Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
CHARLESTON TIGERS
2018 RECORD 6-5, 4-3 3A-1 Conference
COACH Ricky May
RETURNING STARTERS 8 offense, 9 defense
KEY PLAYERS QB Brayden Ross (Sr., 6-4, 245), WR/ LB Geoffrey Scott (Sr., 6-1, 195), HB/LB Brett Ward (Sr., 5-11, 204), WR/LB Tanner Jones (Sr., 5-10, 150), OL/DL Slade Skeets (Jr., 6-0, 210), OL/DL Jonathan Williams (Sr., 6-0, 225), QB/DB Dalton Curtis (Jr., 6-0, 180), OL Devin Donberger (Sr., 5-10, 155), OL/DL Nolan Harrington (Sr., 6-0, 265), LB Tanner Jones (Sr., 5-10, 150), WR/DB Kaden Benge (Sr. 5-10, 180)
THE SKINNY Ricky May returns to head coaching after being the athletic director at Booneville while still being an assistant coach last year … May was the head coach at Waldron from 2015-17, where he helped end a 43-game losing streak and snapped a 14-year playoff drought … Brayden Ross looks to be the quarterback after starting final seven games of last season, passing for over 1,000 yards with 10 touchdowns … Ross plays four sports with those being football, basketball, baseball and golf for the Tigers … Geoffrey Scott will do it all for Charleston, playing as a wide receiver, linebacker, a return man and quarterback if needed … Tanner Jones returns to lead the defense after finishing with a team-high 102 total tackles in 2018 … Tigers will miss two projected starters in running back/linebacker Sunny Jones and wide receiver/safety Connor Rowland because of ACL injuries in the offseason … Nolan Harrington will miss the opening part of season because of a foot injury but will be back this year to make an impact … Charleston hasn’t had a losing season since 1985 … Former Charleston coach Greg Kendrick left to be the offensive coordinator at Alma.
COACH SPEAK “I missed coaching. I’m not really an office guy. When Charleston called, I said ‘you bet; let’s do this.’ That’s the way it worked out. I’m really excited about this opportunity. I like to have the expectations of doing well. I didn’t have that at Waldron. We are excited about this season. We have been unlucky with injuries, but we are trying to get better.”