Supporting Their Team
Prescott to play for Class 3A state crown Saturday
Kim Winfield, co-owner of Ko-Fields Diner in Prescott, Ark., prepares a customer’s lunch Wednesday. Winfield, a Prescott High grad and former cheerleader, said Curley Wolves football is a common topic of discussion in the eatery. Prescott will play for the 3A state championship Saturday.
PRESCOTT, Ark.— Prescott football has been around for 105 years and its reach and impact are beyond measure.
Sitting and having lunch inside Ko-Fields Diner, not far from Prescott High School, one may overhear stories from the Cowboy Table of previous years, back in their playing days, how this year’s team looks and how they like their chances for the upcoming game.
People start rolling in about 11 a.m. to the welcoming diner located on Arkansas Highway 24 East, with the day’s lunch special and desserts written on the blackboard in chalk like an homage to a old schoolhouse. The cinder-block walls are painted grayish-blue, and Curley Wolf-maroon curtains hang over the windows.
Various members of the Prescott school staff may step in for a bite, and head coach Tommy Poole may even be seen grabbing lunch in the diner. Most who come through have either played football, cheered, played in the band or had a relative along the way involved as such.
Football season ends for the Curley Wolves Saturday night as 14-0 Prescott aims for its first state title since
1995, facing Charleston (13-0) at War Memorial Stadium. Kickoff is set for 6:30 p.m. for the Class 3A state championship game.
Kim Wingfield, co-owner of
Ko-Fields along with Becky Koger, opened the diner in September of 2015. Kim was a Prescott cheerleader her junior and senior years.
Matt Wingfield, Kim’s husband, was a part of the 1995 state championship team, and his dad, Cole, was a part of the ‘72 and ‘73 state championships teams.
“I started cheering the year after they won state; I didn’t get a state cheerleading ring from that year,” Kim laughed. “We have a lot of great athletes, especially the juniors and seniors, and I’m sure some younger ones coming up too. The team is really good and the kids are committed, and we’ve got really good football fans. Everyone rallies around the team, pumps everybody up.
“My husband still has his state ring and keeps it in his little safe. He tells our girls about it. We’re die-hard
Curley Wolf fans, even though we just transferred our kids to a Christian
school in Hope.”
Kim says she misses the area rivalries that they experienced in the playoffs, such as when Prescott beat Nashville (14-8) for state in 1995 to complete an undefeated season.
“I think it’s pretty neat that Matt and his dad both won state with the Curley Wolves,” she said. “We’ve got all girls, so we won’t experience that in our family.”
The Curley Wolves have played for state championships in 2006 and again in 2009, falling in both title tilts.
Chance Cummings played center for Prescott before graduated in 2006, the spring prior to the state runner-up finish.
“I come through at the wrong time, I guess,” Cummings joked. “My freshman year, I was bumped up after our freshman season was over, and we made it to the semifinals and lost to Warren. The next year we lost to Central Arkansas Christian in the second round. My junior and senior years weren’t as good as the first two years.”
Cummings, one of several former players who frequent Ko-Fields for lunch and occupy a spot at the Cowboy Table, attends more games than he misses, and he saw early on this team’s potential.
“I’ve been to every home game and the close away games; I’d make them all if I could. I’ll be there Saturday,” Cummings said. “This year’s team looks good; better than they have in years. They’ve got it all: the run, the pass, defense. From the first game I went to this year, I could just tell they were so much more talented. We’ve pretty much ruled the conference the past few years, we get to the very end of the playoffs and come up short. I don’t think we’re going to do that this year.”
Prescott Automotive owner Lee Walker has a unique perspective on the Curley Wolf program, its history and success.
Walker played for coach Eddie Jackson for just a year in high school before taking over as equipment manager for two seasons. Jackson coached the Wolves to state titles in 1972, ‘73, ‘75 and 1995.
Walker graduated in 1993 and almost immediately came back to the team as a volunteer to help with the equipment, and he has done so ever since. For more than two decades and more coaches than that, Walker has been a part of the Prescott football program, and he is very knowledgeable of the history of the team over the past 40 years.
“In ’96 we ended up making it to the semifinals, lost to Osceola by three points,” Walker said. “We were trying to get back to play Nashville two years in a row (in the finals). The 2006 group was a real good group. I actually told that group when they were freshmen, I thought they would play for one (state championship). If they hadn’t matched up with Shiloh, they probably would’ve pulled it off.”
Walker came up under Jackson, who won four state titles with strong defenses.
“This team is strong defensively; I would put them just a notch under that ’95 defense,” Walker said. “The offense is just a notch under them, too. This team is real similar to that ’95 team. There are a lot of kids whose daddies played on that team. This is probably third and fourth generation from the 1970 teams. Most of their grandpas played for championships.”