Little Rock Fair needs to form line to stack up

This coach seems to have a good sense of humor, which comes in handy.

A total of 22 Little Rock Fair War Eagles football players showed up for their preseason practice Thursday, and Coach Roosevelt Turner couldn't help but laugh. Actually, he was happy to have that many players there. He just wished more had been interior linemen.

Turner said he was pleased to have had enough skill players to participate in seven-on-seven contests during the summer, but he shook his head and smiled as he went down the list of lineman he hoped would play -- but cannot or will not.

One was hurt in a motorcycle accident. Turner said he should be back in three to four weeks. Another has yet to appear for drills, and Turner said he no longer so much as hopes the player will play this season. A third took a job at a nearby Burger King. "It's right up here, around the corner from the school," Turner said. "That's where he'll be this fall."

For those who lament the cumulative reversal of Little Rock public-school football success, Fair is perhaps their lead example. Fair won the 1998 state championship in Arkansas' top division, but over the past 10 seasons, few teams have performed as poorly. Since 2006, Fair has a record of 9-97. It is 3-66 in various conference games. Its last victory came in the 2013 season-opener. Fair has since lost 30 consecutive on the field, though a 52-6 loss to Little Rock McClellan in 2014 was reversed by forfeit.

Before last season, Turner said his goal was to have enough players to complete the schedule. He said he might place the bar a bit higher this season. "Maybe, because I got plenty of skill players to get on the bus," Turner said. "But my linemen have been a real consistency stickler for me. I just can't get them to show up."

Junior Kalih Brazle tops Turner's list of in terms of dependability. Turner said Brazle had missed one practice in three years, but that even then, it was for a physical examination and that Brazle had first cleared it with Turner.

"I didn't consider that as a miss," Turner said. "If I had 22 Kalih Brazle's --I mean, even on the line -- we'd stack up against anybody. I have no doubt."

"I sure do appreciate it that Coach Turner thinks about me that way," Brazle said. "I just want to help out the J.A. Fair football program. I'm just out there to try to get the guys to do what I do."

Turner said Brazle, 5-6, 140, will play quarterback, running back, wide receiver, and in the secondary.

"Kalih is like my utility guy," he said.

If the season were to start today, Turner said sophomore Cedric Brown, a transfer from North Little Rock, would start at quarterback. Turner said he remains hopeful that freshman quarterback Akeem Gilmore, who has been away on vacation, will appear at practice with the start of the school today.

Speed among his skill players has led to Turner to devise a defense with 4 lineman, 2 linebackers, and 5 defensive backs.

Now if he can just get the linemen to show up.

"With school starting, that should help me get some more guys at practice," Turner said. "Right now, I can't really make a practice schedule because you don't who'll be here. It all depends on who shows up, so I monitor and adjust. When I do have a lineman come, we'll have him block a trash can. We just have to go to the spot where a man would be if he was here. It's just like a what-if situation for us right now."

Sports on 08/15/2016