Panthers look to continue 2016’s hot late-season play
I t was a tale of two seasons last year for Darren Gowen and his Heber Springs Panthers.
After an 0-3 start, the Panthers won six of their next seven to tie Stuttgart for the 4A-2 Conference championship in 2016. It marked the school’s first conference title since 2011 (an 11-win season) and just the third championship in 37 years.
Heber Springs finished 6-5 overall and 6-1 in conference play after falling to Shiloh Christian in the second round of the Class 4A state playoffs, 42-7.
“We got off to a slow start, losing all our nonconference games, before getting hot and winning six of our seven conference games and being conference champions,” Gowen said. “We lost to a very good Shiloh team in the second round.”
The 0-3 start included losses at Clinton, 28-20; Greenbrier, 52-41; and at Harding Academy, 46-32. But the Panthers got a big win to open conference play — 48-21 at Lonoke — to jump-start the season.
Most of the Panthers’ conference wins weren’t close. Heber Springs hammered Stuttgart, 56-29, before eking out a double-overtime win at Central Arkansas Christian, 38-31. The Panthers rebounded with a 40-14 win over Baptist Prep before suffering their only conference blemish, 24-20 at Southside Batesville. But they handled Riverview, 49-13, and Helena-West Helena Central, 28-21, to earn the league’s top seed for the playoffs.
After a first-round bye, the Panthers fell behind early in the quarterfinals against Shiloh Christian, 14- 0 af ter one quarter, 28-0 at halftime and 35-0 after three quarters. The Saints, the third seed from the 4A-1, marched on to the semifinals, eliminating Dardanelle, winner of the 4A4, in the quarterfinals, 49-28, before falling to Pea Ridge, second from the 4A-1, in the semifinals, 30-24.
Warren, winner of the 4A-8, beat Pea Ridge for the championship at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock, 54-37.
Heber Springs graduated two all-state players in Pierce Mitchum, “a big-play receiver” who had 569 yards and seven touchdowns last season, and Luke McGowan, a two- time all- state lineman Gowen called “a force on both sides of the ball.”
But plenty are back for the Panthers, who return five starters on each side of the football. They will run a Spread offense and an oddfront defensive scheme.
Leading the returners are senior wide receiver/defensive back Jacob Bremmon (5-10, 170); senior quarterback/linebacker Brandon Loethan (5-8, 190); senior offensive lineman Joseph Stacks (5-9, 190); junior offensive
linemen Nick Chaney (5-8, 180) and J.J. Bray (5-9, 220); senior defensive back Dillon Spivey (5-8, 155); senior nose guard Thomas Tvedten (5-9, 200); senior defensive end Chris Hart (6-2, 170); and senior Clay Feemster (5-11, 200), who will move from defensive end to inside linebacker this fall.
“Jacob Bremmon returns where he caught eight touchdowns his junior year and led the team in interceptions with seven,” Gowen said.
Loethan sprained an ankle in Week 10 and missed the final two games after starting at QB the first nine. He threw for 1,778 yards and 17 touchdowns, completing 98 of 166 passes, and ran for three more scores. Among his 2016 highlights were 90 yards passing, 50 yards rushing and four combined touchdowns at Mustang Mountain, scoring from the 1 for the winning score in double OT against Central Arkansas Christian. He also threw for 377 yards and six touchdowns against Baptist Prep, and 239 yards and four scores against Stuttgart.
Gowen called Spivey “a versatile defensive back” and Hart “an athletic end.” He said he was looking forward to Feemster’s move from defensive end to inside linebacker.
Last year, the junior Panthers finished 9-0, and Gowen said several sophomores from that undefeated squad would be expected to contribute in 2017. Those include Adam Martin (5-10, 155), the freshman quarterback who took over for Loethan after the ankle injury and after the junior high season.
“Adam Martin will likely get the nod at quarterback this fall,” Gowen said.
Bremmon, Spivey and junior Rocky Finney (6-1, 160) will anchor the receiving corps.
None of the top rushers from last season return, so Gowen said several athletes will play significant roles in the backfield, including Feemster, Loethan, junior Blaze Nelson (5-7, 170) and sophomores Landon Johnson (5-8, 165) and Julio Rubio (5-6, 145).
Gowen said Stacks, who played center last year, will likely move to a guard position. Bray and Chaney “return bigger and stronger than last year.” Sophomores Ty Yates (6-1, 260) and Harley Hannah (6-0, 240) should also see action on the offensive line, along with newcomer Brady Adkins (6-2, 230), a junior. Gowen said senior Chris Hart (6-1, 185) will add a weapon to the offense as a situational tight end.
Defensively, Feemster and Loethan will be at inside linebacker. Outside linebackers will include Nelson and sophomore Fate Berry (6-0, 165). Gowen said the secondary will be led by Bremmon and Spivey at the safeties, with Landon Johnson, sophomore Tri Johnson (5-7, 145) or senior Kyle Brantley (5-10, 165) at the other two spots.
“Thomas Tvedten and Chris Hart will anchor the D-line,” Gowen said. “The other D-line spot is up in the air.”
The Panthers’ strengths, their coach said, will be “a small, but talented and experienced, senior class and a talented, but inexperienced, sophomore class.”
Another positive is depth in the offensive line, more than the Panthers have had in the past few years.
“Our weaknesses will be depth in the skill positions and experience at running back,” Gowen said.
According to a statewide publication’s preseason poll of league coaches, Stuttgart is the favorite to win the conference, with Heber Springs second. The rest of the poll includes CAC, third, followed by Southside Batesville, Helena-West Helena Central, Riverview, Lonoke and Baptist Prep.
The top five teams will advance to the Class 4A state playoffs.
“If we stay healthy — knock on wood — we will compete for a playoff position for the 11th time in 12 seasons,” Gowen said. “Stuttgart will be the team to beat in the conference, as they return the majority of their team from a second-seed team a year ago.”
Heber Springs opened the season Sept. 1 against Clinton. The Panthers will also play at Greenbrier and play host to Harding Academy in nonconference action before opening 4A-2 Conference play at home against Lonoke on Sept. 22. The showdown at Stuttgart is set for Sept. 29.