 08/14/2016

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