Cabot Coach Mike Malham wasn't sure what to expect going into his 37th season opener as the Panthers' leader last Friday at Pine Bluff.
"We have eight new faces on offense, seven new faces on defense," said Malham, who has coached at Cabot since 1981. "A lot of them are seniors that have never stepped on the field before. They've paid their dues. It's their turn.
At a glance
RECORDS El Dorado 1-0, Cabot 1-0
RANKINGS El Dorado No. 8 in overall top 10, No. 2 in Class 6A; Cabot No. 7 in overall top 10, No. 5 in Class 7A
COACHES El Dorado: Scott Reed; Cabot: Mike Malham
KEY PLAYERS El Dorado: QB Darius Holly (Sr., 6-0, 185); RB Richard Keese (Sr., 5-8, 205); WR Keshun Greene (Sr., 6-4, 198); Cabot: QB Tommy Oaks (Jr., 5-11, 168); RB Adam Flores (Sr., 5-8, 185); FB Brad Morales (Jr., 5-8, 160)
"The only way to get that experience is to get out there on Friday night. But I felt good at the end of the game."
Malham's good feelings came courtesy of Cabot's running game and defense against Pine Bluff. Trailing 12-0 entering the second half, Cabot had 150 of its 257 yards of total offense in the final two quarters and held the Zebras to 34 yards after halftime in a 20-12 victory at Jordan Stadium in Pine Bluff.
[HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL SCOREBOARD: Live updates and scores from tonight's games]
"You're down 12-0 and you have all these new people," Malham said. "But they turned it around. You've got to be pleased with that."
Today, Class 7A Cabot (1-0) gets to face another Class 6A contender, El Dorado, at 7 p.m. today at Panther Stadium.
El Dorado (1-0) won 29-7 at Camden Fairview behind quarterback Darius Holly's two touchdown passes. While Wildcats Coach Scott Reed was pleased with Holly, he wasn't as thrilled with the rest of his team's second-half play.
"Honestly, I thought we got sloppy," Reed said. "We didn't execute nearly as well. We didn't move as well. We got tired.
"The first quarter and a half, I thought, 'Wow, we're pretty good.' But we didn't continue to play."
Cabot won last year's meeting in El Dorado 28-13. Jarrod Barnes, who is now at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, rushed for 181 yards on 18 carries. Reed said without Barnes, Cabot is getting production from junior quarterback Tommy Oaks and senior running back Adam Flores (120 yards against Pine Bluff on 23 carries).
"They're balanced," Reed said. "You keyed on Barnes [last season] and you tried to keep him from getting into space. They got big plays on Pine Bluff last week. They're very disciplined with what they do. They find something that they like. Coach Malham does a good job of finding where you're uncomfortable. It's hard to get ready for what they do in a week."
Oaks threw two touchdown passes against Pine Bluff, for 52 yards to junior running back Tadariyan Rogers and 11 yards to junior fullback Brad Morales.
"I think he has a chance to be real good," said Malham of Oaks, 5-foot-11, 168 pounds. "He's the closest thing we got to a Jarrod Barnes."
Between Malham and Reed, the two coaches have combined for 424 victories in their careers. Malham is the state's active leader in victories with 292 while Reed has 132, including 93 at El Dorado since 2007.
While Malham, 64, leads Reed, 56, in victories, Reed has four state championships (2009, 2010, 2011, 2013) to Malham's two (1983, 2000).
But both coaches have a mutual respect for each other, dating back to 1978 when Reed was the starting quarterback on Jacksonville's Class AAAA state championship team under his father, the late Bill Reed, and Malham, who was a first-year assistant for the Red Devils that year.
"Scott does a great job," Malham said. "They always prepare. They're a contender year in and year out. You got Pine Bluff and El Dorado to start the season and you look at our conference, you have to be ready to play every night."
"This is more of a Mike Malham team as far as how they approach their offense," Reed said. You don't want 10-15 play drives. If they limit possessions on us, that frustrates teams like us because we like to go no-huddle."
Sports on 09/08/2017