SPRINGDALE — While the 7A-West Conference might not have some of the marquee names it did a year ago, one thing it does have is a deep pool of wide receivers.
No exception is Springdale Har-Ber, which boasts both size and speed spread wide along the line of scrimmage.
The Har-Ber trio of 6-foot-5 Michael Fine, 6-4 Nick Byrne and 6-2 Evan Johnson will be difficult to defend.
“Most corners and safeties in this league aren’t going to be more than 6 feet tall,” Fine said. “So our height advantage is something that can let quarterbacks throw a lot of things our way.”
Fine, a senior, looks to be Har-Ber’s best downfield threat, as his tall frame comes with a 4.4-second 40-yard dash time. He showed that off during 7-on-7 football tournaments over the summer, successfully going up for jump balls in double coverage.
THE SKINNY
Springdale Har-Ber Wildcats Football
Watch Out For: Senior Michael Fine is receiving a lot of attention from colleges due to his size and speed and will likely be who defenses focus on stopping.
Biggest Strength: The key trio of Har-Ber receivers are all 6-foot-2 or taller and should prove to be coverage mismatches against defensive backs.
Biggest Question: Har-Ber is still without a starting quarterback. Though both contenders look the part, the Wildcats are without consistency under center to get receivers the ball.
Byrne, a junior, played with the Har-Ber varsity team the second half of last season and is expected to add balance to the receiving corps. Johnson said he’s thankful to have a skill player like Byrne in the rotation so defensive backs can’t key in on him and Fine to shut down the Wildcats passing game.
“The sky is the limit for these guys because they have all the ingredients. They have the speed. They have the size. They catch everything with their hands; they’re not body catchers. They run good routes,” Har-Ber coach Chris Wood said.
“As long as I’ve been in (coaching), to have everything across the board in what you look for in a prototypical next level guy, they have it. They just make plays.”
Perhaps the most dynamic of the group is Johnson, a senior slot receiver who’s also in charge of running Har-Ber’s Wildcat offense at the quarterback position.
Though Har-Ber hasn’t worked on it much so far in fall practice, Johnson said sometimes he has the option to make a zone read and hand the ball off to the motion man or take it himself.
“When I get in there at quarterback, it brings kind of a calming presence to the offense knowing we have so many options,” Johnson said. “We just have a lot of choices in the Wildcat.”
Both Fine and Johnson are receiving interest from NCAA BCS schools, though neither have offers. Wood said he feels like it’s just a matter of time before a scholarship is on the table.
“A college sometimes gets lost in how fast it thinks a kid is or a great highlight from one game,” Wood said. “I think it’s going to take a college coach to look at the body of work to understand how these guys can grow into a college guy.”