Mounties get ready for Little Rock Central

Rogers High battled a Pulaski Robinson team loaded with Division I talent before falling short in its season opener.

But Mounties coach Mike Loyd said it won’t be much different over the next couple of weeks of nonconference play. Rogers plays host to Little Rock Central, which comes in 2-0.

“I think the first three weeks we will see as athletic teams as we’ll see throughout the whole season, to be honest with you,” Loyd said. “Now, sometimes upfront they aren’t on par with a Bentonville or HarBer. As far as skilled athletes, they’re as good or better than anybody we’ll see.

“The number 23 (Samuel Franklin) from Central, you better tackle him or he’s going to the house. Saw him running down the sideline and outrunning those guys from West Memphis.”

Loyd pointed out his team played solid defense much of the night, but Robinson got to the Mounties with the big play.

“Last week, 48 snaps we held them to 3 yards or less,” Loyd said. “Five snaps we give up 281 yards and five touchdowns. That’s obviously the difference. For the most part, we play solid defense, and then you have a breakdown. You can’t do that. You can’t do that against Central. You can’t do that against Parkview.”

Loyd said the Mounties will again be without the services of Chris Francisco, who also missed the opener because of a foot problem. But Loyd is hopeful he will be back by the start of conference play. Francisco is a key on both offense and defense. The junior is slated to start at defensive back and calls the signals for the defense. He will also play some at receiver.

Starting running back Sammy Zamarron is also doubtful for Friday night. He racked up more than 200 yards of total offense in a half against Robinson before suffering a knee sprain.