Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
HUNTSVILLE EAGLES
2017 RECORD 2-8, 1-6 4A-1 Conference COACH Randy Barnhill
RETURNING STARTERS 8 offense, 8 defense
KEY PLAYERS QB Sean McCone (Sr., 5-11, 175), WR Blake Whittington (Sr., 5-8, 160), OL/DL Colby Shepherd (Jr., 6-2, 235); RB/DB Cyrus Crow (Sr., 5-11, 165); WR/DB Tyler Welch (Sr., 5-10, 165); OL/DL Bubba Rhoden (Jr., 6-0, 285).
THE SKINNY Huntsville returns to the 5A-West Conference after spending the last four years in the 4A-1. The Eagles replace Maumelle, which moves to the 5A-Central. … The lack of numbers won’t help the Eagles’ cause with the move since Barnhill said they will have only 3536 players. … A hand injury to offensive tackle Cody Ogden during the offseason means Huntsville will start the season with just juniors and sophomores on the offensive line. Ogden, who is also the team’s leading returning tackler, is expected to return during for most of conference play. Meanwhile, Bubba Rhoden and Colby Shepherd are returning starters on the line … Sean McCone, a three-sport athlete, returns at quarterback after he threw for almost 1,800 yards and 21 TDs and ran for more than 550 yards and seven scores. … McCone will have a pair of experienced receivers as Tyler Welch caught 21 passes for 361 yards and two touchdowns, while Blake Whittington added 18 catches for 365 yards and eight TDs. … Welch and Whittington will see time in the defensive backfield. Welch recorded 47 tackles as a safety last year, but Whittington led the team with three interceptions. … Rain Turner returns on the defensive line, where he recorded 37 tackles, and he is also pushing for a spot on the offensive line.
COACH SPEAK “The move to Class 5A will be a challenge, but it will be a good thing for us. It will be a challenge for us with our numbers. We can compete, but our biggest thing is depth. We might run into some teams that have 70 players, and some of them have had some success. We’re pretty seasoned going into the season as far as having kids that know what to do and how to do it, but the problem is we don’t have a lot of backups. It is what it is, so we’ll have to deal with it and move on.”