Washington County Enterprise-Leader
Playoff Countdown Comes Full Circle
PRAIRIE GROVE — Just prior to the 2015 football season, Bill Laird, father of Prairie Grove assistant coach Craig Laird and grandfather of Zeke Laird, passed away Aug. 13.
The family’s strong Christian faith enabled them to process that event and on the surface, Prairie Grove never skipped a beat, reeling off a school-record 14 consecutive wins to reach the state finals. Craig, as defensive coordinator, and Zeke, starter on defense, each played key roles in the achievement. But the Tigers came up a half-game short of accomplishing every high school football team’s dream. Leading 20-19 at halftime, they suffered injuries to key players, went scoreless in the second half and lost the 2015 state finals to Nashville, 39-20.
As returning seniors, Zeke Laird and his classmates dedicated themselves to taking their season to another level in pursuit of the 2016 Arkansas Class 4A state football championship. Zeke Laird won the starting quarterback job and has led Prairie Grove to a 10- 0 regular season, 4A-1 Conference championship and first-round bye. Some of the emotions of that historic journey may quietly confront the Laird family this week with Prairie Grove hosting Central Arkansas Christian Friday in the Tigers’ first playoff game of 2016.
Bill Laird served eight seasons as head football coach at CAC, compiling a 36-45-1 record and twice reaching the state playoffs. An ordained minister, Bill Laird taught Bible and Science along with coaching high school football plus track and field and the same sports at the junior high level at CAC. He coached the track and field team to two district runner-up finishes and won four consecutive district titles, placing fifth and third at state. These achievements inspired CAC to construct an 8-lane track with the first meet held there in the spring of 1994.
In his fifth season coaching football, the Mustangs beat Pulaski Academy and future Texas Longhorn runningback Donta Womack. In Bill