Steven Jones' first season coaching the Junction City Dragons has been successful so far with the play of Hishmma Taylor and Shuvascaye Frazier.
Taylor is one of the state's top running backs through the first four weeks, with 911 yards and 11 touchdowns on 96 carries. The senior is averaging 227.8 yards per game and 9.5 yards per carry.
Conway back
player of week
Conway senior running back Michael George is the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette’s All-Arkansas Preps player of the week for Week Four.
George rushed for 354 yards and 4 touchdowns on 31 carries in the Wampus Cats’ 54-47 overtime victory over Fort Smith Southside on Friday. He scored on runs of 4, 27, 35 and 9 yards.
In four games, George has 704 yards and 9 touchdowns on 81 carries, averaging 8.7 yards per carry.
George will be honored at the Little Rock Touchdown Club on Monday. SEC Network anchor Dari Nowkhah is the special guest.
Conway (3-1, 1-0 7A-Central) will be at North Little Rock on Friday.
— Jeremy Muck
Frazier, a senior quarterback, has rushed for 517 yards and 7 touchdowns on 65 carries (8.0 ypc) and completed 22 of 45 passes for 361 yards with 6 touchdowns and 3 interceptions.
"They're two explosive guys who can go the distance," Jones said. "When you have two backs, give them the ball and get out of the way."
[HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL SCOREBOARD: Full results + recaps, photos and more]
In a 64-38 victory over McGehee on Friday, Taylor recorded his third 200-yard game of the season, rushing for 262 yards and 4 touchdowns on 24 carries for Junction City (4-0, 1-0 6-3A Conference). Frazier passed for 130 yards and 2 touchdowns against the Owls.
When Jones took over at Junction City, he realized it wasn't going to be a total rebuilding situation. Especially when the Dragons have been one of the state's top programs since 2000.
David Carpenter, who guided the Dragons to all six Class 2A titles (2003, 2008, 2009, 2012, 2013, 2014), retired in December after a 29-year career as a head coach at three schools.
Jones, who was hired in January, played for Carpenter at Junction City in 2003-2005 and was the offensive coordinator at Searcy the past two seasons. But when Carpenter stepped down last year, Jones, who was a head coach at DeWitt in 2012-2014, jumped at the opportunity to lead his alma mater.
"It takes time to get things going," Jones said. "But they believe in it. They do a great job. They're working hard.
"Sometimes, it may be a total rebuild. But for us, it was a scheme rebuild. Coach Carpenter had it going on here."
Junction City is at Genoa Central on Friday. While Jones is happy with the team's start, he is hoping for more success to come.
"We want to continue to get better each week," Jones said. "We want to practice as hard as we did the first four weeks.
"We just have to go out Friday nights and execute."
LITTLE ROCK PARKVIEW
Cleaning things up
Little Rock Parkview has been one of the state's most surprising teams in the first four weeks of the season.
The Patriots are 2-2 overall and 1-0 in the 5A-Central Conference after routing Mills 67-26 on Sept. 21.
However, Parkview Coach Brad Bolding, in his first season at the school, knows there's more work ahead if the Patriots want to contend in Class 5A. Bolding said some of his players are making the same procedural mistakes that they were making in the team's preseason scrimmage in August at Pine Bluff and in the first three weeks against Star City, Benton and North Little Rock.
"There was a lot of a little mistakes we made," Bolding said. "As a coach, you see it and you're like, 'Golly, we've been working on that. We're making those mistakes we shouldn't be making.'
"You look at the score and you're excited about what your team is doing. But you take those mistakes against a PA [Pulaski Academy] or one of those types of teams, they'll take advantage of it and it's a different score. We've got to really work on fixing those little things and mental mistakes."
Even with wanting his team to get better, Bolding said the Patriots have two victories under their belt.
"It gives us a little mojo going into the next game against Fair [on Friday]," Bolding said. "The teams get harder and harder as we go. We'll be approaching some good teams before long."
CABOT
Panthers on the loose
Little Rock Catholic had no answer for Cabot last Friday.
The Panthers rushed for 356 yards in a 42-20 victory over the Rockets at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock.
Junior Brad Morales, in place of the injured Adam Flores, rushed for 159 yards and 2 touchdowns on 17 carries. He scored on runs of 4 and 68 yards.
Cabot (3-1, 1-0 7A-Central) used a 15-play, 73-yard drive that spanned 8:33 of the third quarter to help pull away from Catholic (2-2, 0-1)
"This is a different Cabot team," Catholic Coach John Fogleman said. "They lost [Jarrod] Barnes, but they're still a good football team. What they do is really, really tough."
Flores injured his knee Sept. 15 against Little Rock Fair and has missed two games. He's expected to miss two more, Cabot Coach Mike Malham said.
Catholic junior running back Samy Johnson had 125 yards on 21 carries, but was held to 1 touchdown after scoring 5 times in the first 3 weeks.
For Malham, he was pleased to get out with a victory.
"Four teams are 1-0. Four teams are 0-1," Malham said. "I'm glad we're 1-0 and not 0-1."
Cabot hosts Fort Smith Southside on Friday, while Catholic travels to Bryant.
VILONIA-GCT
Victory forfeited
Vilonia has forfeited its season-opening victory against Greene County Tech because of an ineligible player.
The Eagles defeated Greene County Tech 29-18 in Paragould on Sept. 1. But Vilonia Athletic Director Nick Newman sent Greene County Tech's administration and the Arkansas Activities Association a letter Sept. 21 to address the forfeiture.
The AAA confirmed the forfeit Wednesday.
Greene County Tech's record has been adjusted to 2-2 overall while Vilonia is 0-4.
EXTRA POINTS
Springdale Har-Ber, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette's No. 1 team overall and in Class 7A, has not allowed a point since Week One. The Wildcats have recorded consecutive shutouts against Jefferson City, Mo., Jenks, Okla., and Rogers. They have turned in 12 scoreless quarters in a row since allowing 15 points in the fourth quarter of their 48-35 victory at Fort Smith Southside on Sept. 1. Springdale Har-Ber (4-0, 1-0 7A-West) faces crosstown-rival Springdale on Friday at Jarrell Williams Stadium. ... Dardanelle senior quarterback Elyas Carter completed 14 of 16 passes for 263 yards with 5 touchdowns and rushed for 74 yards and 2 touchdowns on 10 carries in the Sand Lizards' 56-8 victory over Dover on Friday. Senior wide receiver Carter Chandler caught 3 passes for 105 yards and 3 touchdowns and sophomore running back Blake Chambers added 78 rushing yards and 1 touchdown for the Sand Lizards (3-1, 1-0 4-4A), who host Pottsville on Friday. ... Riverview senior wide receiver J.T. Smith accounted for five touchdowns in the Raiders' 41-9 victory at Central Arkansas Christian on Friday. Smith caught touchdown passes of 47 and 45 yards, had a rushing touchdown of 32 yards, threw a scoring pass of 22 yards and also returned an interception 59 yards for another score. The Raiders (4-0, 1-0 2-4A) host Southside Batesville on Friday. ... Hazen defeated McCrory 36-28 in two overtimes Friday. Sophomore running back Tarrall Penn rushed for 150 yards and 2 touchdowns and recorded 11 tackles. Junior defensive lineman Kade Perry led the Hornets defensively with 19 tackles, giving him 64 this season. Hazen (2-2, 2-0 6-2A) faces Brinkley on Friday.
Sports on 09/28/2017