Football: Rogers High Set For Spring Drills

ROGERS -- Rogers High started 11 seniors on offense in its final game of the 2013 season as the Mounties ended the season for the second-straight year in the Class 7A playoffs.

But Rogers coach Shawn Flannigan is hoping the Mounties are in a reloading mode and not a rebuilding mode. Rogers also lost five starters on defense.

Rogers High Mounties

Date^Opponent^Time

Sept. 5^Siloam Springs^7:30 p.m.

Sept. 12^at Claremore, Okla. ^7 p.m.

Sept. 19^at Jefferson City, Mo.^7 p.m.

Sept. 26^Springdale Har-Ber*^7:30 p.m.

Oct. 3^at Rogers Heritage*^7:30 p.m.

Oct. 10^Fort Smith Southside*^7:30 p.m.

Oct. 17^Fort Smith Northside*^7:30 p.m.

Oct. 24^at Bentonville*^7:30 p.m.

Oct. 31^at Fayetteville*^7:30 p.m.

Nov. 7^Springdale High*7:30 p.m.

*7A-West Conference Game

The Mounties begin spring drills Tuesday and they will conclude May 29. Over that span, Rogers can practice in pads five times and Flannigan said the team may hold a scrimmage on the final practice.

"We are going to have to figure out who our starters are going to be," Flannigan said. "But the good thing is that we are replacing seniors with a lot of seniors. That is a position you want your program in. But we will have some kids that have not played a whole lot of varsity football to grow up in a real hurry."

The Mounties offense averaged 7.1 yards a carry and rushed for 3,842 yards and 45 touchdowns before ending the season with a loss to Fort Smith Southside in the first round of the Class 7A Playoffs. Along the way, Rogers (7-4) had to defeat Springdale Har-Ber, Siloam Springs and Rogers Heritage the final three weeks to extend the season to the playoffs

Rogers rushed for over 4,000 yards and the Mounties scored 54 touchdowns, 47 on the ground. The defense also was solid as the Mounties had the second best defense in the league after giving up 296 yards of offense a game.

While most of that offensive production is gone, the Mounties do return several skill players with varsity experience

Rising senior fullback Bryan Grigsby rushed for 547 yards on 85 carries while rising junior slot back Sage White rushed for 300 yards on 39 carries.

Rising senior Cole Evans (6-foot-1, 175-pounds) goes into spring drills as the No. 1 quarterback and Flannigan said the job is Evans' to lose. Rising junior Joseph Sultemeier and rising sophomore Grayson Lee will also work at quarterback.

Evans rushed 21 times for 169 yards and three touchdowns last season. He was 1-of-3 passing for 25 yards and one touchdown. But Rogers only attempted 30 passes in 11 games last season.

"Cole split time at quarterback for the first three games, but he didn't get a whole lot of varsity action after that," Flannigan said. "Cole has good speed and he can run a little bit. Cole has worked very hard in the offseason and he has become a better football player, a better leader. We will have competition, but Cole is a solid No. 1."

Rogers returns three linebackers and has two defensive linemen back that saw considerable playing time.

"Really looking forward to returning starter Tanner Campbell and backup Ben Madden stepping up into leadership roles as the only two returnees that had significant playing time last season on the defensive line," Rogers assistant coach Mike Bush said. "Both have big shoes to fill."

Sports on 05/12/2014

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