LITTLE ROCK — Camden Fairview Coach Buck James won a state championship in his final game as a high school player.

Now his son has a chance to do the same.

“It would be very cool,” Mckinze James said after Fairview practiced for about two hours Wednesday at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock. “Just to have that memory together, that’s a great father-son thing.”

James is a standout senior defensive lineman at Fairview (13-0), which meets Batesville (10-3) in the Class 5A state championship game Friday night at War Memorial.

Buck James was a standout defensive lineman at Jefferson Prep, a now-defunct Pine Bluff private school, which beat Lewisville 14-7 in 1981 to win the Class A state championship.

James has gone on to become one of the state’s most successful coaches, amassing a 119-41 career record, including 78-22 the past eight seasons at Fairview. But the Cardinals are still seeking their first state championship after reaching the title game in 2009 and 2010.

Other recent fathers and sons who have collaborated for state championships include Barry Lunney and Barry Lunney Jr. at Fort Smith Southside in 1991, Johnny and John Paul McMurry at Monticello in 1994, Lunney Sr. and Daniel Lunney at Southside in 1997, Scott and Taylor Reed at El Dorado 2009 and 2010, and Scott and Lucas Reed at El Dorado last year.

“I’ve watched coaches over the years that have done this,” James said. “I’ve sat up there and said a prayer that my son would be part of a team that would have a chance to play for this. The kind of emotion and feeling that would be to have your son out there and be able to win it, I think that could be a special thing.”

James calls his son, a member of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette Super Sophomore team and a preseason All-Arkansas selection this fall, a special player.

“I’ve been coaching 25 years and I’ve never had a Dlineman that’s done what he’s done,” he said.

Mckinze James, 6-3, 230 pounds, has been among the most productive defensive linemen in school history, shedding blockers with speed and quickness to record 146 unassisted tackles, 171 assisted tackles and 22 sacks the past three seasons.

James said his son ranks second in school history in sacks, has never missed a practice or game and has a motor that is always running.

“Those are things, as a dad, that you can be very proud of,” James said. “From a coach, his stats, to me, are second to none. He’s been the perfect coach’s son, as far as I’m concerned.”

James played college football at Arkansas-Monticello and said his son has received scholarship offers from Missouri State and several in-state NCAA Division II programs, including UAM, Henderson State and Ouachita Baptist, and continues to generate interest from Arkansas and Arkansas State.

It could be a case of being worth the weight.

Mckinze James said he began the season at 253 pounds but has lost about 20 pounds from his sleek frame because of the wear-and-tear of a 14-game season. Buck James said he believes his son could easily carry 285 or 290 pounds in college.

James said he played around 250 pounds as a high school senior but was a “breakfast bar” away from 300 pounds as a senior at UAM.

“I’m built like a pear,” James said. “He’s built like an athlete. If it ever didn’t work out for him as a defensive lineman, the switch to offensive line would be an easy move for him because he can run and he’s smart. He’s got some football sense.”

James said his son is already much stronger than he was at the same stage in their careers, with bests of 330 pounds in the bench press, 315 pounds in the power clean and 500 pounds in the squat.

Mckinze James called being the coach’s son a bit of a blessing and a curse.

“For one, he always pushes me to be the best that I can, on and off the field,” James said. “I get it on the field, and then when I go home, I get it at home, too. Football has always been there, and it always will be.”

And maybe the most important question in this family affair: Who was the better high school player?

“Oh, God, me,” Mckinzie James said with a chuckle. “He was too big. He was slow.”

Sports, Pages 19 on 11/29/2012