Spencer Steps In For Cardinals
NORTHWEST ARKANSAS — Farmington wrapped up its spring football practice last week, and coach Mike Adams liked what he saw.
The Cardinals, who finished 6-4-1 last season and lost to Ashdown in the first round of the Class 4A state playoffs, worked around the absence of several players who were still taking part in the state baseball tournament.
Among those missing for much of spring was quarterback Trey Spencer, who took part in the final two days of practice after the baseball team was eliminated in the state semifinals. Spencer, who shared time with former quarterback Chance Hyslip last season as a junior, completed 44 of 65 passes for 662 yards and seven touchdowns last season.
Adams said that experience helped Spencer step right back into the offense, which was directed by Benton Cooper during practice in Spencer's absence.
Adams pointed to several players who showed improvement since last season, including Deon Clay, who has put on 25 pounds.
"Last year he was kind of feeling his way as a blocker, but he had a great offseason," Adams said.
Also, Adams said Hunter Miller showed improvement at tight end, as did returning starter Kelton Knipmeyer at left guard.
-- Kurt Voigt
Competition Thick For Tigers
Plenty of spots were open at Prairie Grove's spring practice, which wrapped up Friday.
The Tigers, who finished last season 5-7 and won a first-round playoff game, return five starters on offense. Offensive linemen Spencer Brown and David Layman, along with tight end Michael Bond, form the core of the returners up front.
With so many spots open, including quarterback, coach Danny Abshier said spring had a clear theme.
"We had as much competition for spots as we've ever had," Abshier said.
Prairie Grove is losing 2,760 yards rushing over the past two seasons with the graduation of Thomas Soehner, who signed with Arkansas Tech. However, the Tigers are counting on depth in the backfield to replace Soehner.
Abshier said sophomore Daniel Schrock ran tough in the spring, along with junior Lex Wheeler and freshmen Weston Bartholomew and Jared Murphy (6-foot-2, 230 pounds).
Murphy, who ran well in the playoff victory at Dumas, is one of at least five current freshmen Abshier expects to have an impact in the fall as sophomores. It's a group that went undefeated as ninth-graders last season.
On defense, Abshier said junior tackle Nick Perez performed well in spring, along with junior linebacker Caleb Sugg.
-- Kurt Voigt
Decatur Returning To Field
DECATUR -- After a year without football, Decatur will field a team again in 2010. Stan Ellis, who was the junior high coach and assisted with the varsity in 2008, will take over for former coach Bill Brockert.
"I have a great time coaching," Ellis told the Decatur News. "Even a bad day coaching is better than a lot of other stuff."
This year, there are potentially 24 or 25 players who are interested in joining the team, but they will all have to qualify academically, which could pose another challenge, said Ellis. There were 21 out for spring drills, which wrap up this week.
"The numbers look good. The enthusiasm from the kids looks good. We're definitely going to give it our best shot," Ellis said.
Beau Collins will be serving as the assistant coach for the high school team. Ellis will continue coaching the junior high team as well.
The Bulldogs will compete in the 2A-4 Conference, which will also consist of Danville, Hackett, Hartford, Johnson County Westside, Magazine, Mountainburg, Union Christian and Western Yell County.
"Our goal as a team is to compete each week, to make each game competitive, and we want to win a few, hopefully more than a few," Ellis said. "We will definitely put up the best fight we can. A year off has left the kids really wanting it."
-- Janelle Jessen
Numbers Up At Gravette
Gravette football coach Bill Harrelson had to change his approach to spring practice heading into his fifth year with the Lions.
More than 60 athletes turned out for spring practice, and coaches divided the Lions into two teams for the two-week span.
"We've never had over 40 (players)," Harrelson said. "We're looking to get a lot of kids looks. That's what spring ball is for -- to improve on our fundamentals and learn the basics."
The Orange and Black teams alternate on offense and defense each day, giving coaches a chance to work on filling holes at offensive line, receiver and linebacker.
"We're giving everybody a lot of time," Harrelson said. "A lot of people that have gotten playing time that hadn't in the past. We're trying to improve our depth more than anything right now."
The two teams will face off Thursday in a scrimmage -- dubbed the Orange-Black Civil War -- to end spring practices.
"I told them when the game's over Thursday, we're all going to come together and be one team again," Harrelson said. "We're making it as competitive as we can right now. We want to see who will step and compete and who won't."
