No quit yet in Dragons’ Carpenter

David Carpenter has won three state championships at Junction City and will attempt to win a fourth Friday night against Bearden.
David Carpenter has won three state championships at Junction City and will attempt to win a fourth Friday night against Bearden.

— Junction City Coach David Carpenter recorded his 200th career victory when the Dragons beat Walnut Ridge 42-6 in the semifinals of the Class 2A playoffs Friday night at home.

Carpenter, the son of the late Ralph “Sporty” Carpenter, a legendary coach at Henderson State, is 200-86-1 in 25 seasons.

Carpenter, 56, has enjoyed his greatest success at Junction City, where in two stints he’s 184-62-1.

Carpenter will make a bid for his fourth state title Friday night at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock when the Dragons, No. 1 in Class 2A, face Bearden for the state championship. Carpenter led Junction City to the Class AA state championship in 2003 and to Class 2A state titles in 2008 and 2009.

Carpenter said he has no thoughts of retirement.

“Like they always say: That morning you wake up and say I don’t want to go to work no more, that’s the day I’m going to quit because I’ve got 30-something years in,” Carpenter said. “Now, I can retire when I want to. I’m just going to roll and go.”

Carpenter’s head coaching career began in 1986 at Corning, where he went 4-6 in his only season. Carpenter was 12-18-0 at Clarendon in 1987-1989 before moving to Junction City in 1990.

Carpenter was 13-22-1 in four seasons at Junction City before he lost his job because of a reduction in force, related to a Louisiana parish (Junction City draws students from Arkansas and Louisiana) pulling several hundred students from the school system.

After serving as an assistant at Warren and Mountain Home, Carpenter returned as Junction City’s head coach in 1996 and is 171-40 over the past 17 seasons.

The Dragons have reached the playoff semifinals 10 times since 2001.

“I don’t want to retire,” Carpenter said. “I still have too much fun messing with these kids. Winning helps. As long as these kids continue to want to perform, shoot, we’re going to roll.”

Carpenter graduated from Arkadelphia in 1975 and Henderson State in 1979 with a degree in education.

Sporty Carpenter coached Henderson in 1971-1989 and died in 1990. He was inducted into the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame in 2002.

Sports, Pages 24 on 12/06/2012

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