“Beat Van Buren!” echoed throughout Airedale Stadium as Alma football players fired out at the end of a recent two-a-day practice.
It was 5 p.m. and players hustled through sultry conditions to run 14, 100-yard sprints in under 20 minutes.
None complained. No one puked. No one even appeared to loaf.
“We’re going to be in shape,” said Alma coach Doug Loughridge, whose team opens the season Tuesday against Van Buren. “Against Southside, we had a 19-point lead and kind of wilted in the third and fourth quarter, and they came back and won (35-19).
“That won’t happen again.”
Alma switches from the 7A/6A-Central to the 5A-West this season and will be better conditioned despite not needing as many two-way players as in 2015. League coaches say Alma is the team to beat as it returns all-state senior quarterback Noah Dotson, who completed 62 percent of his passes and is even more effective as a runner.
“The last two years in 7A/6A has made us better. Every team we played last year had a [Division-I] athlete, and we had to prepare as coaches and players for that every week, so that made us all better.”
— Alma coach Doug Loughridge
“The last two years in 7A/6A has made us better,” Loughridge said. “Every team we played last year had a [Division-I] athlete, and we had to prepare as coaches and players for that every week, so that made us all better.
“Now, don’t get me wrong, the 5A-West is a very good conference, but the caliber of kids may not be as high as what we saw the past two years.”
Loughridge and other coaches say Morrilton is loaded with skill players and should challenge Alma for the league title. The Devil Dogs are led by senior quarterback Caleb Canady (2,082 passing yards and 22 TDs last year) and all-state senior receiver Grahm Heindenreich, who’s also dangerous on special teams with 4.5 speed.
Harrison’s Joel Wells believes his team has made improvements heading into his second year as head coach.
Junior quarterback Noah Ditmanson has improved as a passer after completing just 49 percent of his throws while junior running back Josh Williams has added 20 pounds of muscle since rushing for 426 yards and 9 TDs in 2015.
“If we can have some success early, then we will be competitive,” Wells said. “I feel like Alma and Morrilton will be the cream of the crop, but we feel we’ve made a lot of progress.”
Clarksville has one win in the past two seasons but hopes to reverse the trend under first-year coach Khris Buckner, an all-state quarterback for the Panthers in 1995. Buckner passed for 2,229 yards and 24 touchdowns in then-coach Bryan Law’s I-formation offense, and will try to turn his alma mater around by installing a Wishbone, power-rushing attack.
The Panthers have capable running backs in seniors Rease Howard and Diamante Polimdore, a move-in from Texas who could be a difference-maker, to go along with size on the line in brothers Chuy (5-11, 270) and Jose Jimenez (6-2, 290), who are both two-year starters. Senior Luke Venson (6-2, 330) didn’t play last season, but can open holes as well.
“The strength of our team is up front, so we’re going to try to utilize that,” Buckner said. “These guys ran a similar offense in junior high and won the district title, so some of [the Wishbone] is not foreign to them and they’ve adapted really well.”
Farmington, Greenbrier, Maumelle and Vilonia are expected to field strong teams as well and Loughridge said it’s going to be a dogfight each Friday night.
“It’s all going to come down to who can stay healthy and get up for every game,” Loughridge said. “I think it’ll be very hard to go undefeated (in the 5A-West), and I think the winner will have at least one loss because every team is so competitive.”
Mike Capshaw can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @NWACappy.
5A-West Conference
Final Standings
TEAM CONF. OVERALL
LR Christian ........................7-0 ................12-1 Greenbrier ...........................5-2 .................. 7-5 Morrilton ..............................5-2 .................. 7-4 Vilonia .................................3-4 ..................5-6 Farmington ..........................3-4 ..................5-5 Harrison ..............................3-4 ..................4-6 Maumelle ............................2-5 ..................3-7 Clarksville ............................0-7 .................. 1-9
Hooten’s Conference Poll 5A-West
Alma
Morrilton
Greenbrier
Harrison
Maumelle
Farmington
Vilonia
Clarksville