SPRINGDALE — Shane Patrick feels much more comfortable about his secondary than he did a year ago.
The Springdale High football coach had to replace all four of his starting defensive backs last fall. It wasn’t an ideal situation, and the Bulldogs experienced some growing pains along the way.
Things are much smoother now that Springdale returns both of its starting cornerbacks — senior Brayden Mayo and junior Chris Owens — as well as standout free safety Cua Rose.
“The two corners and Cua are as experienced as anybody in the conference,” Patrick said. “And so those guys experienced a lot of things last year that ought to pay dividends for them this year.”
Patrick said he has six defensive backs who are capable of seeing playing time in the secondary, and it appears the only starting job that remains vacant is at strong safety.
Senior Terry Mounce, who was competing in the spring to be Springdale’s starting quarterback, has been moved to safety to help bolster the secondary.
Patrick said Mounce has shown signs that he can make plays downfield, and he’ll get a chance to compete with junior Zach Burton at strong safety. Burton recorded 28 tackles while starting most of last season.
“For a skilled guy, he’s a big guy,” Patrick said of Mounce. “He’s strong, he’s fast, he’s quick. He’s not afraid of contact, so we just felt like he was going to have a chance to get on the field in a hurry and do some things.
“We’ve got to get our best football players on the fi eld right now, so we want to give him a look and so far he’s done really well.”
Rose remains the star of Springdale’s secondary, though.
The 5-foot-9, 175-pound senior had a team-high 103 tackles, three forced fumbles, three fumble recoveries and one interception last season.
He came up particularly big in a 41-40 win over Van Buren, when he preserved the victory by tackling quarterback Jacob Eason on a two-point conversion with 28 seconds remaining.
Rose said he spent the offseason strengthening his lower body and trying to improve his footwork. He found while watching fi lm with Springdale’s coaches that he sometimes didn’t get to the football fast enough.
“Since it’s my last year, I want to do better than I did overall,” said Rose, who has a scholarship offer from NCAA Division II Pittsburg State.
The senior hopes to show that he’s good enough to play at a Division I school despite his size. And like Patrick, Rose has noticed a difference in the secondary this fall compared to a year ago.
“It’s more comfortable,” Rose said.
Patrick said he expects the secondary to be more consistent as well. The Bulldogs struggled at times last season with giving up too many big plays.
“We played real good at times and then we’d give up the long play,” Patrick said. “So we’ve got to be able to go out there and keep our head up and keep playing and realize one bad play won’t end the game.”