Arkansas High at Pleasant Grove
Arkansas High travels to Pleasant Grove tonight to begin the season and also renew a crosstown, interstate rivalry.
This is the second meeting between the two schools in school history, with only nine miles being the distance between them.
The Razorbacks have firstyear head coach Barry Norton at the helm.
“We're excited about playing,” Arkansas High head football coach Barry Norton said. “We need to find out where we are. Our kids have done a great job of working but there's a lot we haven't experienced yet. We are at the point where we need to know we do all of the little things correctly.”
“I've really enjoyed Josh Gibson's program from afar the last few years. He's done a heckuva job putting a program together. He's got his kids and his community excited about their program, as they should be.”
Norton brings over two decades of head coaching experience and a overall record of 176-32-1. Norton's overall record for 2016 was 10-1.
Josh Gibson returns to lead the Hawks in his fourth season as head football coach.
Gibson overall record for 2016 was 6-7, giving the Hawks a semifinal playoff birth.
“We are expecting a big game with a good atmosphere against two good football teams,” Pleasant Grove head football coach Josh Gibson said. “The stadium will be packed. We need to minimize the self inflicting mistakes like penalties and turnovers.”
“We are good when we play mistake-free football. In scrimmages, our opponents did not stop us; we stopped ourselves by fumbling a snap or throwing an interception.”
Pleasant Grove edged out Arkansas High in the inaugural contest, 17-14.
“I'm looking forward to a great, competitive ball-game. We're trying to build our program and get it going in the right direction. I know our kids will rise to the challenge and I know it will be a heckuva challenge,” Norton said.
“On defense, we just need to play sound and within our scheme. We have to play within ourselves and we can't let their athletes get loose because they have some good ones,” Gibson said.
Starting Lineups
(Numbers in parentheses)
PLEASANT GROVE OFFENSE: FB-Bruce Garrett (2), TE-Xavier Benson (3), WR-Carson Cox (4) , QB-Ben Harmon (10), FB-TJ Cole (15), WB-Josh Roberts (22), OG-Brock Bingham (55), OG-Hunter Druhan (59), C-Zach Wrinkle (74), OT-Nick Gavriel (77), OT-Drake Fowler (79). PLEASANT GROVE DEFENSE: CB-Cameron Wells (1), OLB-Xavier Benson (3), ILBCaleb Porchia (5), FS-Ryan Pickelman (7), SS-Caleb Hemphill (8), CB-Tyler Kelley (13), FS-Chauncey Martin (21), OLBJacob Barbour (42), DE-Dillon Toler (50), NG-Drake Fowler (79), DT-Austin Toler (90).
ARKANSAS HIGH OFFENSE: Arkansas High’s starting lineup was not available at press-time.
ARKANSAS HIGH DEFENSE: Arkansas High’s starting lineup was not available at press-time.
RADIO: KTRG 94.1 FM, FoxSports 1400 AM, 7:15 p.m.