FAYETTEVILLE — Former Fayetteville coach Daryl Patton’s resignation in May came as a shock to class 7A football and the entire state.
Order was quickly restored for the defending state champions as former University of Tulsa coach Bill Blankenship was hired to head the staff.
Four new coaches — Blankenship, Tony Travis (Rogers Heritage), Mike Loyd (Rogers), Bryan Pratt (Bentonville West) — and Van Buren’s second-year coach Greg Werner join the conference, but the contenders are likely to remain the same this fall.
Blankenship will be charged with leading the state’s most explosive offense and the favorite to repeat as state champions in the minds of many.
Wake Forest quarterback commit Taylor Powell, a host of skill players and key defensive pieces return. The All-State quarterback threw for 3,212 yards and 46 touchdowns last season, and on defense, Alabama commit Akial Byers is the headliner at tackle.
“The guys are very prideful and very coachable. They don’t seem to be satisfied,” Blankenship said. “In my experience, and what I’m trying to emphasize is, you can’t live off last year. You try to live off last year, you won’t last long and people will knock you off.”
Springdale Har-Ber and Bentonville High appear to be Fayetteville’s top challengers once again. The Wildcats are fresh off their third conference title but there are holes to fill as quarterback Fuller Chandler and star tailback Luke Hannon (1,980 total yards, 18 touchdowns) are gone. Senior Trey Smith (5-foot-9, 175 pounds), however, returns to lead the offense at receiver while a handful of quarterbacks compete for the starting job.
Bentonville brings back a strong group of playmakers in Clay Barganier (5-9, 170) and Kam’Ron Mays-Hunt (6-2, 170), who combined for more than 1,400 yards and 11 touchdowns last season, as well as the league’s top returning rusher from 2015, Jacob Clark (5-11, 195).
“I definitely consider us to be one of those teams fighting for a conference title this year,” second year Bentonville coach Jody Grant said. “It’s an interesting dynamic with all of the new coaches in the conference. But I see us as a contender.”
Following the top three, a slew of teams are looking to make progress. Van Buren and Bentonville West are the newest additions, and Springdale High, Rogers High and Rogers Heritage look to find themselves in line for a playoff berth.
Fort Smith Northside and Fort Smith Southside begin a new venture in the 7A-Central this fall. Mavericks coach Jeff Williams and the Grizzlies’ Mike Falleur both believe their new league will be as challenging, if not more than the 7A-West.
“Our schedule is probably as tough as it’s been since I’ve been here as far as our nonconference to our new conference,” Williams said. “It’s going to be very, very tough, but we played in the 7A-West Conference for years and we’re familiar with the teams in the Central, too, so I think it’s going to come down to who stays healthy.”
Grizzlies sophomore Derrick Wise (5-10, 170) is expected to provide the offensive explosiveness Northside lacked a season ago. Louisville commit Tre Norwood (5-11, 175) will be the player to watch in the secondary at cornerback.
The Mavericks, formally the Rebels, have a few playmakers of their own in RB Parker Dixon (5-8, 160), who figures to mix into the passing game more this fall, and WR Hauken Smith (5-10, 175). Defensively, DL Hunter Moreton (6-1, 275), an Arkansas State commit, returns following a 52-tackle junior season to head what could be one of the conference’s top units.
Scottie Bordelon can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @nwascottie.
2015 Final 7A-West Standings
Team Conf. Overall
Springdale Har-Ber .............7-0 .................11-2 Bentonville ...........................6-1 ................ 10-2 Fayetteville ...........................5-2 ................13-2 Southside ............................4-3 ..................8-5 Northside ............................3-4 ..................4-7 Springdale ...........................2-5 ..................2-9 Rogers .................................1-6 .................1-10 Rogers Heritage .................0-7 ................ 0-10
Hooten’s Coaches Poll 7A-West
Fayetteville
Springdale Har-Ber
Bentonville
Springdale
Rogers Heritage
Rogers
Van Buren
Bentonville West
7A-Central
North Little Rock
FS Southside
Cabot
Conway
Bryant
FS Northside
LR Central
LR Catholic