CONWAY — Central Arkansas Coach Clint Conque knew he and his staff would have to find a few more weapons for quarterback Wynrick Smothers after losing three receivers from last season’s Southland Conference championship team.
Of the 23 football signees announced by Conque on Wednesday afternoon, four were wide receivers, including mid-year transfer Justin Burdette, 6-2, 204 pounds, who played at Southern Miss last season. The other three were Roman Gordon, 6-3, 175, of Fort Worth; Jose Moore, 6-2, 205, of Southaven, Miss.; and Jatavious Wilson, 5-9, 170, of Bastrop, La.
Conque said Wilson reminds him of Jesse Grandy, a first-team All-Southland receiver last season for the Bears. Grandy, Dominique Croom and Brett Soft all exhausted their eligibility this past season.
“We really felt like we needed to address the receiving position,” Conque said. “It’s one of the easier positions to transition from Friday night to Saturday night. We think that two or three of those young men have an opportunity to make an impact there.”
Conque also realized the need to get bigger and stronger after the Bears lost to Georgia Southern in the second round of the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision playoffs last season, which is why this season’s class includes five offensive linemen.
Jordan Kersh, a 6-3, 295-pound lineman from Hinds (Miss.) Community College, signed in December. He was joined Wednesday by incoming freshmen Gilberto Garcia, 6-3, 285, of Morrilton; Stockton Mallett, 6-3, 305, of Yellville-Summit; Cade Camp, 6-4, 275, of Allen, Texas; and Bryan Manley, 6-4, 303, of Stephenville, Texas.
“We’re pushing a lot of different buttons right now in our program,” Conque said. “We’re extremely humbled and pleased to win our conference championship again. We’re very pleased to make it to the Division I postseason for two consecutive years. But we really feel like, to take the next step, we have to get a little bigger and a little bit stronger.
“We need to maintain our athleticism and speed, but size was an emphasis in this class. You look at the Montanas, the Georgia Southerns, the North Dakota States, those guys, they push on the front. They push up front on both offense and defense. We have to be able to match that intensity withthat size.”
Getting bigger wasn’t UCA’s only recruiting need.
The Bears, who finished No. 10 in the final FCS Sports Network Poll, also lost three running backs - Jackie Hinton, Terence Bobo and Anthony Blackmon - from last season. But Conque didn’thave to look far to find a potential replacement, signing Conway’s Jeff Anderson. Anderson, 6-0, 210, rushed for 1,680 yards and 15 touchdowns last season when he was named to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette’s All-Metro team. UCA also signed Kelton Warren, a 5-10, 185-pound back from Juan Seguin High School in Arlington, Texas.
UCA, which opens the 2013 season Aug. 29 against Incarnate Word at Estes Stadium, will return 16 starters from last season’s 9-3 team, but Conque said his current group, which had a 6 a.m. workout Wednesday at Estes Stadium, isn’t resting on past feats.
“The thing about recruiting is, obviously, you’re looking out towards the future with today’s signings,” Conque said. “But you also have to keep a vigilant eye because the best recruiting you can do is on your own campus and making sure that those young men are going to class, doing the things they need to do in study hall.”
Sports, Pages 24 on 02/07/2013