ROGERS -- Matthew Puryear graduated from Rogers High in 1991, but he still owns the single-season school record for interceptions.
The 43-year-old, who now teaches in Nashville, Tenn., recalls plenty of good memories from playing multiple sports in high school, but he said the lessons learned from athletics were at time difficult.
At A Glance
Rogers Hall of Fame Induction
Where: Rogers High auditorium
When: 5 p.m., Friday
Notable: Inductees include 1936 Rogers High football team, John Collis, Margaret (Eoff) Byrd, Matthew Puryear, Brooke (Boatman) Rea.
Puryear pointed to a tough 9-6 loss the Mounties suffered to Springdale during his senior football season.
"We were up 6-3 in the fourth quarter and I had done about everything I could,"said Puryear, who attended Dartmouth and played on an Ivy League champion. "I remember I intercepted a pass. But they came back and I got a pass interference penalty and they scored with less than a minute to win. It was one of those things. I did everything I thought I could do and it still didn't work out. That was a tough lesson.
"The reason that stands out is those lessons you learn from sports teach you about life. It taught me you do everything everything you can, but it's not always enough. You have to learn to do what you can. That's the way life it."
Puryear, an all-state selection in football and all-conference in basketball and track, will be inducted into the Rogers Athletic Hall of Fame at a ceremony at 5 p.m., today at the Rogers High School auditorium. He will be joined by Margaret Byrd, John Collis and Brooke Boatman Rhea as part of the 14th class to be enshrined. The 1936 Mounties football undefeated state championship team will also become the first team to be inducted.
Collis, an all-state quarterback and 1968 graduate, still lives in Northwest Arkansas. He moved to Rogers at age 13 and remembered being excited about being able to play high school football.
"I walked down to watch coach Bond and the high school team practice and remember thinking one of these days I'm going to have a chance to be on that team," said Collis, who scored a touchdown in the 1968 Arkansas High School All-Star game. "It's very humbling to me to be honored like this."
Rhea, a 1999 Rogers graduate, was a standout softball pitcher for the Lady Mounties and threw the first perfect game for Rogers in fast-pitch. She also went on to earn all-conference honors at Central Arkansas.
Mike Harper, the current softball coach at Rogers High, was also a coach when Rhea played.
"She was just a warrior out there," Harper said. "She wanted the ball all the time."
Harper said even though fast-pitch softball was in its infancy in Arkansas in the late 1990s, Rhea could compete well even today.
"We've had some pretty good ones especially in the last 10 years," Harper said. "She could pitch in today's game. She had every pitch and was probably more accurate as far as hitting her spots. The game's changes, but she was certainly as good as any that's pitched in this era."
Byrd, a 1986 graduate who now lives in Mountain Home, earned all-conference honors in basketball and softball. She was also a two-time Meet of Champions winner and state champion in the 800 meters.
Sports on 09/16/2016