Warriors, Bruins see good ‘D’
A year ago, Pulaski Academy and Little Rock Christian combined for 124 points and 1,219 yards of offense.
Little Rock Christian got past Pulaski Academy 6361 with a 39-yard field goal from Isaiah Hankins with four seconds remaining in the regular-season meeting.
But with Pulaski Academy (7-0, 3-0) allowing 24.8 points per game in seven games and Little Rock Christian (5-1, 3-0) yielding 28.8 ppg in six games, scoring in Friday’s 5A-Central Conference showdown at Warrior Field in Little Rock may be harder to come by.
The Warriors have been led defensively by senior Corey Platt Jr., who has played linebacker and safety this season. He has 44 tackles, 2 interceptions, 3 forced fumbles and 3 fumble recoveries.
The Bruins counter with senior safety Josiah Johnson, who has 95 tackles and an interception.
“For the educated football fan, this could be a different game than what they’re used to,” said Pulaski Academy Coach Kevin Kelley, whose team went on to defeat Little Rock Christian in the Class 5A state championship game in December. “I think it could be a little more of a defensive ballgame, which is fine.”
The Little Rock Christian defense will have to prepare for a two-quarterback rotation, with junior Charlie Fiser and senior Nolen Bruffett leading the Bruins’ offense.
“Preparation is extremely important this week,” Warriors Coach Eric Cohu said. “It’s a challenge, whether it’s one quarterback or two quarterbacks. But Coach Kelley does a great job of calling plays. Their offense is playing at a high level.”
Only 1,000 fans will be allowed into the game. Little
Rock Christian Athletic
Director Johnny Watson told the Arkansas Democrat
Gazette that there will be
500 fans on the home side,
300 on the visiting side and
200 students from Little
Rock Christian in the end zone. The reduced capacity at Little Rock Christian is similar to all high school football stadiums this fall because of the Arkansas
Department of Health’s covid-19 guidelines for school-related events, where the maximum capacity can be 66% of the venue.
Kelley said Pulaski
Academy’s 300 tickets were snapped within minutes.
“I had to send out an email telling people they were gone,” Kelley said.
“That’s the sad part about covid. It keeps some people from watching a Friday night football game.”
Cohu said he wishes it could be a big crowd.
“It’s a tough situation,”
Cohu said.
Pulaski Academy gained revenge for the regularseason loss last season by winning the Class 5A state championship game by routing the Warriors 63-21 at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock.
The Warriors haven’t forgotten that loss.
“We had such a great season, and it ended on such a bad outing,” Cohu said. “It’s in our whole program’s minds. We want 2020 to be better.”
BENTON Panthers confident
Benton proved it could defeat Greenwood a year ago. Now, the Panthers want to prove they can beat the Bulldogs on the road.
Benton (5-2, 4-0), which used a 45-38 victory over Greenwood at home last season to propel it to the 6A-West Conference championship, travels to Greenwood (7-0, 3-0) on Friday in a showdown between two undefeated 6A-West teams.
Coach Brad Harris said last year’s victory gives the Panthers confidence they can beat the Bulldogs.
“You have to play a complete game against Greenwood, regardless of the score,” Harris said. “You can’t take a play or a quarter off. In 2018, we played with them for two quarters, then had a lull in the third quarter. In the state championship game that year, it was the same thing.”
The Panthers are dealing with a pair of injuries that were suffered in Friday’s 35-7 victory over Mountain Home.
Junior running back Casey Johnson injured his ankle and classmate Cameron Harris, a wide receiver, had a groin injury against the Bombers. Harris said both players are expected to play at Greenwood.
Even with a new quarterback, senior L.D. Richmond, Greenwood is rolling.
Richmond has completed 122 of 160 passes for 1,563 yards with 17 touchdowns and 2 interceptions.
“He’s very efficient,” Harris said. “He knows where the ball needs to go. He’s got some weapons around him.”
The Panthers have not won at Greenwood in two tries since Harris became the coach Benton coach in 2016. Harris hopes that trend ends.
“They’re Greenwood,” Harris said. “Our kids will be excited to go there.
It’s going to go a long way towards deciding the 6A-West title.”
LR PARKVIEW Jackson to be honored
Little Rock Parkview is honoring one of its greatest football players today.
Keith Jackson — who played at Parkview from 1981-83 and went on to star at Oklahoma and in the
NFL for nine seasons with Philadelphia (1988-91),
Miami (1992
94) and
Green Bay (1995-96)
— is being honored by his alma mater with the renaming of the football program’s field house.
The facility now will be known as the Keith Jackson Field House.
The ceremony will be held at 4 p.m. today as Jackson’s family and friends — including former teammate James Rouse and former Parkview coach Sam Goodwin — are expected to attend. Today’s ceremony is not open to the public, but will be available on the Little Rock School District’s Facebook page via livestream.
Parkview Coach Brad Bolding said that a video from Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback Brett Favre, who was Jackson’s teammate with the Packers’ 1996 Super Bowl championship team, will be shown at the ceremony.
While at Parkview, Jackson played tight end and safety. He was named to the 1983 Parade All-American team and was honored as one of the greatest high school football players of alltime by Parade in 2011.
MAUMELLE Hornets active again
Maumelle is scheduled to play its first game since Sept. 25 on Friday when it hosts White Hall.
The Hornets missed the past three games because of two separate covid-19 situations. Beebe, which was to have hosted Maumelle on Oct. 2, had to cancel that game with its covid-19 situation. Then, Maumelle was forced to call off its games Oct. 9 against Jacksonville and last Friday at Pulaski Academy after learning of multiple positive covid-19 tests at the high school.
Maumelle went to virtual instruction during the week of Oct. 5-9. Without football games to prepare for, Coach Kirk Horton said the situation is different.
“We had to sit on our hands,” Horton said. “It was a hard pill to swallow. But it was out of our control, and we had to listen to the authorities.”
Several Maumelle players were considered to be close contacts with people affected by covid-19 in the school, so they had to quarantine for a 14-day period.
After facing White Hall on Friday, Maumelle (2-2, 0-1 5A-Central) travels to Watson Chapel on Oct. 30 and Little Rock Hall on Nov. 6.
Horton said he wants his players to be loose coming off a three-week layoff.
“We’re happy to have the opportunity to play football,” he said. “I told our kids that I wasn’t going to put any added pressure on them. We get to play a football game. I want to see what we can do.”
HIGH SCHOOL
HOF ceremony Saturday
The Arkansas Activities Association will host its annual Hall of Fame banquet at 6:30 p.m. Saturday at the Hot Springs Convention Center.
The Hall of Fame features inductees from the Arkansas High School Coaches Association (AHSCA), the Arkansas Officials Association (AOA) and the Arkansas High School Athletic Administrators Association (AHSAAA).
The six new AHSCA Hall of Fame honorees are Mike Malham of Cabot (football); Danny Ebbs of Blytheville, Parkdale and Stephens (basketball); Carl Ramsey of Lamar (basketball); Buzz Bolding of Conway (football); John McMurry of Monticello and Hamburg (football); and Gary Don Smith of Hot Springs Lakeside (basketball, golf).
The six new members of the AOA Hall of Fame are Gerald Jones of Sherwood, Jim McGee of North Little Rock, Huey Pugh of Maumelle, Grayling Wheeler of Searcy, Mike Willyerd of Leachville and Robert Yelder of Jacksonville.
The three new members of the AHSAAA Hall of Fame are Annette Scogin of Springdale, Rodney Echols of Forrest City and Janet Wood of Mountain Home.
The Hall of Fame selections were released by the executive committees of each organization.