Rison’s Ross now improving

LITTLE ROCK — Rison’s Ross now improving

Rison senior tight end/ defensive end Justin Ross, who was severely injured in an Aug. 7 automobile accident, is now talking and using a walker, Wildcats Coach Clay Totty said.

“It is a modern-day miracle, I guarantee you,” Totty said.

Ross suffered a head injury in the crash just outside Rison that killed one teammate, senior wide receiver Logan Prescott, and injured another, senior offensive guard/linebacker Josh Cook.

Following the accident, Ross had been in a medically induced coma for about two weeks at Baptist Health Medical Center in Little Rock, then in what was described as an “awake, but not alert” state for approximately two more weeks, Totty said.

Now Ross recognizes faces and voices and last week was eating fried chicken and cheeseburgers, Totty said.

“He wasn’t responding to commands or anything,” Totty said. “Then he just snapped out of it. He started nodding his head yes and no and giving them the thumbs up sign. Long story short - he’s in rehab now.”

Totty said Ross is undergoing therapy at the adjacent Baptist Health Rehabilitation Institute, but didn’t know when he would be released to return home.

“He’s progressing pretty good,” Totty said. “What we’re telling him is that we want him back in time to walk at homecoming.”

Rison’s homecoming is Oct. 26 against Strong.

Totty said Ross lost about 40 pounds following the accident.

Cook suffered a fractured hip and broken toe in the accident, but he still plans to try and play this fall, Totty said.

Totty said Cook has been lightly exercising during practice and ditched his crutches to cheer on teammates during Friday night’s 49-14 8-2A home victory over Parkers Chapel.

The positive news surrounding Ross, Tottysaid, has energized the Wildcats, who have won two consecutive games following an 0-2 start.

Rison limited Parkers Chapel standout utility back Philip Hay, who has orally committed to Arkansas State, to 61 yards rushing, Totty said.

“No doubt, that’s the best we played all year,” Totty said.

Rison (2-2, 2-1 8-2A) is at Hermitage on Friday night.

The Hermits have only been dressing 11 players, but Totty said Monday afternoon that it appeared the game would be played.

LAFAYETTE COUNTY Season canceled

Insufficient player numbers forced Class 2A Lafayette County (0-4, 0-1 7-2A) to forfeit the remaining five games on its schedule, the Arkansas Activities Association announced Monday afternoon.

Lafayette County Superintendent Mark Keith said the AAA was informed Monday morning of the school’s decision to cancel the remainder of the season.

Lafayette County began the season with only 18 players, and Keith said further attrition reduced the roster to “about 15” on Friday for a 41-6 loss to Murfreesboro in the 7-2A opener.

Keith said the Cougars were down “substantially” in numbers compared to previous years because of players being academically ineligible or leaving the program after Randy Phillips became coach in the offseason.

The final blow, Keith said, were injuries to two quarterbacks and a broken ankle suffered by another player.

Keith said coaches from Lafayette County and Murfreesboro agreed to start running the clock continuously in the second quarter after Friday’s game got of hand.

“The injuries really worked us over here toward the end,” Keith said. “I didn’t take this lightly. The injuries are what led to the final decision to shut this down.

This was in the best interest of the kids.”

The AAA said Lafayette County will forfeit games with Spring Hill (scheduled for Friday), Foreman (Oct. 5), Dierks (Oct. 12), Gurdon (Oct. 19) and Mineral Springs (Oct. 26).

Lafayette County, which began playing in 2003 following the consolidation of Stamps and Lewisville, had an open date in Week 10.

Keith said Lafayette County opted against promoting freshmen immediately to preserve the varsity program because of timing.

“Our ninth-graders are having a good year,” Keith said. “If it would have been closer to the end, we would have considered it. There’s no use destroying a good young program coming up trying to salvage something in the middle of the year. If we would have had one or two games left, it would have been a different story.”

Keith said he believes Lafayette County should be able to field a varsity team in 2013 because there are about 10 sophomores and 15 ninth-graders in the program.

Several other players not playing this fall could return as well, Keith said.

“I’m very optimistic,” Keith said. “We’ve got a lot of young talent. The numbers are very good. I see good things.”

HACKETT Stingers out

Magazine ruled the 4-2A the past three seasons, but there could be a new conference cover boy this fall.

Hackett (4-3, 3-0 4-2A) ended Magazine’s 20-game conference winning streak Sept. 14 (13-0) and is tied with Mountainburg for the top spot in the league.

The Hornets are seeking their first conference championship since 1995, when they finished the regular season 10-0.

“Mountainburg was picked as the team to beat in the preseason, and they’re still pretty dang good,” Hackett Coach Eddie Ray said. “Mountainburg and us is going to be a battle.”

Ray, a 1982 Hackett graduate, is in his second coaching stint at his alma mater. He led the Hornets in 1996-1999 and returned in 2008.

Hackett finished 7-4 overall last season and 5-3 in the 4-2A.

Although running back Dylan Yazel (1,774 rushing yards) was lost to graduation, Hackett is still averaging 30 points per game this fall.

Yazel was perhaps the fastest player in Class 2A last season.

“We’re running the ball pretty decent, but we’re just not quite the same,” Ray said.

Junior quarterback William Thomas is now the focal point of the offense.

He has completed 38 of 55 passes for 821 yards and 12 touchdowns and rushed 35 times for 183 yards and 1 touchdown this fall. He hasn’t thrown an interception.

“He’s doing a really good job, especially being a first-year starter,” Ray said.

Hackett hosts Mountainburg on Oct. 12.

GLEN ROSE Coney injured

Glen Rose (3-1, 1-0 5-3A) will be without senior tailback Dillon Coney in Friday night’s conference home game with unbeaten Jessieville (4-0, 1-0).

Beavers Coach Mark Kehner said Coney broke his hand in last week’s 48-21 victory over Benton Harmony Grove.

Kehner said the injury was about a half-inch below the wrist and occurred when Coney’s hand was on the ground as a defender was draped on his shoulder.

Two pins were inserted Friday night, Kehner said, to repair the injury.

“We think 10 days from now, they’ll cast it and let him play with a cast on,” Kehner said Tuesday afternoon. “We just have to wait 10 days and see what it looks like then.”

Coney has rushed 50 times for 339 yards and 4 touchdowns this fall for the Beavers, who are No. 1 in Class 3A.