PREP FOOTBALL REPORT

NWA Democrat-Gazette/J.T. WAMPLER Fort Smith Northside quarterback Dreyden Norwood looks for running room Tuesday Aug. 20, 2019 during a scrimmage against Bentonville West.
NWA Democrat-Gazette/J.T. WAMPLER Fort Smith Northside quarterback Dreyden Norwood looks for running room Tuesday Aug. 20, 2019 during a scrimmage against Bentonville West.

FS NORTHSIDE

Weather issues have Grizzlies behind

The hot summer days coupled with high humidity have had an impact on his team's conditioning, said Fort Smith Northside coach Mike Falleur. That combination has limited the practice times for his Grizzlies.

"Down here in the River Valley there are probably a lot of teams that have not been able to go out and practice a whole lot," Falleur said. "I think it's hindered our conditioning and I think we're a little behind because of it."

The youthful Grizzlies scrimmaged against Bentonville West on Tuesday and Falleur said his team will need to show a lot more consistency moving into the season-opener on Friday at Rogers Heritage.

"We have a bunch of young guys who played their first varsity scrimmage game and we made a lot of mistakes," Falleur said of the scrimmage. "We gave up three big plays on defense. You can't do that if you want to win games, so we have to improve on that.

"Offensively we've got to get a whole lot more consistent than we were Tuesday night."

Falleur said he was pleased with his team's defensive effort, minus the big plays.

"I think our kids played hard and for the most part defensively we did not allow them to move the ball except for those big plays," Falleur said. "Offensively we ran the ball good at times, we're just not very consistent."

-- Chip Souza • @nwachip

VAN BUREN

Pointers show promise in scrimmage

The Pointers scored three touchdowns in their scrimmage with Farmington on Thursday, but first-year coach Crosby Tuck said he saw plenty of areas where his team needs to improve heading into Friday's season-opener at Siloam Springs.

"I feel pretty good about where we're at at this point of the season, but definitely a couple of key things we did last night we need to work on," Tuck said. "We have to clean up our communication on our pass protections. There were times that I could tell we were very confused on, like a couple of their blitzes."

Tuck said there were areas on the defensive side that also need to be cleaned up before the opener.

"We can't afford to blow assignments," he said. "We got hurt a couple of times when guys left their area of responsibility to try and go make a big play and all of the sudden it's coming right back to where they are supposed to be. We can't have guys trying to do their own thing. We gave up some big plays because we had guys in the wrong spot."

Tuck said he was pleased with the way his receivers caught the ball, an area he said the group has worked hard on throughout the off-season. He also said the Pointers tackled well defensively.

"I thought our receivers did a good job of going to get the football," Tuck said. "They made some big third-down catches to keep drives going."

-- Chip Souza • @nwachip

GREENWOOD

Jones pleased with Bulldogs' progress

The Bulldogs didn't get to finish their scrimmage with Fayetteville because of storms, but coach Rick Jones saw some positives.

"We gave up three deep balls you just can't do, but Fayetteville, they are gonna complete some deep balls against everybody," Jones said. "They have two quarterbacks who can throw it and one of the best receivers around.

"Fundamentally, I'd give us a B-minus. At this point, that's not too bad. We did OK. OK is not great. But it's encouraging to play a half against a pretty good football team."

Greenwood edged Fayetteville 21-17 in the two-quarter varsity portion of the scrimmage. Junior running back Hunter Wilkinson accounted for two scores, one receiving and one rushing.

Greenwood returns only nine starters and just two on the offensive line, which is still a work in progress, Jones said. It was also one of the drawbacks of not getting to play more, Jones said there are probably seven in the hunt for the five starting spots.

"Part of not playing those two and a half quarters is we didn't get a look at some guys," Jones said. "The offensive line is usually one of the keys to the puzzle. We gave up some sacks. But we've still got two more weeks of practice."

Senior receiver Treyton Dawson, who earned all-conference honors last season, is still recovering from an injury and didn't play. But juniors Peyton Carter and Caden Brown made some plays, Jones said. He also singled out nose guard Coleton Erwin.

-- Paul Boyd • @NWAPaulB

ROGERS HIGH

Loyd throws 4 TDs in scrimmage

The Mounties put together showed well on both sides of the ball in blanking Siloam Springs and Pea Ridge by identical 14-0 scores in one-quarter varsity scrimmages on Friday evening.

Rogers moved the ball efficiently mainly through the air in both quarters with senior quarterback Hunter Loyd throwing for a combined 232 yards and four touchdowns in the two quarters.

Senior receiver Mason Ross finished with 12 catches for 156 yards and two touchdowns, both against Pea Ridge.

Rogers coach Mike Loyd came away pleased with much of what he saw.

"I thought we did some really good things," Loyd said. "Our protection was great. We threw the ball great. We ran great routes. We competed and hooked it up against two good football teams. I was pleased with the effort.

"Any time you can limit a team to 10 snaps in the first quarter, you're doing some things right. We had some great drives. I thought the defense did a better job in the second. But you're gonna win if you keep them off the field."

The run game must improve and the defense can better as well, Loyd said.

"I think they played their responsibilities better (in the second quarter)," Loyd said. "Everybody has got a gap. Defense hasn't changed in forever. Let's not come out here and try and do our own thing. Do your job and player your assignment and that's what we've got to get better at. Overall, I thought we played hard and got out of here healthy."

