Miners earn post-season honors
BAUXITE – Two Bauxite Miners earned 7-4A All-state honors, with eight more taking 7-4A All-conference props recently after the Miners finished 4-8 overall, including a play-in 4A state playoff win, 26-23, over Huntsville on the road before falling in the first round to the Dumas Bobcats.
The two Miners earning 7-4A All-state was senior defensive back Conner Stacy and senior offensive lineman Gavin Roe.
Stacy led Saline County in total tackles, garnering 129, including nine for loss. Stacy also picked off a pass, forced two fumbles and recovered two fumbles.
“He’s a great tackler, does a great job with open-field tackles,” Bauxite first-year Coach Caleb Perry said. “He could go several directions in college. He could stay on the back end, but I could also see him gaining some weight and moving closer to the ball, at a linebacker spot.
He was a leader. He made a lot of plays, a lot of tackles for us.”
Stacy was also vital on the offensive side of the ball for the Miners, finishing at quarterback late season and throwing for 587 yards on 52-of-105 passing, two touchdowns and five interceptions. Stacy also led the Miners on the ground, rushing for 657 yards and six TDS.
“From an offensive standpoint he was a great leader, a great runner,” Perry said. “He makes great choices, he’s a great manager and he’s a guy out there with a lot of experience. Very courageous, just personalitywise. He’ll definitely be a big loss for us.”
Roe helped the Miners up front, blocking for an offense which gained a total of 4,100 yards, including over 2,100 passing and almost 2,000 yards on the ground.
“He was not only a guy with experience, but he was really good,” Perry said. “I probably had him out of position early in the year at tackle, but he was really good at guard. He could play at the next level if he wanted to.
“He was kind of our fearless leader. He enjoys the offensive line. He’s a very smart guy. He was kind of our brains. He really helped out the guys around him, so he will definitely be missed.”
Taking First-team All-conference honors was senior linebacker Jack Rosnermanz, senior defensive lineman Reed Gautreaux and junior wide receiver Braden Arnold.
Rosnermanz was second in the county and the team with 119 tackles, including six for loss, adding an interception, three forced fumbles, five fumble recoveries and two quarterback
hurries.
“Jack made all of our calls,” Perry said. “He was one of our team leaders. He was just one of those guys willing to do whatever he needed to do for the team. He played very hard all season. He works hard in the weight room and good in the class. He was an allaround high school football player.”
Gautreaux had 38 tackles, four for loss, adding a sack and quarterback hurry.
“He got double-teamed a lot this year,” Perry said. “Team’s focused their blocking scheme around him. He was our main guy on the defensive line. His stats don’t really reflect his abilities, but as far as being a physical presence on defense, he certainly was that. He definitely kept the offensive linemen off the linebackers and freed them up to make tackles.”
Arnold became the Miners quarterback’s main target as he led Bauxite with 34 catches, 730 yards and seven TDS, including leading the county with a 21.4 yard-per-catch average.
“He was a big-time player for us on offense,” Perry said of Arnold. “He’s a really good deep threat. He was able to catch some big balls against Nashville. He was critical, especially later in the year. When he had to step up, he did.”
Taking All-conference second-team honors was senior linebacker Will Duncan and junior defensive back Zack Taylor.
Duncan finished with 93 tackles, 8.5 for loss, adding a team-high five sacks, two forced fumbles, two recovered fumbles, four QB hurries and an interception.
Taylor had 83 tackles, five for loss, two sacks, two forced fumbles, two recoveries and four QB hurries.
Three Miners took All-Conference Honorable Mention, including sophomore quarterback/receiver Hunter Ferrell, junior running back Devin Jones and junior receiver Roman Muniz.
Starting for the Miners under center at the beginning of the season, Ferrell moved to receiver due to Bauxite’s need late season. As the quarterback, Ferrell was 107 of 231 for 1,460 yards and 12 TDS vs. 11 interceptions. On the ground, Ferrell was second on the team with 497 yards and five TDS. He also caught 11 passes for 162 yards.
Jones was third on the Miners rushing the ball, running 94 times for 403 yards and four TDS. In a shortened season due to injury, Muniz had 17 catches for
189 yards and two TDS.
Though the Miners will be losing some key seniors to graduation, there will still be solid experience returning on both sides of the ball next year. According to Perry, the future looks bright for Bauxite football.
“I think it looks great,” he said. “We’ve got guys that are really excited about the weight room right now. It’ll be the second year of our system on offense, which will be a big thing for us.
“We’ve got some young guys that are pretty good, ninth- and 10th-graders. They’ll be older. We’re confident. We feel like we’ve got some good things coming.”