Mike Pounders and his son, Brock, played on championship football teams 32 years apart at Central Junior High School in Springdale.
Mike Pounders played in 1983 when the Warriors finished 5-2 overall and 4-0-1 in conference. Brock was on the field just last week when Central defeated Bentonville Gold 16-14 to complete a 10-0 season. It was the last game for Warriors head coach Fred Hartsfield, who is retiring after 36 years at Central.
"Fred was firm but fair," Pounders said of his former football coach in junior high. "He held us accountable from Day 1, and he wanted maximum effort out of his players every time. When you look back, coaches are mentors and coach Hartsfield was definitely a mentor for me."
It is a common analogy in sports to say a team can't win if it doesn't have the horses. Hartsfield and Southwest Junior High coach Bruce Matthews supplied plenty of horses in Springdale after receiving them as colts. Hartsfield won more than 200 games, and he and Matthews combined for 19 conference championships, the most in Northwest Arkansas.
"Fred and Bruce did an incredible job of teaching fundamentally sound football in every aspect," said former Springdale coach Jarrell Williams, who led the Bulldogs to four state championships before he retired in 2000. "Those kids at Central were like little ducks in a row following Fred. He definitely made my job easier. I didn't have to do much, once I got them, except draw up plays."
Williams is being modest, of course, especially for a guy who is seventh (261-131) on the list of all-time winningest high school coaches in Arkansas. Feeder programs are essential, and the continuity Hartsfield and Matthews provided helped make Springdale one of the best football towns in the state.
"Fred has laid the groundwork for our success at the high school level," said Har-Ber coach Chris Wood, whose team is No. 1 in Class 7A with a 9-1 record. "Our success at the high school level is a direct reflection of our junior high programs, and Fred has been a true blessing to football in Springdale."
Hartsfield was working at a youth center in east Springdale 36 years ago when he was offered a coaching job by Williams. Recently married, Hartsfield decided to accept the offer and delay his plans at pursuing a Master's degree, which he eventually completed at Arkansas in 1995.
"I was hired as the eighth-grade football coach at Central five days before preseason and I've been here ever since," said Hartsfield, who received an undergraduate degree in recreation at Arkansas in 1980. "It was divine intervention because God wanted me here."
In his final game, Hartsfield followed his team onto the field at Springdale Har-Ber and shook a few hands before taking his customary position along the sidelines. Central took control at the outset and led 16-0 in the third quarter. The Warriors then withstood two touchdowns by Gold to win 16-14 and send their coach out in style with his 10th conference championship.
Days later, Hartsfield, 62, said he hadn't fully digested the fact he's coached his last game.
"It hasn't really sunk in yet," said Hartsfield, who'll retire from Central at the end of the school year. "That'll probably happen next season when I'm not doing the same routine. That's probably when I'll fully realize I'm finally finished."
From Jarrell Williams to Gus Malzahn to Chris Wood, Hartsfield won championships at Central and developed players who were ready to compete for coaches at the varsity level. He did it with firmness and a caring hand to become the face for athletics at Central for more than three-and-a-half decades.
"Gus Malzahn taught me that coaching was a ministry, an opportunity to make an impact," Hartsfield said. "When you're a coach, you have two families, and I'm going to miss the kids at Central and the opportunity in being a mentor to them. This is where the Lord took me, and I've been fortunate for all the years I've been at Central."
Sports on 11/15/2015