Conway finished 8-4 in 2019 following a quarterfinal loss at Bentonville West in the Class 7A state playoffs, but the Wampus Cats will have some holes to fill for 2020.
Just four starters return for the Multiple offense, with three back for the Multiple defense.
“We will have to grow up quickly,” third-year coach Keith Fimple said. “We have a great nonconference schedule to help with growth.”
In 2019, the Wampus Cats opened with a 37-27 win at El Dorado before falling at Bentonville, 17-10, and finishing the nonconference schedule with a 14-7 victory over Jonesboro.
In the 7A-Central, they opened with a 42-21 win over Fort Smith Southside, lost at North Little Rock, 17-7; won four straight (Cabot, 30-20; Fort Smith Northside, 23-20; Little Rock Central, 34-13; and Little Rock Catholic, 42-7),
before falling to Bryant, the eventual undefeated conference and state champion, 42-7, in the regular-season finale.
In the playoffs as the third seed from the Central, the Wampus Cats beat Rogers, sixth from the West, in the opening round, 63-21, before falling at Bentonville West, second from the 7A-West, 31-21.
In 2020, they are scheduled to play nonconference games against Class 7A Fayetteville
(6-6 last season) and Bentonville (11-1 in 2019) and at Class 6A Jonesboro (8-4).
Team strengths, Fimple said, would be running backs and competition for playing time. Obviously, the Wampus Cats’ major weakness — at least early — will be a lack of experience.
Among the players to watch are junior running back Manny Smith (5-5, 150), who led the Wampus Cats in rushing (810 yards) and touchdowns (10) last year; senior running back Jamaal Bethune (5-9, 177), who ran for more than 500 yards as a junior; senior end Trey Banks (5-10, 220);
senior nose guard Jaylend McCuien (5-8, 260); junior safety Ashton Waller (6-1, 184); junior safety Traland McClure (6-2, 159); senior receiver Bryce Bohanon (5-10, 175), who had 52 receptions for 746 yards and 5 scores; senior tight end Jayden Williams (6-5, 250); junior tackle Nick Deboard (6-1, 240); junior wide receiver West Boudreaux (5-9, 160); junior cornerback Troy Wiseman (5-10, 160); and senior defensive tackle Levern Floyd (6-3, 240).
Fimple said Bohanon, Williams, Banks and McCuien are college prospects.
Top newcomers include seven sophomores: running back Garrett Sanders (6-1, 225), linebacker Jayden Robinson (5-10, 180), running back Preston Prock (6-3, 205), tailback Kendall Millwood (5-8, 160), tailback Jamarion Carr (5-9, 155), wide receiver/defensive back Rome Fields (5-10, 160) and defensive tackle Demarkale McKency (6-0, 225).
“We will have lots of positions open for competition,” the coach said.
Like every other team in the state, the Wampus Cats have had to deal with an upended spring and summer schedule because of COVID-19. But with their inexperience, the situation is perhaps more dire for them.
“Some of those guys we lost [to graduation] were three-year starters,” Fimple said in mid-August. “Without spring ball, [the players’] actual experience is coming right now.
“The more they play, the better off we’ll be. We might not be right out of the gate, but later on at the end of the season, I think it’ll be a different ballgame.”
He said that in a normal year, the usual process would be to identify things the 2020 Wampus Cats needed to accomplish at the conclusion of the 2019 season. But with COVID-19, what would have happened throughout the spring didn’t start until summer.
“We’re putting them in game-type situations, which we would’ve done in May,” he said. “We would’ve had a depth chart coming out of spring, and we’re doing that now.”
The Wampus Cats were picked to finish fourth in the 7A-Central, according to a statewide publication’s preseason poll of league coaches, behind Bryant, North Little Rock and Cabot. Little Rock Central was picked fifth, followed by Little Rock Catholic, Fort Smith Northside and the new Little Rock Southwest.
Fimple called the first eight months of 2020, including the spring Zoom sessions with his team, “weird, but a learning experience.”
“When you get back together, you cherish those moments in the huddle, the locker room, being on the football field,” he said. “We’re using it as a learning experience.”