The Lions lost several starters from last year's 9-3 team but Harrelson has been pleased with the play of quarterbacks Colton Davis and Clayton Alexander.
Davis, a rising senior, split time at quarterback last year with graduated Colt Moorman. Alexander is a junior.
"They've both done an excellent job leading," Harrelson said.
Junior Darrick Strzelecki and seniors Trey Tyner and Cody Bullock return and will help the Lions on both sides of the ball.
All three will play receiver. Tyner will be a three-year starter at cornerback and will be looked to for leadership.
The Lions also have kicker Cody Montee returning after a solid junior season.
Gravette will compete in 7-on-7 competitions this summer and hope to move into their new fieldhouse in July.
-- Tom Glave
Millsap Now Pioneers' Starter
Three-year starting quarterback Caleb Ramsey is gone, but Gentry football coach Brian Little thinks he's already found a replacement.
Rising senior Austin Millsap has gotten the majority of reps during spring practice, which wraps Thursday with the Maroon-White Game.
"He's getting all the reps," Little said. "We're making sure we have a couple guys ready to back him up. Offensively that's kind of been our focus."
Millsap saw some action last year as Ramsey's backup and did a good job in his few chances. He'll have big shoes to fill after Ramsey tallied 5,176 yards and 39 touchdowns -- including a 1,500-yard season in 2009 -- at Gentry.
"He's ready to do it," Little said. "He's doing a good job so far this spring. We're excited to get a look at him in 7-on-7 competition. Just like it is in the fall, you get tired of going against your own people. And our defense is pretty dang good against what we do."
The Pioneers, who went 4-6 last year, will compete in the Northwest Arkansas Passing League, the VYPE tournament and the Lincoln Wolves Air-It-Out Tournament, which they won last summer.
Gentry will also go to a team camp at Rogers Heritage in June and linemen camps at Rogers High and Northeastern Oklahoma.
The Pioneers defense has been solid through spring practices, led by returning seniors Tyler Rosenthal, Eathen Ramsey and Justin Stewart and junior Kolby Rankin.
"Things have been pretty stable there," Little said. "I've been real pleased with that."
-- Tom Glave
Saints Wrapping Up Drills
SPRINGDALE -- Shiloh Christian will be the first team in the area to start the 2010 season when the Saints take on Watson Chapel on Aug. 30 in the Hooten's Kickoff Classic in Pine Bluff.
The Saints have spent the past two weeks working toward that opener and will wrap up spring drills Thursday with a scrimmage in Champions Stadium starting at 3:30 p.m.
Saints coach Josh Floyd said the team has "come a long, long way in seven days" and he likes where the team is at.
"It's been a good spring for us," Floyd said. "We have some pretty good guys coming back for us, but we've also got some holes to fill, so we've been able to give a lot of our younger guys some reps."
Rising seniors quarterback Kiehl Frazier, receiver Zann Jones and recent Kansas State verbal commit Samuel Harvill head a group of talented returners for the two-time defending Class 4A state champions. Floyd also said starting linebacker Colt Thomas, who has led the team in tackles the past two seasons, will spend time on the other side of the ball in 2010.
"He's been playing some receiver and doing some good things over there," Floyd said.
The Saints will participate in a team camp at Bentonville in early June.
"That will be the last time we get to strap it up with shoulder pads and everything until August, so hopefully we're going to get ready for that."
-- Chip Souza
Numbers Up For Pea Ridge
PEA RIDGE -- At times last season, Pea Ridge coach Tony Travis didn't have enough players to scrimmage 11-on-11 during practice.
And with 13 of last year's 27 players being seniors, the Blackhawks numbers did not look promising.
Not anymore.
Travis had 45 players out for two weeks of spring football, and the second-year coach said the competition was beneficial. The sophomore class will number 24 but some of the new players out have varsity and junior high experience.
"We had some other guys come back that had left the team," Travis said. "It was awesome having that many out. There is going to be a lot of competition for starting jobs. We stressed offensive execution and defensive intensity and we are getting there."
Junior Bo Rylee and sophomore Austin Easterling are the top two candidates at quarterback. Rylee played tight end last season while Easterling was the quarterback of the junior high team.
Easterling, however, missed some of spring practice while still playing with the baseball team in the state tournament.
"Bo got the majority of the reps," Travis said. "We are still deciding who will be the quarterback. We may play both of them."
-- Paul Nielsen