New coach, renovated stadium, high hopes for Hogs
In a short amount of time, Arkansas High head football coach and athletic director Barry Norton has laid the foundation for changing the culture of the Razorback football program.
Not only will Razorback stadium look a little different to the Hog faithful, but the sideline has changed some a bit as well.
Arkansas High went 3-8 overall last year, with the Razorbacks garnering two conference wins. The Hogs traveled to West Memphis in the first round of the Conference 6A playoffs, with the Blue Devils prevailing, 29-15.
Norton has inherited a solid junior and senior class with varsity experience, even AllArea Newcomer of the Year DeJordan Mask (6-1, 176) is amongst the bunch.
“Our expectations are to be a really competitive football team,” Arkansas High head football coach Barry Norton said. I don’t know much about our opponents at the moment, so we’re solely focused on the process for ourselves. The kids are understanding the new terminology. They’re picking it up quickly and understanding how we do things.”
“It’s been a smooth transition this offseason. Our offense lends itself to be a little bit of everything and the kids are starting to pick up on that. Everything we’re doing is new to the kids but finding the kids strengths and maximizing those is what we’re focusing on.”
The Hogs return junior
Drake Browning (5-10, 170) but also add senior Wes Kift (5-10, 180) and sophomore Sean Foreback (5-10, 180) to possibly use Browning in other aspects of the offense.
Browning finished the year completing 69 out of 114 passes and 742 yards. He also finished with two touchdowns and threw four interceptions. Browning missed the better part of half the season due to a hand injury he suffered in Week 1.
“All three of those guys have different skill sets,” Norton said. “They’ve done a really good job for us and they’re fun to work with. We’re trying to piece it together and find our guy.”
“We’ve always had the dropback passer with either Ryan Mallett or a dual-threat guy like Nathan Sorenson. We try to play to our kids strengths. Drake is a phenomenal athlete, Wes is a senior who can really throw it and Sean is one of the better arms I’ve coached as a sophomore. All three have different skills and we’re trying to blend our offense as such.”
Senior Austin Nix (6-2, 263) will lead the young but experienced Razorbacks offensive line from his center position. Junior Rico Thomas (6-1, 237) returns to left tackle after starting 11 games in 2016 and senior Christian Johnson (6-4, 248) will remain in his right tackle position.
“Austin is very smart and he’s actually one of our better athletes on the team,” Norton said. “He could play multiple positions on the field, which is a testament to his athletic ability. He can kick, deep snap and he’s the foundation of our offensive line. He’s extremely smart, so he’s our guy.”
“That group will have to be have their own terminology and also hold each other accountable,” Norton said. “They may be young but most of these guys were able to gain valuable experience last year.”
Junior Nick Vaughn (6-0, 196) will handle the tight end duties for the Razorbacks this fall.
“Nick is a baseball guy we got to come out and he’s really done a good job of picking up what we want from him,” Norton said.
Arkansas High’s offense averaged 21 points per game.
The return junior All-Conference running back Jordan Hall (5-9, 210). Hall rushed for 859 yards in five games and finished his 2016 campaign with 11 touchdowns. Hall’s season was split in half due to injury. Juniors Cameron Collier (5-9, 180) and Tyree Black (5-9, 176) will compete with Hall for carries in the backfield.
“Jordan has one of the best football minds on our team,” Norton said. “When he’s not taking reps, he’s helping our younger guys understand what we’re trying to do. He’s going to be our bell-cow. We’re going to look to get him some carries this season and he’s a powerfull, downhill runner.”
“Cameron is a state hurdling champion and could be an excellent full-time runningback. Tyree has shown us great hands this offseason.”
Arkansas High’s receiving corps is young but full of
playmakers. Arkansas High returns juniors Mask, Irijah Price (5-11, 183), Browning and senior Javarious Bullock (5-8, 175). Price accounted for 413 yards and 37 catches, but his season ending early due to an injury in a junior varsity game. Mask finished his sophomore year with 36 catches, four touchdowns and 408 yards.
“This is one of the stronger, deeper receiving corps that I’ve had,” Norton said. “Irijah has a really great ability to go get the ball out of the air. He has a unique ability that we need. DeJordan is silky smooth with his routes and he has extremely soft hands. Drake has also played some receiver for us as well.”
“Those three guys are really talented but even the guys after them can all-around play. We have depth there with quickness and speed. We have a chance to be a good offensive team.”
The biggest question mark of the 2017 season would be the Razorbacks’ defensive unit.
Arkansas returns juniors Demetrias Charles (5-11, 195), Isiah Gray (5-10, 185) and senior Wren Williams (5-8, 205) will be asked to lead a Razorback unit that gave up 209 rushing yards per game and 123 passing yards per game.
Charles finished the 2016 season with 30 tackles.
The Hog defense gave up 30 points a game on average.
“We have about eight players in rotation up front for us defensively,” Norton said. “It was one of our biggest concerns coming in. We’ve had to move some guys around but I believe they’re getting accustomed to what we’re looking for. We’ll need all eight guys to keep fresh legs on the field.”
Arkansas High returns leading tacklers juniors Collier and Trevion Cleveland. Both finished the 2016 season 16 shy of the century mark, with 84 tackles.
Black and senior Kendrick Young (5-9, 190) will also intertwine throughout the Razorbacks linebacking corps. Young finished 2016 with 57 tackles.
“This is one the strengths of our defensive unit,” Norton said. “They’re big, strong kids that played a ton of snap last season. They can really run and have great skill sets. We also have great depth on the second level of our defense.”
Senior Matt Peyton (5-7, 180) and junior A.C. Williams (5-9, 180) will provide extra bodies for the Hog linebackers. Williams finished his sophomore year with 38 tackles, while Peyton finished 2016 with 12 tackles.
Price, Mask, Browning will roam the Arkansas High secondary, along with juniors Jadas Ross (5-5, 123), Traveon Soils (5-11, 148) and Dionko Harris. Senior Cameron Harris (5-4, 140) will provide depth for the Hogs on the back-end.
Mask led the secondary last
year with 38 tackles and one fumble recovery in 11 games.
“It’s easy to evaluate a team if they have won in the past,” Norton said. “We are trying to create as many roles for kids as we can, whether that’s creating more starters or having kids play both ways. We have a lot of guys that can play on the back end for us and give us quality snaps.”
“I think I have a great coaching staff that understands that the program that I want is kid friendly. We’re setting up programs for our athletes to excel not only on the field but in the classroom as well. It’s all about projecting where our kids can be is the message we’re trying to convey to them. We’re raising the expectations not only as athletes but as students and even raise the expectations as a community.”
Norton also brought along coaches who understand his philosophy and also how he would like the factions of his program ran. Andrew Morton, Paul Norton and Jeff Harrell followed Norton to the Arkansas side.
“We try to strive for Urban Myer’s above the line behavior,” Norton said. “Human nature is to be below the line and it takes a special type of person to go above the call of duty. We haven’t lost a sock since I’ve been here. We have a system and we’re going to follow that system all the way through.”
“Every second we can spend with our kids, our trust grows. We’re trying to be with our kids as much as we can. It’s not all about football. I was forunate to be apart of the West OrangeStark football program and I was able to bring the tools I learned from Coach (Cornel) Thompson, and it’s worked ever since.”