Wolves healthy, ready for Siloam Springs
PEARCY — After a week off due to Little Rock Parkview canceling its Oct. 2 game against Lake Hamilton, the Wolves were three feet from falling on the road in Russellville last Friday.
With the score tied 36- 36 at the end of regulation, Lake Hamilton ( 5- 0, 2- 0 6A-West) went down the field and scored with Alex Hurtz successfully kicking the extra-point attempt. The Cyclones (1-5, 0-3) responded by scoring on third down and attempted a two-point conversion for the win.
“They went for two to beat us, and we actually tackled them on the 1-yard line,” said Lake Hamilton head coach Tommy Gilleran. “So they ran a play, and it was like a little wheel route, and Marian Conrad broke on it, tackled him on the 1-yard line. In fact the guy catches it probably right on the goal line, and Marian blasts him out about three yards, and it was no good.”
While Gilleran said the extra rest allowed his players to recover from injuries, it was problematic for them due to the lack of getting to work during a game.
“I guess that layoff, that missing that game, probably put us behind like for the speed of the game and all that kind of stuff,” he explained. “I thought overall, you know, it helped us, you
know, because some of the kids got well. In fact, you know, it’s a point now (Chase) Jessup is going to be able to play some defense this week because his foot’s finally feeling better. And that may not have happened if we played, you know, a game, and they got a little more banged up, based on how the game goes. But overall I thought our kids played hard to the end.”
This week, the Wolves play host to the Siloam Springs Panthers (3-3, 1-2).
“They’re a big physical team, and I’m gonna say this, you know, that guy does a really good job of what he does,” Gilleran said of the Panthers and head coach Brandon Craig. “You know, they’re never really talented. They’re not real fast, but they’ve got real big, physical kids. They’ve got some big kids over there, and so I think he does a really good job with what he does. I mean to me, he’s just not as talented as people, and that’s why he hasn’t won as many games. His kids play hard the entire game, and they’re always physical, and they always make plays.”
Gilleran said that the main focus for his defense is to shut down junior quarterback Hunter Talley.
“He’s a really good football player — runs it, throws it pretty good,’ he said. “Actually he runs it better than he throws it, but he does a really good job. Everything runs through that guy.”
While size on the line is not an issue, Gilleran said that he hopes to use superior speed on defense to contain Talley and targets like running backs Camden Collins and Palvinson Phizema.
“I think we have maybe just a little more speed than they do and do some of that,” he said. “And we feel like we can probably get some more passes off. They’re not as good in the back end as some people, so we’re thinking we can take advantage of those things. … He does a good job of coaching these kids up and getting them ready, and they play hard. Of course they beat Van Buren early in the year, and they beat somebody else, and of course, they ran into Benton and Greenwood and haven’t fared so well.”
Gilleran is most excited to have the majority of his players available for tonight’s contest.
“We finally have all our kids back, except for Layne ( Warrick),” he said. “I think Layne’s going to come back next week or the week after. We’re not sure on that. But (Dawson) Poindexter was a starter last year. He’s back. He’s been out for four weeks, so he’s back. He makes us better up front. I mean, he’s probably one of our better defensive linemen, so we’ve got all our kids back except for Layne.”
Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. at Wolf Stadium.