Leopards host Miners for first game in 7-4A conference play
The 7-4A conference has been deemed one of the toughest conferences in all of Arkansas High School football. A team from the 7-4A conference has won four out of the last five 4A State Championships. This Friday, the Malvern Leopards will open 7-4A conference play against the Bauxite Miners.
“It’s conference week and we play in the toughest conference in Arkansas in my opinion” Malvern head coach J.D. Plumlee said. “If you look at the rankings in the top five in 4A you have Joe T. [Robinson], Nashville and Arkadelphia up there taking three of the top five and I don’t see it changing this year or the next year.”
The Leopards went 1-2 in non-conference play and are looking to rebound after a tough loss to the Lakeside Rams, 21-14, last Friday. “We felt like we let one get away from us,” Plumlee said about the loss. “We missed our opportunities against Lakeside and I think that was a sour taste in our mouth.” The Leopards had two scoring drives against Lakeside and led the Rams 14-7 at the half. In the second, the Leopards fell scoreless despite multiple drives that ended in Lakeside territory. “It just goes back to the missed opportunities that we had. If we finish two or three of those drives, it’s 2821 us or 35-21 us,” Plumlee said.
But the Leopards aren’t in “panic mode” offensively as they prepare for their week four conference match up against the Miners. “We’re going to keep doing what we do and just continue to work and fix the mistakes that we’re making,” Plumlee said. This week during practice, the Leopards have honed in on better execution and understanding the details of each play. “That’s what we’ve been really harping on in practice this week because we’re not really putting anything new in. We’re going back and focusing on the small details of each play and making sure all 11 guys are doing their job.” Plumlee thought that the Leopards missed shots all over the field and not just in the red zone. He feels that the Leopards need to get better at all positions on the field. “We feel like we can score from anywhere,” he said. “We missed a couple of shots at midfield and when we did get down there [red zone] we had some penalties that hurt us. We’ve just got to be better at all positions, not just in the red zone but all field positions.”
Defensively, the Leopards are going to keep flying to ball. Plumlee was proud of how the defense played during their non-conference schedule, especially against Lakeside. “I thought our defense played great and I think we’ll continue to see our defense play that way,” he said. Plumlee noted on the speed and quickness of the Leopards defense and how it caused a lot of problems for their non-conference opponents in the first three weeks of play. “If you go back and look at the last three games in non-conference and who we’ve played, we’re giving those guys a lot of problems with our speed and quickness and flying around to the football,” he said. During practice this week coaches have preached to the defense that they’re going to win with the quickness, speed and relentless pursuit to get to the football.
But the Leopards will face a tough Miners team that is also looking to rebound from two consecutive losses in non-conference play. The Miners won their first game against Riverview in a shutout win 42-0, then lost a close one with Monticello 26-21, before losing their week three game to Newport 41-22. “Bauxite presents their challenges,” Plumlee said. “They’re well coached. They’re going to come in and do what they do and we’ve got to be ready for that.” The Leopards offense will have to prepare for a 3-4 defense that will bring the pressure, but the Leopards are excited about getting the opportunity to play conference ball this season. “We’re going to get the opportunity to play and our goal is to be 1-0 at the end of the week,” he said.
Bauxite is just the first step in 7-4A conference play and Plumlee knows that the Leopards will have to play their best ball from here to the end of the season. “We’re going to have to bring our A-game from here on out if we want to have a chance to win and our kids understand that,” he said. “We have a lot of guys that are returning starters for us and they understand how tough the league is. We don’t let a day go by that we don’t remind them of the competition that we’re up against. So there’ not one play, one series, one quarter or one half that you can take off and relax, you’ve got to bring it every snap.”
The Leopards and Miners kickoff at 7 p.m. at Claude Mann Stadium-David Alpe Field.