New coach gets numbers at Northside
Fort Smith Northside had one of the smallest rosters in the state’s largest classification last fall.
That shouldn’t be the case in 2013.
First-year Grizzlies Coach Mike Falleur said 108 players completed spring drills last week, a substantial increase over 2012, when Northside had only 64 during the season.
Falleur, who spent the previous two seasons as head coach at Villa Rica (Ga.) High School, said boosting participation was a point of emphasis after succeeding Darrell Henry, who resigned in November after leading the Class 7A Grizzlies to a 57-64-1 record in 11 seasons.
Northside was 3-7 last fall under Henry, now the defensive coordinator at Van Buren.
Falleur said he worked Northside’s feeder junior highs hard and praised his assistants for helping to get kids out who weren’t playing.
“Obviously, we’ve got to do a better job of keeping kids in the program,” Falleur said. “There’s still some good athletes around here.”
Falleur, 51, is a 1980 Northside graduate and played tight end for the Grizzlies. He called Northside a “dream job.”
“It’s something I always wanted to do,” Falleur said. “I’m very appreciative of the opportunity.”
Falleur was 10-10 at Villa Rica, which is about 35 miles west of Atlanta. In 21 seasons as a head coach - all in Georgia -Falleur is 152-80 overall.
Northside evolved into one of the state’s most prolific passing teams in recent years, using an up-tempo Spread scheme.
Falleur said the Grizzlies won’t playas fast this fall and will lean much more heavily on the run.
“We want to be 50-50 between run and pass,” Falleur said. “Maybe, 60-40.”
Falleur said Northside run will run a 3-4 base defense because the program has more linebackers, corner backs and safeties.
Physical play, Falleur said, was stressed in spring drills.
“That’s something we spent a lot of time on,” he said.
The only addition to Falleur’s staff is defensive coordinator Felix Curry, who previously held the same title at Flowery Branch (Ga.) High School.
Curry’s son, C.J., is a redshirt freshman wide receiver at Oklahoma State. Another son, Darius, is an incoming freshman corner back for the Cowboys.
Another son, Justin, will be a junior tailback this fall at Northside. Curry, 5-11, 195 pounds, already has scholarship offers from Purdue and Connecticut.
Falleur said he’s known Felix Curry for many years and location factored into Curry’s decision to move his family and take the Northside job.
“He wanted to be able to see his sons play college football,” Falleur said.
Fort Smith is only 159 miles southeast of Oklahoma State’s campus in Stillwater.
STUTTGART Switching gears
Quarterback Dontrell Brown, who led Stuttgart to the Class 4A state championship last fall, will play baseball at Arkansas Baptist College in Little Rock, Ricebirds Coach Billy Elmore said.
Brown was the Little Rock Touchdown Club’s Class 4A Player of the Year after rushing 187 times for 1,400 yards and 18 touchdowns and completing 88 of 153 passes for 1,600 yards and 16 touchdowns as a senior.
Elmore said Brown, 5-11, 205 pounds, was offered a football scholarship in January by Ouachita Baptist, but he wanted to re-evaluate his situation following the baseball season. He was an outfielder this spring on Stuttgart’s Class 4A state runner-up team.
EXTRA POINTS
Bearden linebacker B.J. Ross has signed with Henderson State, Bears Coach Ernie Horstkamp said. Ross, 6-1, 217 pounds, helped Bearden reach the Class 2A state championship game as a senior with 147 tackles, including 98 unassisted. Ross was offered a scholarship by Gus Malzahn’s staff at Arkansas State. But Malzahn left in December for Auburn, and Horstkamp said Ross “got qualified” late academically. … Nettleton Athletic Director Darrel Dover said the school hopes to name its new coach this week to replace Jay Murphree, who left after three seasons for an insurance job. … Fayetteville has launched its new website, purpledogfootball.com, becoming another client of Elite Edge Athletic Solutions Inc., which has also designed sites for, among others, Shiloh Christian, Greene County Tech, Bentonville and North Little Rock. … Stuttgart Coach Billy Elmore said he’s promoted Josh Smith to offensive coordinator to replace Kevin McCarn, now the coach at Melbourne.Smith previously coached in junior high. Elmore said he’s hired Vincent Newton, a recent Arkansas-Pine Bluff graduate, to coach wide receivers. … Cracked concrete around the press box and concession stand at Scott Field in Little Rock has finally been repaired.
Scott Field is Little Rock Hall’s home field.
Sports, Pages 33 on 05/26/2013