High School Football notebook

Decatur keeps season alive

Decatur Bulldogs run through defensive drills Wednesday at Bulldog Stadium.
Decatur Bulldogs run through defensive drills Wednesday at Bulldog Stadium.

DECATUR -- Almost two dozen players clad in blue helmets and jerseys made their way out of the gymnasium to the lush green football field Wednesday afternoon.

Just a few days earlier the numbers were much smaller, but Decatur has rallied to keep its senior high football season alive as the team's roster has grown from nine to now 21 players since fall classes started.

Bulldogs coach Shane Holland had a simple answer when asked how he was able to grow his program by a dozen players in a matter of a few days:

"We bribed them," Holland said. "I mean, room, board, tuition ... the whole deal. Full scholarship."

Holland said he and Decatur athletic director John Unger made a list of potential athletes, some former players, and convinced a number of them to join the football program. So almost overnight, the team went from not enough to even field a full squad, to now actually having a little depth to give some of the two-way players a breather.

Unger said the program was literally down to the last day on whether the school board would be forced to cancel the season. Unger previously said the program would need to have between 17 and 20 players to start the season.

"If we'd have come to school that first day and we're out there with 14, we'd have pulled the plug," Holland said.

Holland said only one ninth-grade player was brought up to the senior high team, but the coach had already made that decision before the team's low numbers were cause for concern. Decatur will have a full junior high team this season, he said.

Senior quarterback Leng Lee was among the group of nine players who showed up for practice the first week. Lee was also instrumental in helping recruit players to the team to keep the season going.

"If we didn't have a team this year, it wouldn't have felt finished," said Lee. "I went and got a couple of guys, and I told my brother to get his guys, coach got some guys and we got some new guys to our school, so everything is just coming along right now."

Holland said if the Decatur school officials had been forced to cancel the season it would have been embarrassing.

"Whether or not it is, I'd take it as a reflection on myself," Holland said.

The Bulldogs will host Mountainburg in a scrimmage on Aug. 23, and open the regular season at Berryville on Sept. 2.

HUNTSVILLE

Barnhill happy with numbers

Since school began, numbers have improved for Huntsville with 5 or 6 players joining the squad. That gives first-year coach Randy Barnhill 39 total.

"We're down a little bit from what we had in the spring, but we're happy with where we are numbers-wise right now," Barnhill said.

Barnhill has been pleased with the effort, attitude and attendance of a senior class that includes 15 players. They're encouraging teammates to get better every play, or discouraging when they're not working hard enough, he said.

"We asked them to change the culture and they have done everything we've asked them to do," Barnhill said. "It's a great group of kids and we expect most all of them to contribute. They'll be on the field somewhere."

Another change has been on offense where Barnhill is tweaking former coach Tommy Tice's double-slot, Wing-T formations.

"This year is going to be a lot more options, misdirection and power stuff that we can hang our hats on," Barnhill said. "It fits our kids and we're going to keep it simple to do what these kids know."

There's a three-way race for the starting quarterback job between seniors Trent Harris and Mack Stevens and sophomore Sean McCone, who led the junior high to a conference title last season. Barnhill said all three are competing at a high level and the coaching staff hopes to get closer to a decision after grading their performances during a three-team scrimmage against Morrilton and Ozark at Ozark on Tuesday.

-- Mike Capshaw • @NWACappy

ELKINS

Elks gearing up for scrimmage

Elkins coach Chad Harbison will get a fresh look at his new team during a three-way scrimmage with Gentry and Green Forest on Aug. 26.

"I'm looking for maximum effort," said Harbison, who took over at Elkins in June. "It's been a learning curve with a new coach, but our guys need to execute and be aggressive."

Elkins returns 37 varsity players, including 17 seniors, from a team that finished 5-6 last season under former coach Thurman Shaw.

"We had a good summer with a really hard-working group of kids," said Harbison, who was co-offensive coordinator at Russellville a year ago. "There's no superstars on the team, but we do have a group of seniors who can all play."

Elkins opens the season Sept. 2 at home against Shiloh Christian.

-- Rick Fires • @NWARick

Sports on 08/18/2016

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