Area athletes earn All-State football honors.
The Arkansas Activities Association released its AllState football teams last week. Nine area athletes were honored, including five from El Dorado. The Wildcats’ Taliq Ellis, Darius Holly, MonTre’ Marshall, Kentravious Moore and Tyrek Rucks received 6A honors while Junction City’s Shuvasceiaye Frazier, Brock McGoogan and Hishmma Taylor joined Smackover’s Da’Marous White on the 3A team.
Ellis led El Dorado with 34 receptions for 753 yards with eight touchdowns. The senior transferred from Lincoln, Nebraska in the spring and immediately became one of the most explosive receivers in the state.
“Taliq got better and better as the year went on. He got more familiar with everything,” said El Dorado coach Scott Reed. “He has all the things that you look for in a skill player. He can play corner. He can play wide receiver. He’s physical. He was the most physical we had out on the perimeter. He was also physical with the ball after he caught it. He had very few drops all year and he was really good after the catch. That was one of the things that helped make us more explosive this year.”
Holly, a senior twoyear starter at quarterback, com- pleted 123-of-190 passes for 2308 yards with 22 touchdowns and just five interceptions. He also rushed for 430 yards and eight touchdowns.
“Darius had his best
year, by far, which had a lot to do with our success,” said Reed. “Mentally, he was really good this year. He really progressed. I’m really proud of his development as a quarterback. We put a lot of stuff on him and he handled it just tremendous and he got our offense going.
“The other thing about Darius, he was much more confident running. I thought he became a much more complete player this year.”
Marshall led the Wildcats in tackles from his middle linebacker position. The senior recorded 122 tackles with four tackles for losses with two sacks and two interceptions, including one returned for a touchdown.
“Leading tackler, period just a tackling machine,” said Reed. “He got better and better in coverage. Early in the year, it seemed like he made all his tackles between the tackles. As the year went on, he got to where he made tackles sideline-to-sideline. He was a physical presence inside. He’s hard to block. To make as many tackles as he did, he doesn’t miss much.”
Moore anchored the Wildcats’ offensive line at left tackle and provided depth on the defensive line, where he could play any of the four spots.
“K-Mart is the unquestioned leader of our group on either side of the ball,” said Reed. “For three years, he has been tremendous wherever you put him. He wins his battles. He is a complete football player. Mentally, he gets it. Up front, he can make all the calls. He can help the guy next to him. He can make sure we get in the right protection. He’s also physical. Every game, he won his one-on-one. You’d see him taking a guy six-to-eight yards down the field and penning him. That’s hard to do. It’s very hard to do. And, I mean good players. He will be missed as much or more as anyone we’ve had come through here in awhile.”
Rucks, a senior, transferred from Smackover as a defensive end. At El Dorado, he moved to linebacker and thrived, finishing with 78 tackles, including 13 tackles for losses with three sacks, two fumble recoveries and an interception.
“The thing about him, when you see a key and it tells you to do something, he’s probably the quickest to pull the trigger and go that we’ve ever had. That’s what makes him so disruptive,” said Reed. “He has a really quick acceleration and can go get it in a hurry. That’s why he made plays behind the line of scrimmage. Defensively, he was the most disruptive player we had, or maybe have had in awhile. He has a combination of length and speed and athletic ability and just a nose for the football.”
McGoogan was a senior two-way starter at tight end and defensive tackle at Junction City. He was named Outstanding Lineman in the league. He had 58 tackles with 10 tackles for losses.
“He played on both sides of the ball and did a great job,” said Junction City coach Steven Jones. “He was really a force on both sides of the ball.”
Frazier was the Dragons’ senior quarterback. He completed 70-of-137 passes for 1260 yards with 17 touchdowns and seven interceptions. He rushed for 1431 yards with 19 touchdowns and was named Outstanding Offensive Back.
“He was the first quarterback in school history to throw and run for a thousand yards,” said Jones, who noted Frazier also played some safety in the playoffs.
“He was a difference maker on that side of the ball as well.”
Taylor, a senior, carried the load at running back for the Dragons, setting a school rushing record with 2523 yards on 337 carries with 29 touchdowns.
“Very durable back, took great care of the football for us,” said Jones. “He just did an outstanding job, powering our offense this season.”
At Smackover, White was a key on both sides of the ball at running back and linebacker for the Buckaroos. He had 156 carries for 1248 yards offensively. Defensively, he totaled 76 tackles with nine sacks, one fumble recovery and on interception.
“I feel like Damarous had a very good season,” said Smackover coach Mike Baysinger. “I wish he was coming back for another season.”