Eagles eye new schemes under new coach
The biggest thing that drew Justin Kramer to Conway Christian High School was the opportunity to return to a Christian-school environment. “We really enjoyed our time at Little Rock Christian and the atmosphere, environment and families,” Kramer said.
Kramer spent 11 years, including six as head coach, at Little Rock Christian before switching to De Queen in 2013.
“This was an opportunity to get back around central Arkansas and around our family and friends,” said Kramer, who led De Queen to a 3-7 finish last season. “It was an opportunity to get back in a school that is a great fit for our family.”
Conway Christian finished 9-3 in 2016, making it to the second round of the playoffs before losing 41-29 to the eventual Class 2A state champion Mount Ida.
“This year, we definitely cannot afford to underestimate anyone,” senior defensive tackle J.P. Dolan said. “It is football; anybody can win. You aren’t guaranteed a win.
“After beating Bearden [in the first round], we underestimated Mount Ida, and of course, they came out and beat us.”
Senior running back and outside linebacker Luke Gates echoed Dolan.
“We can’t underestimate any team, especially when you get to the playoffs,” Gates said. “They are there for a reason.”
Gates is one of six returning starters for the team’s offense. Last year, he led the team with 126 carries for 868 yards and six touchdowns.
Junior quarterback Jacob Wood was second on the team with 129 carries for 550 yards with 12 touchdowns.
“[Jacob] is experienced,” Kramer said. “He was the quarterback last year as a sophomore. He’s got all the throws, which is pretty rare for a high school quarterback.
“His deep ball is accurate and placed well, and he can throw the slants and outs. He can take a little bit off of it and drop it over the middle if he needs to.”
Kramer said Wood is smart and has a high football IQ.
“He picks things up really well,” the coach said. “He is athletic, so he can run a little bit, which is nice.
“It gives us the opportunity to basically open the whole offense up because he can do a little bit of everything.”
Last season, Wood was 149 of 273 passing for 3,037 yards with 35 touchdowns and 11 interceptions.
“He is just continuing to learn and do more than he has ever been asked to do before,” Kramer said. “It’s literally gone from one side read to reading one defender and throwing opposite him, to making three decisions before he ever says ‘hut.’
“We are kind of piling everything on him.” As quarterback, Wood will see the biggest difference from last year to this year under Kramer’s new scheme.
“Quarterbacks and receivers are going to be asked to do a lot more, make more decisions on the field,” Kramer said. “We kind of approach it from the back end. We will teach them the rules of defense, why defenses do what they do
and then what our adjustments and things are off of that, as opposed to what they are more used to — one-sided reads and route packages.”
Kramer said his offense has very few route packages, but there are multiple ways to run them.
“The kids make a lot of the decisions on the field, which can be good or bad,” he said.
One of the biggest changes that fans will notice is the spreading of the ball to different receivers. Last year, Conway Christian relied heavily on allstate receiver Seth Smith, who led the team with 60 catches for 1,328 yards and 18 touchdowns.
“Last year, they had some decent receivers, but Seth Smith kind of stole the show,” Kramer said. “He was definitely the go-to guy.
“We aren’t going to be set up that way. I think we are going to be incredibly balanced across the board. It won’t be uncommon to get to the end of the game and have seven or eight guys with catches in the game.”
Returning at wide receiver are juniors Nick Scherrey, who had 23 catches for 474 yards and five touchdowns a year ago; Bennett Ellis; Brandon Shaw; and Jesse Dather, who caught a touchdown last season.
“Those are going to be our starting four,” Kramer said. “And then we have three more [sophomores, Carson Bradley, John Michael Scherrey and Miguel Thorpe], who are going to get a lot of reps. …
“It will be very spread out, which feeds into what we are trying to do anyways.”
Gates carried the ball about 90 percent of the time in the backfield last season, and this year he will rotate more with two other guys — senior Winston Strawn and sophomore Wyatt Lawrence.
“Where Luke is the lightning type, quick and shifty, Winston is more of a thumper-type guy and a downhill runner — probably looking for contact, maybe a little too much,” Kramer said. Strawn had 14 carries for 87 yards a year ago. The coach said Lawrence has a lot of potential.
“In a perfect scenario, if we run the ball 40 times, it is divided three ways,” Kramer said, “which frees those guys to play a lot more defense.”
Senior Brett Callaway will act as the “quarterback” of the offensive line.
“He will be the one calling the pass protection and making sure we are where we need
to be,” Kramer said. “Senior Nathan Burrow is one of the best linemen as far as being big and a physical blocker.
“Junior Jevin Callaway is another big, physical, tough kid. He does a real good job.”
Kramer said senior Dawson James is “probably our most athletic lineman.”
“So we are going to use him a lot on counterplays so he will go get linebackers a lot,” Kramer said. “He is pretty quick and faster than a lot of our receivers.”
James, who also plays defensive end, said that as a senior, it is important for him and his teammates to take every practice seriously.
“Last year, we goofed off more in practice and didn’t hit as hard and went half speed,” James said. “I hope this year, that will change.
“That way, when we get in games, we will be ready to go full speed.”
“Senior leadership is really good for us,” Kramer said. “And as a whole, our work ethic is just incredibly high.
“I think a lot of that has to do with the success they had and the expectations they have had for themselves.”
Kramer said his players have a legitimate desire to do their part and do what they can to be a “legitimate state-caliber team.”
“I think they understand what that takes, and it makes a big difference,” Kramer said.
“We feel like we have a pretty good team, and just the opportunity to really measure yourself against another quality team in your division is huge — because you can measure yourself and see where you are at before you really get into those games that count.”
It gives us the opportunity to basically open the whole offense up because [Jacob Wood] can do a little bit of everything.” JUSTIN KRAMER CONWAY CHRISTIAN HEAD COACH