Chock-full of talent, Ashdown seeks first title
ASHDOWN, Ark.—College scouts across the south can testify that Ashdown can play, the question is whether the Panthers can play together well enough to earn a championship. No fewer than six players are drawing attention from scouts representing colleges such as Alabama, Michigan, Oklahoma State, Baylor and, of course, Arkansas.
“Everybody in the country knows where Ashdown, America, is right now,” coach Matt Richardson said. “The main goal right now is to win week 15 (championship week). In 100 years, Ashdown has never won a state championship. We’re trying to change a culture here.”
Last year was a close-but-nocigar season for the Panthers. The team went 8-4 and lost a close one in the second round of the playoffs to eventual state runner-up Prairie Grove. Still, Ashdown did not emerge from the shadow of Conference 7-4A
rival Nashville, who beat the Panthers, 37-18, in the regular season and thrashed Prairie Grove, 39-20, to complete an unbeaten season.
To reach those sorts of heights this year, Ashdown will have to find a way to meld its wealth of talent into a cohesive unit that puts team and winning first. That’s not easy to do when bigtime coaches with household names like Jim Harbaugh are texting players every day.
“We’ve had some selfishness in the past,” Richardson said. “That’s starting to change.”
He uses the acronym “family”—Faith, Attitude, Mental Toughness, Integrity, Love, You— to remind his players that they have not yet arrived.
“A family is a bunch of people who want to be together, and the rest of the family comes before you,” he said.
Still, the talent on his junior-laden squad is mind-boggling. It all starts with Jaden Hill (6-3, 200) who threw for 1,069 yards and eight TDs in 12 starts as a sophomore last year.
“He’s big, physical and he has a cannon,” Richardson said. “He can throw a football and put it anywhere he needs it.”
Clean-cut and smart (3.7 GPA), Hill has already received scholarship offers in baseball (Arkansas) and football (Missouri).
“He’s going to pick some defenses apart,” the coach said. “He’s a strong leader. On fourthand-1 in the fourth quarter, he’s the guy I want to see steadying us in the huddle and leading us.”
Hill has plenty of weapons around him, starting with senior wideout Montaric Brown (6-2, 185), an Arkansas commit who stars on both sides of the ball.
Fellow senior receiver Tajhnick Bishop (6-1, 175, 4.5), who also plays safety, appears headed to Louisiana-Monroe. His cousin,
junior Ladarius Bishop, who hauled in six passes for 170 yards and a TD last year, was clocked at 4.56 in the 40 as a 14-year-old in the spring.
Junior Anthony Nelson, who snagged a 37-yard TD in his varsity debut against Little Rock Hall last year, has caught the attention of SEC scouts. In the spring, he cleared 6-foot-3 in the high jump.
“Alabama likes him,” Richardson said.
Another Panther catching scouts’ attention is junior running back Tre Green won the starting job in the middle of last season and ran for 867 yards and 10 TDs.
“Tre’s special and he’s going to have a good year,” said Richardson, who recalled seeing Green return from a 7-on-7 competition and run the bleachers 3o times. “He’s an amazing young man.”
Green will also see some action in the secondary.
“Arkansas has asked to see him at corner, so we’ll play him there some, too.”
Speedy senior Bryson Haskins is dangerous at running-back slot receiver. Sophomore John Smith (6-1, 175) is fighting for playing time, too.
All that skill has nowhere to go without a determined bunch of big uglies up front, and the Panthers have the makings of a solid offensive line, anchored by senior all-conference tackle Quincy Nettles. A 3.4 GPA student, Nettles is the leader up front, along with junior center Alex Simmons (5-11, 260, 27 ACT), who calls the audibles.
A 4.0 student, Simmons is the nephew of long-time Harding University defensive coordinator Paul Simmons, who is in line to become Harding’s head coach in 2017.
“Alex is a good football player and a better human being,” Richardson said.
Sophomore Tyler Burns, who is moving into left tackle this year, has a great upside.
“In two years, we’re going to have something really special in that young man,” the coach said.
Jakobi Halliburton and Cullen Young have worked their way into starter roles in the line. Chance Redfern is also playing his way into the rotation.
The defensive line is led by 6-foot 2, 210-lb. defensive end Alex Day, who put up 13 sacks as a sophomore last year.
“He’s the motor,” Richardson said. “He can fly.”
Nettles and Young rotate at defensive tackle, and junior nose guard Chris Ogelsby (5-9, 175) is a slippery target for blockers.
Weakside linebacker Charlie Trammel may wind up as valedictorian. John Smith, leading tackler on the junior Panthers a year ago, moves into the Mike slot. Drake Earnest is moving from safety to strong-side linebacker. The athletic Cade Stewart is pushing for playing time.
Brown, an all-state safety a year ago, may be the most coveted of the Panthers. He made 122 tackles and had five interceptions, returning three for scores. A brutally hard hitter, he roams the middle of the defense. Bishop was an all-conference safety,
On the corners, Green moves to corner from after earning all-conference at outside linebacker last year. Bishop mans the other corner.
With such a rare collection of talent, the Panthers over the next two years have a chance to be the greatest team in school history—if they play as a band of brothers, not a collection of stars.
“We always tell them to look at the A, for Ashdown,” Richardson said. “Look at the guy next to you. He’s playing for you. Things are changing around here.”