Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Conference race still goes through Booneville
Booneville rolled through an undefeated season a year ago to claim the Class 3A state title, but coach Scott Hyatt said that has nothing to do with the upcoming season.
“You’ve just got to come back and go to work and see what you can do the next year,” Hyatt said. “We lost 14 pretty good seniors.”
That didn’t stop the 3A-1 conference coaches from voting the Bearcats as the favorite.
Mansfield coach Tim Cothran, the former Tigers offensive coordinator who took over for Craig Bentley, said the Bearcats are always in the conversation when talking about the conference title.
“They are just a perennial power,” Cothran said. “Even when I was in school at Greenwood, nobody wanted to play Booneville. They just have such a strong tradition.”
Booneville returns 10 starters from last year’s team, which finished 15-0 and blanked an athletic Osceola team 35-0 in the state finals.
“We’re not as big this year, but we’ve got some good skill kids,” Hyatt said.
Quarterback Evan Schlinker (5-foot-11, 155 pounds) stepped in after starter Brandon Ulmer suffered a season-ending knee injury in the season-opener and didn’t miss a beat. He set a school record with 14 touchdown passes for the run-oriented Bearcats. The senior also rushed for 353 yards and three TDs. Halfback Andrew Robertson returns, after rushing for 1,000 yards on just 95 carries (10.5 avg.) and 13 touchdowns.
Linebacker Cam Brasher anchors an opportunistic Bearcats defense, which intercepted 31 passes and recovered 37 fumbles a year ago. Brasher finished with a team-high 97 tackles. Gabe Fennell is the lone returner in the secondary and picked off five passes.
Mansfield is coming off its best season in some time and hoping for more, returning 15 starters.
Senior quarterback Ethan Stovall (6-2, 205) threw for 2,309 yards and 26 touchdowns and is receiving some D-1 interest. Receivers Tyler Holmes and Layton Howard give Stovall two strong targets.
With those returnees, Cothran acknowledged his team has its sights set on a conference title. The Tigers won eight games last season, after winning only seven in the previous three seasons combined.
“That’s been a three-year plan,” Cothran said. “With all the lumps and the bruises and the tail-kicking when they were sophomores, coming in this year the goal is to win a conference championship.”
But he acknowledged the league will be competitive from top to bottom.
Lamar is another team which should contend for the top spot. The Warriors went three rounds deep in the playoffs and knocked off Mansfield last season. Senior Jacob Parmenter (5-8 190) shifted from running back to quarterback in the spring. He rushed for more than 1,077 yards and 13 touchdowns but should now present a problem for opposing defenses as a dual-threat quarterback, Lamar coach Josh Jones said.
“He’s gonna put pressure on the defense as a run-first guy and should open things up for play-action pass,” Jones said. “And he can make those throws.”
Speedy Brady James, along with Josh Salinas and sophomore Joe Dalton should give the Warriors good options in the backfield. Tight end Drake Bacchus (6-4, 250) also presents a nice target for Parmenter.
Greenland and Charleston are always in the mix. Coaches point to Cedarville as a team possibly ready to break out. The Pirates defeated Mansfield in the season finale a year ago and have won back-to-back conference titles in junior high.