Fort Smith Southside's Russell Key has spent the summer preparing once again to defend the best quarterbacks and receivers in the state.
"There's a lot of them," Key said. "It's awesome seeing guys that are tops in the nation. It's interesting to see. It's awesome playing against guys like that."
For example, Fayetteville's Isaiah Sategna, the state Gatorade Track and Field Player of the year, caught 11 passes for 202 yards and a 62-yard touchdown from Bladen Fike, the first quarterback to throw for more than 4,000 yards in a season in the state's largest classification since Fayetteville's Austin Allen in 2011, in the Bulldogs' 47-17 win over Southside last fall.
"Guys like me, I'm not as fast as them for sure," Key said. "We work on getting out at the right time, and working on timing and footwork. I can improve on my speed, but I can't match them. I just try to improve all of the areas that I can."
Key will start at safety for the Mavericks for a third straight season when they open the season in a month at cross-town rival Northside.
Wednesday, he and his teammates were in the indoor facility going against each other as summer practices are winding down.
Key started all 11 games last year for Southside and worked his way into the starting lineup midway of his sophomore season due to an injury to the starter. He'll draw on that experience now in his senior season.
"Being one of the guys with the most playing time on the field, everybody looks up to you," Key said. "They feel like you know what to expect the most. They're looking for a leader."
Key also has the added responsibility of being the son of Southside assistant coach Justin Key.
"It adds a lot," Russell Key said. "Everybody thinks you know everything about football, and that's not the case. It adds a lot of responsibility."
Key and the rest of the Mavericks worked at a team camp on Tuesday at Springdale Har-Ber that included 7-on-7 for skilled positions as well as offensive and defensive line work.
"It was really good for us to go against other people, especially people we're going to see in the fall," Southside coach Kim Dameron said. "Like everything, it's one day at a time and try to get better every day."
Southside will cap summer workouts with another trip to Har-Ber for team camp on Tuesday, visit Parrot Island waterpark on Wednesday for a fun day, and then take the remainder of the week off before beginning sanctioned fall practices on Aug. 1.
"With the younger players, they're picking up the system and being able to get out and play coverage," Dameron said. "Offensively, it's the routes we're running. This summer has been big. When you get into fall camp, it's not starting absolutely from scratch. We went to team camps in Russellville and Northside. We've had a very productive summer not only physically trying to get better; bigger, faster, stronger but also with what we're doing and how we do it."
Southside will host Siloam Springs in a preseason scrimmage on Aug. 16 and open the season at Northside on Aug. 26. The annual Battle of Rogers Avenue will kickoff at 7:30 p.m. at Northside's Mayo-Thompson Stadium instead of the usual 7 p.m.
OZARK
Ready for August
The Hillbillies welcomed a brief respite from the brutal summer weather on Tuesday that ended team workouts early.
"We got about an hour in and the lightning got too close so we called it," Ozark coach Jeremie Burns said. "We got some rain."
Ozark hosted Pottsville, Hackett and Lavaca on Monday for a team camp.
"It was good," Burns said. "Our junior high has done some 7-on-7, but we've done more of the team camps this year. With our play-action stuff, it's just better to have the linemen there to work on throwing lanes."
Ozark lost the foundation of what was one of the best offensive lines in school history to graduation.
Hunter Collums may return to the line from a shoulder injury. Reese Whitson suffered a broken leg last year and could return also.
"We lost three quality guys off the line," Burns said. "It would be a big boost to have Reese Whitson back. He's still rehabbing. Hunter Collums is healing up and we may have him back at right guard or left guard."
Junior Charlie VanDenberg returns at right tackle. Seniors Drew Meador has been working at right guard, and senior Rylee Griffin has been working at both guard spots.
Ozark went to five team camps but will just do team workouts next week before fall camp begins on Aug. 1.
Ozark will host Alma on Aug. 15 for its preseason scrimmage at 6 p.m. before opening the season at home against Clarksville on Aug. 26.
GREENWOOD
Quarterback portal
Greenwood participated in a three-way 7-on-7 competition at Elkins along with Alma on Thursday that resembled a Greenwood quarterback portal.
Joe Trusty will start for Alma for the second season after moving from Greenwood last summer.
Slade Dean is vying for the starting quarterback position at Elkins after moving from Greenwood midway through the school year.
All, along with Greenwood quarterback Hunter Houston, looked extremely sharp on Thursday.
Thursday was the final 7-on-7 tuneup for the Bulldogs, who will wrap up their summer conditioning program next week before starting official fall practices as sanctioned by the Arkansas Activities Association on Aug. 1.
Thursday, Houston took all of the snaps for Greenwood and looked in mid-season form at quarterback, connecting with receivers L.J. Robins and Aiden Kennon for several big plays.
