PREP FOOTBALL REPORT

BENTONVILLE WEST

Wolverines seek four-quarter performance

West coach Bryan Pratt stressed the need for his team to be able to play a full four-quarter game, especially with the number of players that the Wolverines are playing on both sides of the football.

West (0-1) had the lead as it entered the final 12 minutes of play Friday, but Owasso rallied with 22 points and took a 47-34 decision at Wolverine Stadium.

"It was a game that we gave away in the fourth quarter," Pratt said. "It's something we have to work on. I've told you and told everybody I've done interviews with that these first three games are important for our coaching staff to figure out how to play these two-way players.

"I think we got wore down in the fourth quarter, and that definitely hurt us. There are some areas we have to address. That's why we practice and try to get better."

Pratt said some younger players need to step up and fill a gap when necessary, while those players who are playing both offense and defense must take care of themselves better and stay healthy. Several players battled cramps, and it will only be warmer this week when West travels to Fort Smith Southside.

The Wolverines must also overcome the loss of senior defensive back Victor Onybueke, who suffered a major knee injury during the game. Pratt compared it to the injury suffered by former South Carolina tailback Marcus Lattimore.

"That didn't help that we lost him right off the bat," Pratt said. "That's another skill guy gone, so it means other guys play more than we expected. But it is what it is.

"You have to play with the cards dealt to you, and I think our hand is really good. I think we still have a chance. As we showed in the first three quarters, we can play with anybody."

-- Henry Apple • @NWAHenry

BERRYVILLE

Bobcats show fight in scrimmage

Berryville coach Doug Shott said his team was probably outexecuted during last week's scrimmage against Elkins.

What caught his attention, however, was how much fight the Bobcats displayed.

"I like our team's mentality," Shott said. "Where we might not have executed on certain plays, our players showed a lot of toughness. They weren't going to give you, and they continually fought. That's a good thing.

"We did get some good out of the scrimmage. It was a good gauge for us to see us against somebody else and see where we had to get better."

Shott said Brett Parsons continues to do a steady job at fullback, where he will be a three-year starter at that position.

Berryville, which opens its season Friday at home against West Fork, will be without senior Scot Lucas after a knee injury he suffered early in preseason workouts. Lucas was expected to contribute at outside linebacker as well as wide receiver.

"It was a big injury," Shott said. "It was one of those freak things, and he tore his meniscus. He had to have it repaired instead of snipped, and he'll be out for four months. It's a tough blow for us, and for him because he's a senior."

-- Henry Apple • @NWAHenry

SPRINGDALE HAR-BER

Wildcats put up crazy numbers

Chris Wood has been in the middle of crazy high school football games before, but even Wood was still a little awed following his team's 84-68 loss to Pulaski Academy last week.

"It was wild," Wood said. "Both offenses were clicking. It was wild and woolly for sure."

The Wildcats could not overcome two turnovers and a successful Pulaski Academy onside kick that turned into 21 Bruins points. Har-Ber (0-1) got within 16 points and had the ball with a little over two minutes left but could not close the gap.

"We had that little offensive hiccup where we turned it over twice and that one onside kick," Wood said. "Out of 12 onside kicks on us, they got that one, but it was at a critical moment at the game. The big thing was the three turnovers were really critical. In a game like that, which I've been a part of some wild ones -- the Junction City-Shiloh game in 1999 -- you just feel like when it's rolling for two offenses, you've got to be clean. If we could have negated the three turnovers, I don't know if the game would have been different, but you never know."

Two of the Har-Ber turnovers were inside the Pulaski Academy 20-yard line.

Wildcats quarterback Blaise Wittschen had a stellar game, going 26-of-33 for 328 yards and 5 touchdowns. Senior running back Jay Burns had 29 carries for 246 yards and 4 touchdowns. Three different receivers caught 7 or more passes.

"Our kids did a great job of staying positive," Wood said. "That speaks volumes about this team and the leadership and character. That's what I was the most proud of."

Har-Ber is off this week and will return to action at home next Friday against Russellville in Wildcats Stadium.

-- Chip Souza • @nwachip

ALMA

Airedales anxious to face Van Buren

The Crawford County battle that is Alma vs. Van Buren is always a huge game for both teams. They will renew the rivalry Friday night in Van Buren.

Last season the Pointers ended a seven-year losing streak to the Airedales, and that is not lost on this year's Alma team.

"It's always a big game anytime these two teams get together," said Alma coach Doug Loughridge. "It will be a big crowd Friday night in Van Buren."

The Pointers opened their season last week with a win at Siloam Springs.

"Our kids are really anxious to play," Loughridge said. "We started practice August 5, and we've been going for a month preparing for Van Buren. We had a good scrimmage against Southside, and I was pleased with how we matched up, but we're ready to get our season going."

Loughridge said his team has had good practices leading into the game, unlike last season when he did not feel like the Airedales were prepared in the 48-33 loss.

"They jumped on us early last season," Loughridge said. "We were not prepared like we needed to be. This year I feel like we're ready. The confidence level of our kids is good."

-- Chip Souza • @nwachip

CEDARVILLE

Pirates unleash ground game

Cedarville displayed a powerful running game with 391 yards rushing last week in a 50-14 victory at Johnson County Westside.

Darryl Kattich led the way with 110 yards rushing on five carries for the Pirates, who completed 1 of 3 pass attempts in the game.

"We've got three or four backs we feel really good about," Cedarville coach Max Washausen said. "Darryl is a sophomore, really special, and Kelin Mitchell is a junior who had over 900 yards last year. Terry Metcalf is our wingback, and he had a 75-yard touchdown on his only carry. So, we like our backfield."

