Senators vs. Bruins
Joe T. Robinson opens an early set of tough games tonight when the Senators take on two-time defending Class 5A state champion Pulaski Academy.
There’s excitement surrounding the unknown for Joe T. Robinson Coach Todd Eskola.
On one hand, he’s got a team loaded with youngsters who he feels will play huge roles for the Senators at some point this season, but on the other, he’s not exactly sure when that belief will come to fruition.
There won’t be much of a feeling out period for those young guys, though. The first three weeks will pit the Senators against teams from higher classifications that played in the postseason last year, starting with two-time, defending Class 5A champion Pulaski Academy tonight at Charlie George Stadium.
“These first three games are going to be, by far, our hardest of the year,” said Eskola, whose team plays at Maumelle next week before traveling to Marion on Sept. 10. “We don’t shy away from competition. We welcome that because we feel like that’s just going to prepare us for hopefully another late run in December.”
Deep postseason runs are something Robinson has made a habit of doing lately.
Last year’s second-round loss to Stuttgart was the first time since 2015 that the Senators didn’t reach at least the quarterfinals of the playoffs. Robinson played in two of the past three title games and earned its second state championship in school history in 2019. Yet, this year’s journey toward a return trip to the finals will be a bit different than those of the past.
Whereas Eskola’s previous finalists were an experienced bunch, this season’s group isn’t, at least collectively. The Senators do have a nucleus of players that have played in high-leveraged contests, like linemen E’Marion Harris, Micah Pennington and Eli Jackson — all multi-year starters up front. But there’s also a large majority at other areas who’ve yet to perform at that level.
Outside of Harris, Pennington and Jackson, Robinson only has a few others who’ve seen extensive action.
“We’ve got some basketball kids that came out this year that are tremendous athletes but haven’t been under the lights,” Eskola explained. “Even some of the juniors that maybe haven’t played as many snaps. They need that experience.
“It takes a little time, but this is a fun group, an aggressive group. We’ve just got to remain healthy through the first three games. If we do that, we’re going to get better every week. And by the time we get to the meat of that conference schedule, we should be able to compete with anybody.”
Until then, the Senators will lean heavily on their offensive line, an area tailor-made for this year’s team that Eskola said is running back heavy with two quarterbacks in Jack Cleveland and Gkyson Wright who can run the ball just as good as they can throw it.
The Bruins, led by firstyear coach Anthony Lucas, have a backfield duo in quarterback Charlie Fiser and running back in Joe Himon who combined for more than 70 touchdowns last season. Pulaski Academy, which beat Robinson 48-35 a year ago, also has speed on the defensive side of the football, much like it had under former coach Kevin Kelley. Lucas admitted that he liked how the team competed in the second half of their scrimmage last week against Class
7A chief Bryant but noted after the game that he’s looking forward to seeing how the Bruins improved from the mistakes he felt they made.
“Last year, it wasn’t even about football,” Eskola said. “We told our kids on the first day of camp last season. … We didn’t let them in the locker room, we didn’t have team meetings, we didn’t get to watch film. We were so consumed because we didn’t have a [covid-19] vaccine. There were so many unknowns, and we did everything we could just to keep the kids safe.
“It was just one of those things where it just wasn’t all about football. This year, it’s back to being about football. We may not be as good as we were last year, but by the end of the year, we’re going to be better. We’re taking baby steps right now because our goal is to be perfect by December.”
Robinson’s bid to reemerge as a state power in Class 4A, despite having a young group, and Lucas’ first game at the helm for PA aren’t the only noteworthy storylines that’ll unfold on opening night:
■ Harding Academy, which has won the past two Class 3A state titles, will put its 27game winning streak against Arkansas opponents on the line at Bald Knob. The last time the Wildcats lost to an in-state opponent was in November of 2018 against Lamar.
■ George Shelton will try to get Little Rock Central off on the right track in his head-coaching debut with the Tigers against Little Rock Christian. Shelton had made coaching stops at Augusta, Dollarway, Dumas and Watson Chapel before being becoming Central’s fourth coach since 1975 in March.
■ Harrison and Magnolia, ranked No. 3 and No. 4, respectively, in Class 5A by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, face each other at First Security Stadium in Searcy. The showdown is one of three that feature Super Six teams from the same class playing one another. In Class 3A, No. 2 Prescott will square off against No. 6 Newport at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock, and in Class 7A, No. 5 Conway is at No. 4 Fayetteville.
■ The J.R. Eldridge era begins for Farmington, which plays at Rogers Heritage. Eldridge, who took over for then-coach Mike Adams in January, won two state titles at Arkadelphia and guided North Little Rock to its fifth consecutive Class 7A final last season.
■ Game 1 for first-year North Little Rock Coach Randy Sandefur won’t happen until next week against Springdale HarBer, but he’ll get a chance to see where his team stands in a scrimmage game against El Dorado at Charging Wildcats Stadium. Sandefur was an assistant coach with the program for 38 years until he was promoted in May.