ROGERS — After 24 games in the run-oriented triple option offense, Rogers High coach Shawn Flannigan couldn’t remember if a wide receiver had been named the Mounties’ offensive player of the game.
Wide receiver Zachary Arrick won the honor after the Mounties’ 30-28 win against Fort Smith Northside, and Flannigan said he will remember the 5-foot-9, 171-pound senior’s performance for some time.
“It’s doesn’t happen very often, we may have had one,” Flannigan said.
Arrick caught a 30-yard touchdown pass in what was the Mounties’ only completion against the Grizzlies. But that is not what won Arrick the weekly team honor.
Earning a starting spot at receiver comes down to a player’s blocking skills, and Arrick is a good one. He had several key blocks downfield that opened up big runs as the Mounties start the season at 3-0 for the second consecutive year. Rogers will look to stay undefeated when it travels to Springdale High for the 7A/6A-West Conference opener Friday night.
“Our receivers have to be great blockers,” Flannigan said. “Zach has some huge blocks on some of Brandon Workman’s long runs. He just had a solid game blocking, and graded out real well. Zach embraces that role, and he does it really well.
“For our receivers, that is as good as it gets.”
Arrick said he gets satisfaction from helping the Mounties’ offense chew up yards on the ground.
“It’s a great feeling when you make a block and you see the slot back or the quarterback run by you for a touchdown,” Arrick said.
He said he had a bit of luck on his touchdown catch last week, which gave the Mounties a 21-14 lead. It was his first and only catch of the year.
“The safety and the cornerback kind of ran into each other,” Arrick said. “I saw the ball in the air, and I got nervous becasue I don’t see that very often. But I found it and made the catch.”
Arrick was originally a fullback but quality depth at the position allowed Flannigan to move the senior to receiver.
“We want to get our best athletes on the field, and we felt there was no sense of having him on the sidelines as a backup fullback when he could help us more at receiver,” Flannigan said.
Arrick missed almost all of his sophomore season after breaking his left arm during the Mounties’ preseason scrimmage, and he got a scare this fall after accidentally being shot in a hunting accident in Missouri on Labor Day weekend. Teammate Jacob Bray was also injured in the accident and is recuperating after twice having eye surgery.
Arrick was shot in the back of the head and in the arm by another member of the hunting party, and he still has eight shotgun pellets lodged in his body. But he only missed a couple of practices, and that was mainly because it was too painful to wear a football helmet.
“There were some BBs that were in a sensitive spot when you put pressure on them,” Arrick said. “But after a few days, it wasn’t a factor at all anymore. The doctor said they will all come out, eventually.”