The competition will increase substantially on Friday when Cedarville holds its home-opener against Mountainburg, which shut out Lavaca 35-0 last week. Mountainburg also has a strong running game led by senior Malachi West, who rushed for more than 700 yards last season and scored two touchdowns in the opener over Lavaca.

Mountainburg will challenge Cedarville with an offense that takes advantage of defenses that fail to play assignment football.

"It's 1930s style football," Washausen said. "It's a single-wing offense where the backs are moving around and guards are pulling."

Mountainburg beat Cedarville 40-28 last year behind West, who rushed for 123 yards and two touchdowns against the Pirates.

-- Rick Fires • @NWARick

ROGERS HIGH

Mounties brace for Senators' speed

Rogers High coach Mike Loyd said Pulaski Robinson may be a Class 4A school, but the Senators have as much speed and athleticism as most 7A teams.

"They were a little more experienced last year, but they've still got a lot of good athletes running around," Loyd said.

Robinson kicked off the season with a big 49-28 win over 7A-West conference mate Springdale High last week, while it will be the season-opener for the Mounties. That's a concern for sure, since Robinson will have the ability to make corrections this week, Loyd said.

"We didn't play Week Zero, and we're playing a team that did," Loyd said. "That's a big advantage. Their overall team speed is something that sticks out. Even defensively, they run well to the football.

"They will have as much speed as any team we'll play, and that's not just coach's talk."

Loyd said his team must not give up big plays, especially early in the game. That happened a year ago, and the end result was a 35-14 loss. It was a similar story for Springdale last week, Loyd said.

"Springdale gave up a 98-yard kickoff return to start the game, and then they got a short field after a turnover, and it was 14-0 early," Loyd said. "They played them pretty even after that. You just can't give up the big home run.

"You've got to try to eliminate big plays and not turn it over, especially early in the season."

The Mounties return several offensive weapons starting with senior quarterback Hunter Loyd and receiver Mason Ross.

Both players enjoyed big nights at a preseason scrimmage two weeks ago. Rogers blanked Pea Ridge and Siloam Springs by identical 14-0 scores, each playing a quarter of varsity action. Loyd threw for 232 yards and 4 TDs, including two to Ross.

-- Paul Boyd • @NWAPaulB

FORT SMITH SOUTHSIDE

Rebels lack experience on offense

Fort Smith Southside coach Jeff Williams acknowledged the Rebels might need some time to adjust with lots of new faces on offense.

"We're breaking in a new quarterback, one running back, all new receivers and a couple offensive linemen," Williams said. "You're not gonna snap your fingers and have it work overnight.

"They've worked hard. We're executing better over the last week and a half. But you throw inexperienced guys out there under the lights, and you don't even know how they're going to respond."

Junior Parker Wehunt replaces Taye Gatewood at quarterback, who will likely start this week for East Central (Okla.) as a freshman. Wehunt, who played some linebacker a year ago for the Rebels, is one of several juniors who will start. Only three seniors are likely to see significant action, but one of those will be a three-year starter, and two others will be two-year starters, Williams said.

Williams likes the way his defense looked in a preseason scrimmage against 6A Alma, while the offense sputtered.

"They crossed the 50 once," Williams said. "We got inside the red zone two or three times and didn't get it in.

-- Paul Boyd • @NWAPaulB

SILOAM SPRINGS

Panthers hope to rebound from opening loss

The Siloam Springs Panthers will look for their first win of the season Friday when they host Pryor (Okla.) at Panther Stadium.

Siloam Springs defeated Pryor 38-21 at Pryor in the opening week of the season last year in a game that saw the Panthers lead 38-0 at one point.

The Tigers have several players back from last year's team including quarterback Trapper Gilstrap, who completed 29 of 42 passes for 297 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions. He also ran for 60 yards and a pair of scores.

Also back is senior wide receiver Gary Mitchell, who caught 11 passes for 113 yards.

The Tigers are under first-year coach Kenny Davis, who was the team's offensive coordinator last year during a 3-7 season. This Friday's game will be their season opener.

"Definitely a very good offensive football team," Siloam Springs coach Brandon Craig said. "No doubt about that. The head coach is an offensive guy, and you can see the offense is pretty far along, a lot farther along than it was last year at this point. More experience equals better play."

The Panthers, meanwhile will try and clean up a five turnover performance that cost them in the loss to Van Buren.

"I thought looking back at the film from Friday night, there's a lot of great things that happened for us," Craig said. "Obviously you can't overcome five turnovers. That's any football game. Our defense did create a few turnovers to help us stay in it. But we had plenty of opportunities to go out there and be successful Friday night. Just because of the lack of ability to take care of the football is the reason we lost the game."

-- Graham Thomas • @NWAGraham

PARIS

Eagles finally find success

The offseason work paid off big last week for Paris, which opened with a 20-13 victory over Perryville after going 0-10 last year.

Junior offensive tackle Adam Chandler had 20 pancake blocks to lead the way for the Eagles.

"Last year was my first with the kids, and they had to learn a new scheme and a new philosophy," Paris coach Tyler Clark said. "As soon as our season was over, they got to work in the weight room and buying into what we are teaching. I'm really proud of our kids."

Paris will try to make it two consecutive against Clarksville, which pulled a big upset last week with a 41-35 victory over Booneville. Booneville finished 15-0 last year while winning the state championship in Class 3A.

"Not only is Clarksville two classifications bigger than us, but they're really good this year," Clark said. "It's a challenge, but our kids showed up this week, ready to work and locked in."

-- Rick Fires • @NWARick

Sports on 09/05/2019