All-Arkansas Preps Male Athlete of the Year

Move doesn't slow down Benton's Harris

Drew Harris moved from Lincoln to Benton between his junior and senior seasons after his father wanted to move back to central Arkansas for family reasons.
Drew Harris moved from Lincoln to Benton between his junior and senior seasons after his father wanted to move back to central Arkansas for family reasons.

BENTON -- Drew Harris had to be a quick learner, although he admits he didn't learn everything so quickly.

Changing schools shortly before his senior year, Harris had to adjust to his new surroundings. If moving from Lincoln (population 1,752) to Benton (population 30,681) wasn't daunting enough, proving himself on the playing field and being moved from quarterback to receiver made it even more of a challenge.

Drew Harris

SCHOOL Benton

CLASS Senior

HEIGHT/WEIGHT 6-0, 185

SPORTS Football, baseball

NOTEWORTHY The son of Brad and Megan Harris. … Signed a football scholarship with Ouachita Baptist University. … Scored 23 touchdowns during his senior season, caught 89 passes for 1,559 yards and 15 TDs and ran for 475 yards and 6 TDs. He also scored on a punt return and a kickoff return. … Compiled a 6-1 record for the baseball team, allowing only five earned runs all season. He batted .322 and struck out only 8 times in 110 plate appearances.

"I knew no one from Benton, absolutely no one," Harris said. "It's really hard to learn 80 guys' names in a day or two, but I did catch on with the offense and my teammates started to accept me. I became part of the family."

Harris made a tremendous impact in his one year for the Panthers' football and baseball teams, helping both programs advance to the Class 6A state championship game in both sports.

"He came into a great situation," said Mark Balisterri, Benton's baseball coach. "The football team was on the verge of being better than it had been in a long time, and Drew made an impact because his style was exactly what the team needed. For me, we had lost a middle infielder and a pitcher from the previous season and he fit in perfectly.

"It was like it was all meant to be."

Harris had 89 receptions for 1,559 yards and 15 touchdowns in 13 games. He also ran for 6 touchdowns and scored on kickoff and punt returns. In the spring, Harris compiled a 6-1 pitching record to go along with a .322 batting average.

For his performance in both sports, Harris has been selected as the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette All-Arkansas Preps Male Athlete of the Year.

"Within two weeks of being here, Drew had picked up on everything," said Scott Neathery, Benton's football coach. "I played him at receiver, running back and kick returner. He knew every position. He had been a quarterback, so he had to know every position anyway. But he picked up everything so quickly that I had total confidence in him."

Drew Harris was born in Arkadelphia but spent most of his teenage years in Lincoln where his father, Brad, was the head football coach. But as Drew was about to settle in for his senior year at the Northwest Arkansas school, Brad wanted to return to central Arkansas to be closer to his ailing father.

The coach, however, wanted to make sure his son was OK with the move. Drew Harris admits that he disliked leaving so many friends behind, but he knew that leaving was the best decision.

"He put it on my shoulders in a way," Drew Harris said. "[My dad] came to me and said, 'What do you think of this?' He took me into consideration, and I appreciate that. ... It was tough having to start all over, but my new teammates really welcomed me. They accepted me, and it all turned out good."

Drew Harris got his first taste of big-time football with the Salt Bowl, the annual clash between Saline County rivals Benton and Bryant.

"I went from playing in front a couple of thousand people at the most to playing in the Salt Bowl, where we had 26,000 people watching us," said Harris, who scored on a 6-yard run in what turned out to be a 14-14 tie. "That was a totally different atmosphere than what I was used to."

Shortly after the Panthers' football season ended, Harris announced he would sign with Ouachita Baptist University.

He said his short time with Benton proved to be beneficial in many ways.

"The classes were more challenging, but I learned a lot and I really enjoyed it," Harris said of Benton. "I'm excited to go to college because I think they prepared me.

"As a player, I got a lot better from my junior to senior year. I learned that at this level, you have to bring it every week. It made me play a lot harder in practice. I think that helped me amp up my game on Friday nights."

"He's a kid of high character, and he's the ultimate competitor," Neathery said. "Having to change schools between your junior and senior years would be a difficult situation for a normal kid, but Drew is the type of young man who immediately fits in and excels."

Harris said he could sympathize with anyone who is having to make a move to an unfamiliar setting.

"The best advice I could give someone that has had to move to a new place is that while you have to prove yourself, you need to be yourself and not something that you're not," he said. "I did that, and it did not take long before I felt like I had earned my place."

Sports on 06/21/2015

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