Sweet package deal for Benton
Benton Coach Scott Neathery knew he was hiring a defensive coordinator in the offseason.
What he didn’t realize was he was getting one of the state’s top play-makers as part of the deal.
Brad Harris was hired in April to guide Benton’s defense after spending the past six seasons as the head coach at Class 4A Lincoln. That also meant the addition of his son Drew, who has become one of the state’s top performers with 2,527 all-purpose yards and 23 touchdowns this season while helping the Panthers advance to their first state championship game since 1977.
Benton (11-0-1) will take on Pine Bluff (9-3) in the Class 6A state title game at 7 tonight at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock.
“It was a great hire, wasn’t it?” Neathery said.
There is no argument with that.
The Panthers have moved forward after finishing 2013 at 6-6, with a loss to El Dorado in the quarterfinals of the Class 6A playoffs. Benton averaged 34.1 points a game last season, but the problem was its defense gave up an average of 35.3.
Brad Harris swapped the Panthers’ 4-3 defensive scheme for an attacking style 3-3 alignment, and the results have been impressive. Benton has allowed an average of 14.8 points a game and has three shutouts this season.
The Panthers have won 11 consecutive after enduring a 14-14 tie against Saline County rival Bryant in the season-opening Salt Bowl on Sept. 5 at War Memorial Stadium.
“Scott told me they were coming off a 6-6 year and said they had a chance to be better,” Brad Harris said. “The first time I saw the guys defensively, I felt like they’d fit the mold of our scheme that we try to do. We don’t have a lot of size, but we have a lot of kids who are quick and aggressive.
“I don’t know if we have a superstar on the team
anywhere, offensively or defensively, but we have a lot of good high school football players. They love the game. They play hard for us. They’re very coachable. As a high school football coach, that’s what you want.”
Neathery said he knew Benton had to change its defensive mentality for the Panthers to go deeper in the playoffs.
“We’ve always been able to score points, but weren’t able to stop anybody,” he said. “This year, all of a sudden we’ve got a defensive identity, which is huge.
“I know it’s cliche, but at the end of the day your offense isn’t going to click every ballgame. You have to play defense if you’re going to win some championships.”
Brad Harris rehabilitated the defense, and Benton received a bonus for its offense as his son, Drew Harris, a senior, stepped in and became the Panthers’ most versatile player.
Drew Harris played quarterback last season at Lincoln, but Benton already had a starter in junior Cason Maertens, so Harris moved to wide receiver, where he made a smooth transition.
Harris has 83 receptions for 1,514 yards and 15 touchdowns through 12 games, in addition to rushing 61 times for 430 yards and 6 touchdowns. He’s also returned 14 kickoffs for 360 yards and 1 touchdown and 9 punts for 223 yards and a score.
Drew Harris asked Neathery before the season what position he should tell people he played, considering he was going to be used in a variety of ways in the Panthers’ offense.
“I said, ‘Hey, you’re a play-maker,’ ” Neathery said. “That’s come to fruition. We put him everywhere. He’s definitely a great addition for our offense.”
This is the first season Brad Harris hasn’t been his son’s head coach, but the father said that has been good for their relationship.
“There’s times at Lincoln where he and I got heated,” Brad Harris said. “We carried it home sometimes, but now we don’t have that problem. I get to sit back and watch him play football.”
The move to Benton also has allowed Brad Harris to whittle down his workload.
He coached the senior high and seventh-grade football teams at Lincoln in addition to coaching the school’s baseball team in the spring. The responsibilities aren’t as large at Benton, where he’ll also coach the boys track and field team in the spring.
“It’s slowed down a lot for me,” said Brad Harris, who led Lincoln’s football team to an 11-2 record and into the quarterfinals of the Class 4A playoffs last season. “I’ve spent more time with my family at home and this summer.”
The move to central Arkansas was as much about family as it was about football for the Harrises.
Brad Harris’ father, Sonny, was diagnosed with congestive heart failure earlier this year. So when the Benton position came open, Brad said he felt it was the right time to move closer to his family in Gurdon. Brad and his wife, Megan, have two other children in addition to 17-year-old Drew. Brayden, 15, is a sophomore backup linebacker for the Panthers, and daughter Ava is 11.
Brad Harris said living only 45 minutes from his father, instead of four hours away, has been beneficial.
“We weren’t just going to move anywhere,” he said. “We felt comfortable moving to Benton.”
Drew Harris said it was difficult leaving his friends in Lincoln, especially entering his senior year, but he said he understood the reasons behind it and liked the opportunities that came with the move.
“I knew coming to Benton we would have a chance to be successful in multiple sports,” he said. “It’s turned out to be a good year for us.”
A victory tonight would give Benton its second state championship, its first since 1977, if it can beat Pine Bluff for a second time this season. The teams met Nov. 6 in the final week of the regular season, with Benton pulling out a 39-36 victory on a 40-yard field goal by Grant Hinze that wrapped up the 6A-South Conference title and the top seed for the playoffs.
Another victory over the Zebras would write a storybook ending to the Harrises story.
“We talk about leaving a legacy,” Drew Harris said. “A state championship would be pretty good.”