Cyclones looking to lay winning foundation in 2021
Russellville won just one game in 2020 and two in ’19, so new coach Dave Wheeler is looking for improvement — and more — from the Cyclones in 2021.
Since a 12-win state-championship run in 2016, Russellville has won just 16 games.
The team’s only victory last fall came in the season opener at Morrilton, 15-10. After that were 10 consecutive losses, including five by 7 points or fewer: Fort Smith Southside, 21-17; Vilonia, 28-23; 6A-West conferences matches Benton, 47-40; Van Buren, 42-21; Lake Hamilton, 43-42 in overtime; Greenwood, 48-10; Little Rock Parkview, 33-3; Mountain Home, 24-7; and Siloam Springs, 50-47; and the postseason play-in game at Sylvan Hills, 54-19.
“Awful,” said Wheeler, a Cyclone assistant in 2015 and ’16.
Expectations for 2021?
“We want to play extremely hard and physical on both sides of the ball,” he said.
That’s the first step to install the championship blueprint for the program-building he did with Billy Dawson in 2015-16.
Wheeler, 52, spent 23 years in college coaching — including at Ole Miss, Murray State, the University of Central Arkansas and Arkansas Tech — before joining Dawson as defensive coordinator and strength coach at Russellville High School in 2015. They took over a team that had won two games the previous season, laid the foundation in ’15 and won the state championship in ’16.
“People want to talk about ’16, but we won it in ’15 when we laid that groundwork together — the culture, the mentality, the toughness,” Wheeler said. “That’s what gave us that edge.”
Dawson left for Fayetteville following the title season, and Wheeler went with him. After two years, Dawson left coaching, and Wheeler took assistant jobs at Bentonville West and Rogers before the Cyclone job opened last year.
This is his first head-coaching job since 1998-2002 at Hutchinson Community College in Kansas.
“It’s great to be back,” Wheeler said. “I knew one day if this job came open, I was going to try to come back. The challenge, especially now, is if we’re going to turn it around, it starts at the ground level. The way we did it with Billy was really unique — it wasn’t just the kids; it was also the parents, the community and the school administration. It was key that Coach Dawson got all four of those pistons to fire at the same time.
“I don’t think Russellville is ever going to be a place where you have, year after year, more talent than the people you play, more size than the people you play, more speed than the people you play. But I think there’s something about developing the culture and the character of the kids and the mental toughness you can develop. And when you get those four things together, you can put something special on the field.”
For 2021, three starters are back for the Cyclone offense and four on defense. Wheeler will run multiple formations on both sides of .the football.
Leading the defense will be senior strong safety Ty Hipps (5-10, 150), who led the team in tackles as a junior outside linebacker with 135, including 10 for loss, 8 sacks and 3 fumble recoveries. He also led the team as a junior with 93 tackles, including 10 for loss, and 3 sacks in 2019. Hipps is a three-year starter.
Another returning starter, senior lineman Trevion “Tre” Traylor (6-0, 277), is a versatile player who was a two-way starter most of last year. At nose guard, he recorded 52 tackles, including 11 for loss, and 6 sacks
Other returning defensive starters are senior linebacker Shane Bucher (5-11, 165) and senior defensive back Elijah Clark (6-0, 160).
Returning starters on offense include senior linemen Logan Golden (5-8, 275) and Travis Midlam (5-9, 250) and senior tight end Trent Stokes. Stokes had 32 catches for 278 yards and 2 scores as a junior last year.
Wheeler said other key players returning include junior free safety Gabe Hogue (5-9, 175) and senior wide receiver Eli Toland (5-8, 140).
Senior Gavin Graham (5-10, 150) and sophomore DA Reed (5-9, 145) are battling for the starting quarterback job, the coach said.
Senior Damon Donoho (5-6, 141) and sophomore Tracy Daniels (5-9, 170) are vying for the nod at running back, Wheeler said. Donoho is coming off a knee injury that limited
his junior season to 161 rushing yards and 2 touchdowns in five games. He also caught 9 passes for 195 yards and a TD and averaged nearly 20 yards returning kickoffs, the coach said. Daniels led the junior high Cyclones in rushing last year and started two games on the varsity squad as a freshman following the junior high season.
Wheeler said team strengths for the Cyclones will include the running backs and defensive front.
“We have multiple running backs who can all run well,” he said. Weaknesses?
“We are inexperienced and don’t have much depth, and they’ll have to adjust to a new coaching staff,” he said.
The Cyclones were picked to finish last in the 6A-West, according to a state publication’s preseason poll of league coaches. Greenwood, the defending Class 6A state champion, having capped an undefeated 2020 with the Bulldogs’ 10th state title, is first, followed by Lake Hamilton, Benton, Little Rock Parkview, Siloam Springs, Mountain Home and Van Buren.
Wheeler said he didn’t know much about the other conference teams, but he does know that Greenwood and Benton have much tradition.
In looking to the 2021 season, Wheeler harkens again back to 2015.
“We started off 1-4, and we lost two or three of those in overtime or the last 30 seconds,” he remembered. “We just couldn’t finish. It was more of a maturity thing. The kids weren’t ready to win yet.
“Then we beat Van Buren in overtime, and it started to click. We won four in a row and lost in the second round of the playoffs at Pine Bluff. But even with that loss, our kids started to realize in the second half that we could play with Pine Bluff. After that, that offseason spurred our kids to realize we can be pretty good if we want to be. That sent us in the right direction.”
Wheeler said he’s aiming this fall to get the Cyclones back on track.