Football Fayetteville Features Big Numbers In Spring Ball

STAFF PHOTO BEN GOFF — Fayetteville tight end C.J. O’Grady is one of eight starters who returns on offense for the Bulldogs next season. Fayetteville has its largest turnout for spring football under coach Daryl Patton, with 190 total players and 48 seniors expected to participate.

STAFF PHOTO BEN GOFF — Fayetteville tight end C.J. O’Grady is one of eight starters who returns on offense for the Bulldogs next season. Fayetteville has its largest turnout for spring football under coach Daryl Patton, with 190 total players and 48 seniors expected to participate.

Monday, May 12, 2014

FAYETTEVILLE -- With more than 190 players and a class of 48 seniors in the Class of 2015 expected to participate in spring practice, Fayetteville should not have a problem finding depth in many key areas on the football field next season.

Even at quarterback.

Fayetteville Bulldogs

Date^Opponent^Time

Aug. 25^Greenwood (scrimmage)^6 p.m.

Sept. 5^at Lawton (Okla.) Eisenhower^7 p.m.

Sept. 12^North Little Rock^7 p.m.

Sept. 19^at Muskogee, Okla.^7 p.m.

Sept. 26^Fort Smith Northside*^7:30 p.m.

Oct. 3^at Fort Smith Southside*^7:30 p.m.

Oct 10^Springdale High*^7:30 p.m.

Oct. 17^Springdale Har-Ber*^7:30 p.m.

Oct. 24^at Rogers High*^7:30 p.m.

Oct. 31^Rogers Heritage*^7:30 p.m.

Nov. 7^at Bentonville*^7:30 p.m.

The Bulldogs opened spring drills in t-shirt and helmet workouts last week and switch to full pad practices today. In coach Daryl Patton's previous 11 seasons, no spring session has featured as many players as the staff has this year and Patton is encouraged by what he's seen so far.

"We've got great numbers and we return a lot on both sides of the ball," Patton said. "We've got two junior high teams coming up who were truly talented, our JV and sophomore teams were talented and we've got a strong senior class.

"So everywhere you turn there's positives going into the spring. But having said that we're nowhere close to being a good football team yet. We've still got pieces to the puzzle we need to fill in."

Fayetteville returns as many as eight starters of both offense and defense, as well as both its placekicker and punter. No team under Patton has returned as much starting experience as a whole, but one position the Bulldogs will start over at is quarterback with Mitch Marshall graduating.

Junior-to-be Jack Lindsey (6-foot-1, 160 pounds) and incoming sophomore Taylor Powell (5-11, 185), who guided Woodland Junior High to a 10-0 record this year, are the top candidates.

"I don't know if I've ever had a quarterback improve as much mentally and physically over a year as Jack Lindsey," Patton said. "He's really improved, he's grown up and maturing physically and he's had a great offseason. And then Taylor Powell is a young man who comes in with a lot of hype. He had a great junior high season and he has a strong arm.

"So we feel like we have to quarterbacks we can win with, and it's going to be fun seeing that play out."

The biggest change for Fayetteville could be an improved offensive line, which could lead to a different look and different style of play this fall. The Bulldogs, usually undersized up front on offense compared to other 7A/6A-West Conference teams, will be bigger than ever on the line. Braxton Bradley (6-3, 270), a move-in from Springdale High, joins returning lettermen Jackson McNeal (6-2, 250), Noah Johnson (6-3, 320), Sam Threlkeld (5-10, 250), Jonathan Betancourt (6-0, 260), Sean Dickson (6-2, 310), Chandler Hiatt (6-2, 240) and Coy Lobaugh (6-1, 245) to give Fayetteville plenty of experience in the trenches on offense.

"I love our depth on the offensive line," Patton said. "We've got a lot of size on the line, which we've never had since I've been here, so that could be a big strength of our football team."

The Bulldogs will also have a new look on defense, as previous defensive coordinator Keith Fimple left in the winter to accept an assistant position at Springdale Har-Ber. Fayetteville's defense, which is still expected to be both 4-3 and 3-4-scheme capable, will now be run by veteran assistant Wendell Harris.

"Defensviely we're real excited," Patton said. "We've got Demani Carter at defensive end, a two-year starter and on the ball we feel like we've got some depth.

Fayetteville also welcomes in Ian Jackson from Fort Smith Southside at linebacker. Jackson was All-Arkansas sophomore two years ago and reminds Patton of another Brooks Ellis. In the secondary, safety Dre Greenlaw -- currently committed to Arkansas State -- anchors a unit packed with experience. Greenlaw suffered a broken foot in offseason drills and will miss the spring practice but is expected back in July.

Fayetteville will work out in pads over the next two weeks, before closing spring practice with its annual Purple-White game on May 30.

Sports on 05/12/2014