DANVILLE
Jeff Weaver’s first season at Russellville in 2017 was a learning one, a year after Billy Dawson took the Cyclones to the Class 6A state championship before leaving for Fayetteville. Weaver, 55-49 entering his 10th season as a head coach after previous stops at Mena and Little Rock Christian, led Russellville to a 6-6 mark and a Class 6A quarterfinal finish in 2017. But in 2018, the Cyclones are looking for more. “Last year, we spent most of our time teaching scheme and dealing with firstyear issues,” said Weaver, an assistant at Greenwood from 1998-2008 before spending four years atop the program at Mena and four as head coach at Little Rock Christian. “Our ‘buy-in’ from the kids has been very good, and we look for that to be a big boost for us. “Last year we grew into a solid team as we learned the systems and each other. We also learned we are much more effective when we play at a fast pace. We have worked hard this offseason to identify players and our needs on each side of the ball. We will play kids either on offense or defense but not both, allowing us
to get more detail work done in practice and to play much faster on Friday nights. “We will be an improved team. Will we win more games?” That’s the $64,000 question. The Cyclones started 1-3 last year, falling to Morrilton in the opener, 21-20; beating Rogers Heritage, 43-20; falling to Springdale in their final nonconference game, 31-28; and losing their 6A-West opener at Benton, 42-20. From there, they finished 5-3, knocking off Sheridan, 28-14, and Lake Hamilton, 40-35; falling to Greenwood, the eventual state champion, 38-13; eking out a 23-20 overtime win at Texarkana; falling to El Dorado, 35-7; and ending the regular season with a 55-21 win over Siloam Springs to tie for third in the league at 4-3. As the league’s fourth seed for the Class 6A playoffs, Russellville beat Jonesboro, fifth from the East, in the opening round, 36-29, before falling to Pine Bluff, first from the East, 40-21, in the quarterfinals. The Zebras fell to Greenwood in the championship game at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock. For 2018, Weaver said team strengths would be a second year in the system and improved overall team strength. A weakness is an unproven offensive line. “And we are looking for playmakers,” the coach said. This season, the Cyclones return three starters to run the Spread offense and have eight back for the 3-4 defensive scheme. “We have a lot of guys back in a defense that is fun to play,” Weaver said. “We won’t be the biggest defense, but we will cause lots of problems for our opponents. We did not cause as many turnovers last year as we would like, but coach [Todd] Wood and staff made that and improved tackling our focuses in the offseason.” A pair of senior college prospects anchor the defense, Weaver said. Rasheed Robinson (5-9, 280) returns at defensive tackle, with Langston Parker (6-4, 220) at defensive end. Other top returners on defense include senior middle linebacker Jacob Luster (5-9, 220) and senior outside linebacker Drake Adkins (5-9, 185), the coach said. Adkins was the leading tackler in 2017 with 109 stops. “Offensively, we lost several playmakers to graduation and moving away,” Weaver said. “Rhett Adkins (6-4, 200) started the first four games at quarterback and did a good job protecting the football and running the offense. He moved to wide receiver the rest of the season and became our leading receiver and playmaker. He moves back to quarterback this fall, and we expect him to have a breakout season there.” In those first four games last year, Adkins, then a junior, completed 60 of 96 passes for 715 yards and 8 touchdowns with just 1 interception. At wide receiver, he caught 65 passes for 804 yards and 6 TDs. Weaver said Adkins would be a college prospect at either position. “The receiving corps will have several guys who saw action last year and will be a solid group,” the coach said. “We have several guys who can run the football who all have a little different style.” One of those is senior Kade England (5-9, 195), who moved in from Pottsville during the school year. He led the Class 4A Apaches with 950 yards (averaging 6.4 yards per carry) and 11 touchdowns last season. Senior Jason Collins (6-2, 180) will lead the Cyclone offensive line at center, the coach said. “The offensive line has been our focus point this offseason,” Weaver said. “We had to piecemeal an O-line together last year, using undersized guys who were willing to fight. We
We have several guys who can run the football who all have a little different style.” JEFF WEAVER RUSSELLVILLE HEAD COACH
will be bigger and stronger in that area, and we should have seven to eight guys who can make up a solid unit.” A statewide publication picked the Cyclones to finish fourth in the 6A-West, according to its preseason poll of league coaches, behind eight-time state champion Greenwood (13-0 last year), Benton and El Dorado. Lake Hamilton was picked fifth, followed by Siloam Springs, Sheridan and Little Rock Hall, which moves into the league from the 6A-East after the Arkansas Activities Association’s realignment. After playing its benefit game at Rogers on Aug. 21, Russellville will open the season at home against Morrilton on Aug. 31. The Cyclones will play host to Springdale Har-Ber on Sept. 7 and finish nonconference play at Alma on Sept. 14. They’ll open league play at home against Benton on Sept. 21, visit Sheridan on Sept. 28, play host to Lake Hamilton on Oct. 5, visit Greenwood on Oct. 12, play host to Little Rock Hall on Oct. 19 and finish the regular season with back-to-back road trips — to El Dorado on Oct. 26 and Siloam Springs on Nov. 2.