Eagles coach eager to test band of 25 in contact

Baptist Prep Coach Morgan Cruce has been waiting for this moment for months.

Cruce coaches the Eagles for the first time today against McGehee at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock. Game time is approximately 7:30 p.m., as the second game of a doubleheader.

Joe T. Robinson and Hot Springs Lakeside play in the first game at 5 p.m.

Baptist Prep hired Cruce, 30, from Gibson County, Tenn., in January to replace Brad Helm, and Cruce is excited for the challenge of rebuilding the Eagles, who were 3-8 in 2015 and lost in the first round of the Class 4A playoffs at Hamburg.

"We've been going 90 miles an hour since May," Cruce said.

There's been plenty of change at the Little Rock private school over the past 12 months, besides the hiring of Cruce.

The school officially changed its name last September from Arkansas Baptist to Baptist Preparatory School, or Baptist Prep for short.

The Eagles have 25 players, 14 of them are seniors. The low numbers don't concern Cruce too much, tough.

"We've got 25 good-hearted kids and hard workers," Cruce said. "They do anything I ask them to do. It's not a lot of quantity, but a lot of quality."

Baptist Prep will run a flexbone, triple option offense, Cruce said.

Cruce said he expects to use two quarterbacks early on, seniors Payne Warren and Dylan Hogan.

Warren, 6-2, 187 pounds, played wide receiver last season, catching 58 passes for 565 yards and 2 touchdowns. Hogan, 6-1, 181, did not play last season, but has played for the school's basketball team.

"They both give our team, together, the perfect quarterback," Cruce said. "They're both meshing well with our system."

The Eagles will continue to run the 3-4 defense under defensive coordinator Andy Stallings, who was on Helm's staff.

Linebackers Jacob Long, a senior, and Tyler Holmes, a junior, are expected to lead Baptist Prep's defense. Long, 5-11, 205, had 76 tackles in 2015. Holmes, 5-10, 190, finished with 19 tackles and one interception.

Most of last year's offense was generated by the McGonical twins, quarterback Cory and wide receiver Chad, who have graduated.

"We don't have a real superstar," Cruce said. "We've got 11 individuals playing together right now. They're still trying to find out what their role is and how they can best fit and best benefit the team. They're working through that. It's pretty neat seeing it all come together."

Baptist Prep is off after tonight's game for 11 days. Its second game, on Sept. 9, comes against last year's Class 2A runner-up Rison at home. Having an early game like today's contest presents pros and cons, Cruce said, but he said he likes having the extended time off between week one and week two.

"It gives us more time to prepare for the week two game," Cruce said. "If we get banged up a little bit, then we can get healed up. It's almost like a bye week early in the season."

Baptist Prep has not won a playoff game since 2011 when it defeated Camden Harmony Grove in the Class 3A playoffs. That season, the Eagles went 11-2. Over the past four seasons, Baptist Prep won 11 games total.

Cruce said he realizes the program is a work in progress.

"I want us to take each and every year, each and every game, each and every play, each and every day and make it a win for us," Cruce said. "If we focus on that and let it be our goal to be the best we can be each and every play and each and every day, I think that 4, 5, 10 years down the road we'll be a program that will be a consistent and competitive program."

Sports on 08/29/2016