Escalante, War Eagles Look To Future
POSTSEASON LOSS STILL STINGS BUT ROGERS HERITAGE RETURNS PLENTY OF TALENT
Friday, November 27, 2009
ROGERS — Rogers Heritage coach Perry Escalante tells it like he sees it.
The disappointment of last week’s 49-45 loss to North Little Rock still stings because Escalante thought Heritage had a chance to win a state championship. He still thinks Heritage is one of the best teams in the state.
And that is a belief the second-year coach has held for nearly six months. Many from around the state have called Heritage this year’s surprise team. Heritage finished its second season with a 9-3 record and a third-place finish in the 7A-West Conference.
That finish didn’t surprise Escalante, however.
“We knew coming out of the spring that we would have a good football team if we stayed healthy,” Escalante said. “We did stay healthy for most of the season.”
But enough about last season. Escalante and the Heritage football staff are already looking ahead to next season.
There are holes to fill, and some of them are big. But the War Eagles also have a lot of returning talent and that has Escalante optimistic that Heritage can repeat it success of 2009 in 2010.
“We don’t want to rebuild, we want to reload,” Escalante said. “We are looking to be successful next year.”
Graduation will hurt the Heritage offense as only three starters will return. Tops on that list of returnees are quarterback Reed Brown and running back Zac Stewart. Brown, a two-year starter, completed 213 of 347 passes for 2,900 yards and 34 touchdowns. He tossed eight interceptions.
North Little Rock coach Brad Bolding is hoping he doesn’t have to face Brown again next year. Brown passed for 383 yards and five touchdowns in the semifinal loss.
“That Heritage quarterback is a stud,” Bolding said. “Heritage has a good football team and I know a lot of those kids will be back.”
Stewart is the leading rusher in the 7A-West with 1,247 yards on 214 carries. He gained 1,032 yards in seven conference games and also had 39 catches for 351 yards and four more touchdowns.
Escalante said the War Eagles’ balance on offense was a big reason the team advanced to the quarterfinals.
“We knew we needed to run the football,” Escalante said. “We improved each week. We were able to run the ball consistently all season and that made us more dangerous.”
Stewart said the offensive line was the main reason he was able to rush for almost 1,300 yards.
“The offensive line did a great job all year,” Stewart said. “We hate to lose all those guys (seniors) on offense but we should still have a great year next year.”
Heritage, however, will have new faces at receiver and on the offensive line. Grant Driver (71-1,245), Travis Entwisle (61-766) and Jordan Snoderly (19-291) accounted for almost of the War Eagles receiving yards and all three are seniors.
“They were so important to our offense,” Escalante said. “They were difference makers.”
Escalante will be looking for new faces on the defensive line to replace Spanky Purdy, Casey Wilber, Jeff Couch and Conor Bolton. Only end Reid Schatzman returns.
“Those seniors on the defensive line, they were steady all year,” Escalante said.
All four linebackers will return, led by leading tackler Stephen Reed.
“We have six or seven coming back on defense,” Escalante said. “We have some kids we can plug in. We could be pretty good defensively next year.”
Heritage is still looking for an opponent for the season opener next season but the War Eagles will go to Siloam Springs the second week of the season before hosting 7A-Central Conference member Conway the third week of the season.
Comments
To report abuse or misuse of this area please hit the "Suggest Removal" link in the comment to alert our online managers. Please read our comment policy.
Use the comment form below to begin a discussion about this content.
Registration is required to make comments. Click here to LOGIN.
You can register for FREE to post comments and receive alerts.