"He can really play," Greenwood coach Chris Young said. "He's really underrated. He's going to have a heck of a year. He's got some great receivers and backs behind him. It's one thing to throw the ball like he is but to have L.J. and Aiden Kennon, and the backs are healthy now, so it's going to be fun to watch them play."
Touted freshman Kane Archer did not throw on Thursday or any for the Bulldogs during the summer in competition.
"We've rested him," Young said. "He's got some inflammation and we're just making sure he's 100 percent on August 1 when we start practicing. He does so many camps and stays so busy throughout the year. He'll be fine. We feel confident in him."
Greenwood travels to Fayetteville on Aug. 16 for a scrimmage game before opening the season at Stillwater, Okla., on Aug. 26 and playing its home opener against Northside on Sept. 2.
ELKINS
QBs rotating
Junior quarterback Slade "Dizzy" Dean and sophomore Landon Neal alternated snaps in Thursday's 7-on-7 competition against Alma and Greenwood.
"It's completely a competition," Elkins coach Zach Watson said. "We've charted everything from 7-on-7 to team camps and all of that stuff. They're competing every day. It goes back to iron sharpens iron."
Dean and Neal both had big plays on Thursday helped by the play of receivers Aden Williams, Steven Holland and Stone Dean, the brother of Slade.
"We've got some guys that can catch the ball and do some stuff in space when they get the ball, which is a great thing," Watson said. "It really helps those quarterbacks out."
Another receiver, Jusiah Bettencourt, missed Thursday's competition for precautionary measures after injuring a shoulder last week in drills but is expected back soon.
The addition of Slade Dean, a move-in from Greenwood, and the emergence of Neal will help take the offensive pressure off of running back Da'Shawn Chairs, who rushed for 1,518 yards and 29 touchdowns last year.
"Last year, all the eyes on the defense were in Da'Shawn Chairs," Watson said. "This year, if you do that then you're going to be exposed in other spots. I feel confident about that. Our guys have done an unbelievable job from spring football through the summer of really working with those quarterbacks."
Dean moved to Elkins midway through the school year in time to play for the Elks' baseball team. At Greenwood, Dean was a backup last season but started against Little Rock Parkview due to an injury to Houston and threw for 270 yards and three touchdowns.
He also came in during the second quarter of the Class 6A state championship due when Houston had to leave the game and capped an 8-play, 76-yard scoring drive with a 2-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter that had Greenwood within 20-17 in the 27-17 loss.
"When you've been in the fire, having that experience like he had helps him," Watson said. "Landon has made great strides and studying film to try to get up to where he's at. It's a great competition. They're doing a good job with it. They're helping the other one out. We're excited about both of those guys."
Elkins will compete in a 7-on-7 at Greenland next week and will run 56 sprints to cap their summer workouts on Thursday, which equates to one mile. It's a summer tradition brought to Elkins by assistant coach Drew Morgan, the former Greenwood and Arkansas Razorback standout.
"We ran 28 sprints this week," Watson said. "It shows where we're at as a program. The kids are starting to buy in and believing."
Elkins will scrimmage at Pea Ridge on Aug. 16, open the season at Pottsville on Aug. 26 and play its home opener against Charleston on Sept. 2.
GRAVETTE
OL gets retooled
One of the pressing issues Gravette faced during its offseason workouts was needed improvement in the offensive line, where three sophomores had to start last season.
That work began with Lions coach Kelby Bohannon finding a new leader for the group.
"I filled in last year as an offensive line coach," Bohannon said. "So my first plan of action coming out of last fall was to fire him. We did that. We were able to bring on Blake Pitts from Nettleton. He was able to jump in during the spring, and we've really seen improvement from that group of young men."
Bohannon has been pleased with the progress made there, as well as the improvement starting quarterback Rhett Hilger has shown during the Lions' workouts, as well as in team camps and 7-0n-7 competitions. Hilger was moved into the quarterback position last season after playing a receiver spot during his sophomore year.
"He went through some growing pains," Bohannon said. "But he is a resilient, tough kid and showed growth over the course of last season. In the spring and in 7-on-7s this summer, he's been awesome.
"He's tough on the field and he's tough between the ears. I think he will move the needle forward for our offensive attack."
Gravette will definitely have more experience and more numbers to work with this season. The Lions were forced to play younger players last year since there were only four seniors on the roster, and Bohannon said there are currently 43 players on the roster.
"The players are pretty spread out among the three classes," Bohannon said. "We played a ton of sophomores last year, and we're replacing those four with another big group of sophomores. They're energized and love the game of football, and they're ready to see what they can do on Friday nights."
-- Henry Apple