The second in a series profiling Pulaski County high school football teams.
Maurice Moody’s optimism for his 2017 Little Rock McClellan Lions is largely based on what happened in 2015, when the school reached the Class 5A state championship game.
Moody said McClellan started eight sophomores against Pulaski Academy, which beat its 5A-Central rival 50-30 in the final after leading 35-30 entering the fourth quarter.
All but one of those sophomores, Moody said, will play for McClellan this fall as seasoned three-year starters.
“Those guys have grown up to be really, really good football players,” said Moody, who has resurrected the southwest Little Rock program. “It’s just bled down to the rest of the guys.”
Moody enters his fifth season at McClellan with 12 starters returning from an 8-4 team that followed up the school’s first appearance in a state final since 1994 with a quarterfinal playoff berth last season.
Among the biggest losses to graduation were standout tailback Pierre Strong, who signed with FCS power South Dakota State, and quarterback Dalvion Childs, now a freshman defensive back at Southern Arkansas.
Moody said McClellan will use a tailback “by committee,” with seniors Andre Campbell, Tommy Crumpton, and twins Kyreek and Tyrse Lair among the candidates to replace Strong in a Spread/ Single-Wing scheme.
Senior Bennie Kemp, 6-1, 233 pounds, will start at quarterback.
With Childs (ankle) sidelined for the regular-season finale last season, Kemp accounted for 246 yards running and passing and six touchdowns in a 54-8 victory over Little Rock Parkview.
The bulk of Kemp’s 133 rushing yards were up the middle on zone reads.
“That’s his favorite play,” Moody said with a laugh. “He isn’t going to give it, he’s going to keep it.”
Senior wide receiver Jaylin Cunningham, 5-9, 150, ran 22 yards for a touchdown in the state title game against Pulaski Academy and had scoring receptions of 64 and 85 yards in a 32-16 first-round playoff victory last fall at Hot Springs Lakeside.
Defensively, seven starters return, including Campbell and senior Lee Rudley, 6-0, 175, in the secondary.
Moody said McClellan lost one of its top defensive players when senior linebacker Joseph Lewis, who would have been a three-year starter, transferred to Little Rock Central.
“We move on,” Moody said. “Next man up.”
Moody said his biggest concern is depth because many players are ticketed to go both ways, and there are only 40 (grades 10-12) in the Class 5A program.
Lions at a glance
COACH Maurice Moody
CONFERENCE 5A-Central
2016 RECORD 8-4, 5-2 5A-Central
KEY RETURNERS QB/LB Bennie Kemp III (Sr., 6-1, 233); WR/CB Jaylin Cunningham (Sr., 5-9, 150); TB/FS Andre Campbell (Sr., 5-10, 165)
2017 SCHEDULE
DATE OPPONENT
Sept. 1 at Sheridan Sept. 8 at North Little Rock Sept. 15 at LR Hall Sept. 22 Sylvan Hills Sept. 29 at Mills Oct. 6 LR Fair Oct. 13 at Beebe Oct. 20 LR Christian Oct. 27 at Pulaski Academy Nov. 2 LR Parkview (Thu.) 5A-Central game
“It’s not going to be like we have the big-name guys and everybody is saying, ‘Look out for McClellan,’ which is good,” Moody said. “That’s what I love about this club. No one is giving us a chance, especially in the post-Pierre era. Hey, we’re rolling our sleeves up. That’s part of our mission and motivation.”
Sports on 08/17/2017