MOUNTAINBURG — Faded lettering on businesses now closed and three statues of prehistoric beasts suggests an area frozen in time or a place that’s at least seen better days.
This is Mountainburg, home of the Dragons, with school buildings constructed of rocks during the depression era of the 1930s. Folks don’t much travel anymore through Mountainburg, as curvy and dangerous Highway 71 no longer is the best option for travelers headed to and from Washington and Benton counties.
The population of Mountainburg began to decline in 1999 when Interstate 540, now 1-49, opened to the west of the community and provided a much safer route for vehicles than Highway 71. Less than 700 people still remain in Mountainburg, whose sports teams play in Arkansas’ smallest classification.
“When the Interstate opened, it hurt this town,” said Tom Harrell, Mountainburg’s head football coach and athletic director. “The businesses went away and it’s just pretty much local traffic through here now.”
Mike Malham of Cabot leads the list of longest-serving active high school football coaches in Arkansas with 35 years at Cabot. Right behind him, surprisingly, is Harrell, who’s spent 27 of his 30 years at Mountainburg as the Dragons’ head coach. Harrell’s longevity is represented by a father and son, former and current quarterbacks for the Dragons. Bobby Pixley was a twotime all-state player at Mountainburg in 1995 and 1996 while his son, Quency, who is also called Bobby, is a three-year starter for the Dragons.
“Coach Harrell is the face of Mountainburg football,” Bobby Pixley III said. “He’s a winning coach but, not only that, he sets an excellent example for the kids. Everyone around knows and loves him.”
Harrell, 53, has 142 career wins at Mountainburg, including last year’s 8-3 march that ended in the second round of the playoffs. He could’ve left for a larger school years ago, but he still makes the 11-mile trip from his home in Alma to coach another generation of Dragons.
“I don’t know what the grass is like on the other side, but I’m happy here,” Harrell said. “These are country people and I fit in. I’ve just never had any interest to go off to a bigger school.”
Harrell credits much of his longevity at Mountainburg to his assistant coach, Chris Nolen, who arrived at the same time he did in 1987. The two work closely together in all aspects of the football program, including on-field decisions and disciplining the players.
“It’s like he’s part of my brain,” Harrell said. “With the players, I’m like the bad cop sometimes and he’s the good cop. They can go to him and make the situation better.”
Mountainburg has had some standout teams, like in 2007 when the Dragons went 10-3 with playoffs wins over Cave City and Rison. But the most memorable game occurred in 2011, when the Dragons faced Strong at home in the first round of the playoffs. Strong was led by Kenneth Dixon, a record-setting running back at Louisiana Tech who now plays for the Baltimore Ravens in the NFL.
Mountainburg held a 28-27 lead late in the game after stopping Strong on a 2-point conversion attempt. But Dixon led a drive and threw a touchdown pass with 17 seconds left to eliminate the Dragons. Strong went on to win the state championship when Dixon rushed for 348 yards and five touchdowns in the final against Carlisle.
“The game against Strong haunts me still, because of the decision I had to make,” Harrell said. “We faced a 4th-and-3 at the (Mountainburg) 48-yard line and punted after making it look like we were going to go for it. The ball rolled down to the ‘G’ on the goal line, but we swiped at the ball and knocked it into the end zone. On the last play of the game, we had three shots to tackle him, but Dixon heaves it into the end zone and the kid catches it to win the game. So, yeah, that one still haunts me.”
Mountainburg hopes to make another playoff run with a second Bobby Pixley at quarterback. He led Mountainburg to a 50-6 victory over Western Yell County Friday to push the Dragons to 5-2 on the season.
“I could’ve been like other kids and moved to a bigger school,” Pixley said. “But I wanted to stay at Mountainburg and play for the same coach my dad played for. That’s pretty cool.”
Rick Fires can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @NWARick.