-- Paul Boyd • @NWAPaulB

HARRISON

Goblins plan to use two quarterbacks

Ben Johnson and Cole Keylon took their turns at directing Harrison's starting offense during Wednesday's scrimmage against Rogers Heritage, but the Goblins don't have a quarterback controversy.

It will actually give Harrison's opponents an extra thing they must heed. Johnson, the starter last year, is right-handed, while Keylon, a junior, is left-handed.

"It was by design," coach Joel Wells said. "We'll play them both. We'll play them both all year long."

Johnson hit Rilee Jones with a 64-yard touchdown pass and connected with Gabe Huskey with a 65-yard touchdown pass as Harrison rolled to a 28-0 win in two quarters at Gates Stadium. Keylon added a score with an 8-yard touchdown run.

Huskey, who ran for 2,150 yards and 33 touchdowns last season, had the ball stripped out of his hands on his first carry during the scrimmage portion.

"He hadn't been in any live contact," Wells said of Huskey, who had shoulder surgery in the offseason. "We didn't play him in team camp, and that's why we played him a little more than usual. We want him to get back into the rhythm. He fumbled just one time last year, so that's not a big concern."

Wells said he liked what he saw from Anthony Allen at noseguard, as well as Brooks Both and Bryant Ulrich at inside linebacker during the scrimmage. Harrison now begins preparing for its season opener Friday at Pea Ridge.

"We have a lot of getting better to do," Wells said. "We did some good things, but we have to clean up a lot of stuff. They say you improve more from game one to game two than any other time during the year, so we need to make this game one."

-- Henry Apple • @NWAHenry

PEA RIDGE

Neal praises Blackhawks' effort

Pea Ridge coach Stephen Neal was more concerned about the effort his team would put forth against Rogers and Siloam Springs than the points the Blackhawks didn't score during Friday's scrimmage.

Pea Ridge held its own for the most part against the two bigger schools, and that pleased Neal a lot. The Blackhawks gave up a long touchdown pass during their one quarter of play against Siloam Springs, then Rogers scored on a pair of fourth-down passes.

"We learned just liked normal," Neal said. "Our team is going to compete. It doesn't matter who is going to be on the field. Our kids are going to compete as hard as they can.

"I was really, really pleased with our defensive effort. I was pleased with the offensive effort, but as every football coach will tell you the offense will take a little longer to develop."

Neal said the top priority during the scrimmage was to get through it with no injuries, followed by "tremendous effort" from their players in their first taste of action against another team. Both of those items were accomplished.

"We'll go back and watch film of what happened," Neal said. "But if I'm a betting man, we got some great effort out of our kids. I could go down the list of everybody that played the two quarters against Siloam Springs and Rogers and think they did a great job."

Pea Ridge opens the regular season -- its last one as a Class 4A school -- with a home game Friday night against Harrison.

-- Henry Apple • @NWAHenry

MANSFIELD

Defense shines in scrimmage

Mansfield is expected to score plenty of points with quarterback Ethan Stovall in control, but it was the Tigers' defense that stood out in a scrimmage at De Queen.

Mansfield won 13-0 in two quarters of varsity action with the Leopards.

"We shut them out and forced a couple of turnovers," Mansfield coach Tim Cothran said. "Anytime you can keep a team out of the end zone, you have to feel good about that. Offensively, we were just OK. Our quarterback protection wasn't as good as we would like it to be. We still have some wrinkles to work out."

It's now game week for Mansfield, which will host Hackett on Thursday night. Cothran said he likes the early start that will allow Mansfield a week off before beginning 3A-1 Conference play at home against West Fork on Sept. 27.

"I like playing on zero week then taking week three off," Cothran said. "That gives us a chance to get healthy again before starting conference play. That's when you want to be 100 percent healthy and ready to go."

-- Rick Fires • @NWARick

LINCOLN

Wolves preparing for final turn in 4A

Lincoln will prepare for its final season in Class 4A by facing a future Class 3A opponent in a scrimmage.

Lincoln will play Tuesday at West Fork, which is a member of the 3A-1 Conference along with Booneville, Mansfield, Lamar, Charleston, Cedarville, Greenland, and Paris. Lincoln will join the league in 2020 for the next reclassification cycle.

Lincoln is coming off an 8-3 season in Class 4A that included a 59-48 victory over Prairie Grove, its first win over the Tigers in nearly 25 years. Lincoln expects to compete at a high level again in 4A before dropping down to 3A with schools more it size.

Lincoln finished third in the 4A-1 Conference last season.

"We are going to be a 3A team playing football, but we really feel like we can play with anybody in this (4A-1) Conference," Lincoln coach Don Harrison said. "Once we go down, we're probably not coming back up. But we're not thinking 'let's see if we can hold on this year.' No, we're looking at it like this is our year, too."

Lincoln lost two dynamic players in quarterback Caleb Lloyd and receiver Sterling Morphis, who will play basketball this season at John Brown University. But the Wolves return a handful of returning starters, including running back Christian Sellers and Noe Avellaneda, who caught 40 passes last year for 450 yards. Receiver Daytin Davis is healthy again after he broke his collarbone and missed playing last year.

Lincoln will open its season Sept. 6 at Westville, Okla.

-- Rick Fires • @NWARick

Sports on 08/25/2019

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