Dragons have pair to go long
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.
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.”
In a 64-38 victory over McGehee on Friday, Taylor recorded his third 200yard 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 20032005 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.”