Jonesboro has started the season 2-0, but the Hurricane will be without their starting quarterback for a good chunk of time.
Junior AJ Aycock injured his collarbone in last Friday's 41-38 victory over Conway. He had surgery Saturday and will be out at least six weeks, said Coach Randy Coleman, who added that Aycock can resume throwing in four weeks.
Aycock is 22-of-34 passing for 491 yards with 7 touchdowns and 1 interception. Before leaving Friday's game, he had completed 4 of 7 passes for 73 yards and 1 touchdown.
Taking over for Aycock is junior Tyson Williams. But this isn't a normal quarterback situation.
Williams (8-10, 108 yards, 2 touchdowns, zero interceptions) and Aycock have rotated at quarterback since the beginning of the 2015 season. They each started five games a year ago before the Class 6A playoffs.
"It affects us, schematically, because A.J. has the big arm that can make all the throws," Coleman said. "He can make all those throws that normal guys can't.
"With Tyson, we feel like we'll run our offense exactly the way A.J. has. We hope things can keep on trucking the way they have."
Coleman said sophomore Brooks Cheatham will back up Williams while Aycock is out. Cheatham is Jonesboro's junior varsity quarterback.
Jonesboro, the No. 2 team in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette's Class 6A Super Six, travels to central Arkansas today to face Little Rock Catholic (1-1) at War Memorial Stadium. It is the Hurricane's final nonconference game before opening 6A-East play at Mountain Home on Sept. 23.
Catholic defeated Jacksonville 31-6 last Friday behind running back Samy Johnson's 130 yards and 1 touchdown.
"Johnson is very talented," Coleman said. "He's got a chance to be really good."
The Rockets present a challenge defensively for the Hurricane, Coleman said.
"They'll do more twisting, stunting and blitzing than any team we'll see all year long," Coleman said. "It will be different."
Jonesboro's two victories have come against Class 5A power Batesville and Conway, a perennial contender in Class 7A. Coleman said the key in those two games have been winning the turnover battle.
"We've limited turnovers," Coleman said. "Last week, we fumbled three times, lose one. Week one [against Batesville], we fumble once and lose one. We've been on the good end of the giveaway-takeaway ratio. That always helps a ton."
The Hurricane offense has averaged 53.0 points per game. Senior wide receiver Jonathan Adams, who has orally committed to Arkansas State, has caught 10 passes for 219 yards and 4 touchdowns and also has a rushing touchdown. Junior Ji'Marcus Bibbs has rushed for 173 yards and 3 touchdowns on 27 carries. He had 125 yards and 2 touchdowns on 17 carries against Conway.
"We've been able to mix it up enough, run and pass," Coleman said. "We've been able to get some points on the board."
During the past two seasons, Jonesboro played Class 7A teams in the 7A/6A-East Conference. But this season, the Hurricane is only playing two 7A teams, both in nonconference -- Conway and Little Rock Catholic.
Jonesboro is in the 6A-East this season and Coleman calls that a positive for his program.
"Just the numbers aspect of it is good," Coleman said. "We feel good about our 22 starters. We have always been blessed to have good players in those 22 starting spots.
"When we play 7A teams, there's going to come a point where the depth, added with conditioning, causes a problem where you've got a tired player against a fresh backup."
Coleman doesn't expect the War Memorial Stadium stage to be too big for his team today.
"Our ultimate goal is to get there to end the season," Coleman said. "Mentally, we're not in a place where those games are too big anymore. We can handle it from a preparation and routine like it's a regular game.
The Hurricane have knocked on the door of the Class 6A state championship game, but have lost in the semifinals the past three seasons. It's a point of emphasis for Coleman and his team.
"We've got to do something to get past that semifinal plateau," Coleman said. "But as long as we keep the approach and focus that we have, keep chopping wood the way we have the last five years, eventually we'll catch the break and end the season at War Memorial."
Sports on 09/16/2016