LITTLE ROCK — Lizards hustle to 4-0 start
Pottsville isn’t the only perfect 4-4A team this fall.
Dardanelle is also 4-0 overall and 1-0 in the 4-4A heading into Friday night’s showdown at Pottsville, No. 5 in Class 4A.
Dardanelle has outscored its opponents 151-32 and has yet to allow more than 13 points in a game.
“Maybe not the 4-0 start has been a surprise, but the way that we’ve done it has been,” Sand Lizards Coach Josh Price said. “It’s been in pretty convincing fashion in three games.”
Price said Dardanelle’s recipe for success has been defensive hustle and, maybe more important, only one turnover.
“We’ll take that every time,” Price said.
Senior quarterback Evan Carter has completed 56 of 80 passes for 614 yards and 9 touchdowns this fall. He hasn’t thrown an interception.
Junior linebacker J.J. Dunn has a team-high 46 tackles, including 18 unassisted.
Senior defensive ends Canyon Dulli (5.5) and Ethan Sigle (4.5) have combined for 10 sacks.
The Sand Lizards are allowing only 179 total yards per game, including 73 rushing.
Pottsville, which has won 13 consecutive conference games, counters with one of the most potent rushing attacks in Class 4A, triggered by junior quarterback Michael Perry.
“It obviously starts with Michael Perry, but their skill kids are so big,” Price said. “Their entire offensive backfield is also the secondary and they’re all 190, 200-pound kids. That’s what we’re the most concerned about.”
PULASKI ACADEMY
Adcock out
Pulaski Academy senior tailback Cody Adcock won’t play again this fall because of a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his knee, Bruins Coach Kevin Kelley said.
Adcock was injured in the Aug. 31 season opener at West Hills (Calif.) Chaminade and attempted a comeback in Friday night’s 56-0 victory over North Pulaski.
Adcock, wearing a protective brace, carried 2 times for 43 yards and caught 2 passes for 18 yards before the knee “gave out” without any contact, Kelley said.
Kelley said in August he believed Adcock would rush for 1,000 yards this fall and, even with the injury, “looked so good” Friday night.
Kelley said Adcock epitomizes what he preaches to his players — play as hard as you can for as long as you can.
“Cody, literally, physically went until his knee didn’t allow to anymore,” Kelley said. “It buckled. He fell down. That was pretty much it. He’s for sure done. That was the end of his high school career.”
Adcock rushed for 297 yards and 2 touchdowns and caught 14 passes for 218 yards and 3 touchdowns as a junior, when Pulaski Academy finished 14-0 and won the Class 4A state championship.
Adcock was among numerous Bruins who suffered injuries in the first three weeks of the 2012 season.
Kelley said senior quarterback Lawson Vassar (torn ankle ligament) is scheduled to play Friday night at Helena-West Helena Central after missing last week.
Senior safety Sutton Bartlett (broken arm) is scheduled to return Friday night after missing the last two games, Kelley said.
GLEN ROSE
Burton’s time
Glen Rose senior tailback Dillon Coney will miss Friday night’s 5-3A home game with Jessieville because of a broken hand. But the Beavers, No. 1 in Class 3A, have a pretty good replacement for Coney, who has rushed 50 times for 339 yards and 4 touchdowns this fall. Sophomore tailback Carlos Burton is Glen Rose’s leading rusher this season with 379 yards and 6 touchdowns on just 36 carries.
Burton’s gaudy 10.5-yard percarry average reflects his big-play ability, Glen Rose Coach Mark Kehner said.
Burton ran 12 times for 116 yards and 1 touchdown against Harmony Grove and took a toss sweep 70 yards for a touchdown the previous week against Mineral Springs.
“To be a really good football team, you’ve got to have that game-breaker at any time,” Kehner said. “He’s the one guy that gives us a chance to break one.”
Glen Rose (3-1, 1-0 5-3A) has won three consecutive games since a 31-28 loss to Malvern on Sept. 3, a game twice postponed because of severe weather.
The Leopards are No. 1 in Class 4A.
The Beavers are averaging 38.3 points and 424.1 total yards per game — 225.8 rushing and 198.3 passing.
Senior quarterback Collin Hunter has completed 34 of 57 passes for 726 yards and 4 touchdowns.
Four Beavers — junior Kyle Petersen (11), senior Hunter Bredensteiner (9), senior Lane Ballard (8) an junior Austin Kehner (7) — have at least seven receptions.
Kehner is the coach’s son.
“I’ve been real pleased with the way we’ve played offensively,” Mark Kehner said.
EARLE
Bite reduction
Earle Coach Albert Coleman and Bulldogs junior running back/ linebacker Dewayne Hinton will serve onegame suspensions this week, said Don Brodell, football rules interpreter for the Arkansas Activities Association.
Brodell said the AAAmandated suspensions stem from Coleman and Hinton both being ejected for unsportsmanlike conduct in Friday’s 48-28 loss at Corning in the 3-3A opener.
The loss snapped Earle’s 10-game conference winning streak.
The suspensions will force Coleman and Hinton to miss Friday’s conference home opener against Piggott.
Earle (2-2, 0-1 3-3A) opened with a victory 14-7 victory over Class 2A powerhouse Junction City before losing 49-6 at Class 6A Lake Hamilton and beating Class 4A Trumann 60-13.
MINERAL SPRINGS
Williams closing in
Mineral Springs senior tailback Rashad Williams needs 196 rushing yards Friday night at home against Gurdon to reach 5,000 in his career.
Williams has carried 486 times for 4,804 yards and 57 touchdowns in his career.
Williams, 5-7, 180 pounds, has rushed for at least 100 yards in 22 games.
He was a member of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette Super Sophomore team after carrying 208 times for 2,301 yards and 29 touchdowns.
Williams ran for 1,827 yards as a junior and has 499 yards and 7 touchdowns on 56 carries this fall.
The Class 2A Hornets are 2-1 overall.
Sports, Pages 24 on 09/27/2012