Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
SPRINGDALE HIGH BULLDOGS
2017 RECORD 6-5, 3-4 7A-West COACH Zak Clark RETURNING STARTERS 4 offense, 4 defense KEY PLAYERS QB Grant Allen (Sr., 6-1, 180), QB Will Mueller (Sr., 6-2, 190), RB Garrett Vaughan (Sr., 5-11, 170), LB E’kyious Sanders (Sr., 6-3, 215), DB Brock Pounders (Sr., 5-9, 160), WR Bryndell Cook (Jr., 5-10, 180), OL Elaiu Andrike (Sr., 5-9, 255), OL Jacob Sisomphou (Sr., 5-8, 250).
THE SKINNY Zak Clark begins his fourth season at Springdale, and at least on paper, this should be his best team. The Bulldogs had a winning record last season and will benefit from an infusion of several key players who transferred from crosstown Springdale Har-Ber. … DB/WR Brock Pounders, an all-state defensive back at Har-Ber, will give the Bulldogs one of the best all-around players in the 7A-West. Pounders can impact the game on both sides of the ball. … Seniors Grant Allen and Will Mueller will take snaps at quarterback. Allen was the starter at Har-ber a year ago, and Mueller backed up Layne Hutchinson at Springdale. … WR Connor Sikes is primed for a breakout season and Bryndell Cook, another Har-Ber transfer, gives the Bulldogs another offensive weapon. … LB E’kyious (Chops) Sanders) passes the eye test for sure. The 6-3, 215-pound senior linebacker is drawing college interest and should be a force off the edge. … RB Garrett Vaughan rushed for 654 yards and 12 touchdowns last season despite missing time with a hand injury. He has added about 15 pounds in the weight room over the offseason while keeping his 40 time in the 4.5 range. COACH SPEAK “We are just now learning where we feel like guys fit in our system. We shuffled around a lot of guys, and now I think we’ve settled into some spots and we can move forward. We’ve made a lot of progress since the spring. I felt like spring went really, really slow.” — Chip Souza • @nwachip