Fairview looks to make run
With his first- and second-choice running backs battling injuries, Camden Fairview Coach Nick Vaughn needed an answer at running back against Hot Springs on Oct. 27.
The Cardinals turned to their top play-maker, junior wide receiver Trent Haygood, to fill in.
At first, it was just to finish that game as it remained unclear if running back Justin Frazier would return the next week. But soon after the junior was diagnosed with a broken collarbone, ending his season. The week after, fellow running back Jaden Porchia hurt his knee in practice.
Haygood spent time all over the Camden Fairview offense lineup as a sophomore and early in his junior season as coaches looked to get him the ball any way they could.
“We’ve always known what he could do, but he’s such a weapon when you can move him around,” Vaughn said. “He’s that slash-type kid, and he can line up in the slot, line up at tailback. He’s going to return kicks. He’s going to do all these other things. And so as many times as we can get him the ball, that’s what we’re going to do.”
Against Hot Springs, Haygood rushed 15 times for 132 yards and 1 touchdown. The next week, he rushed for 82 yards on 19 carries against No. 1 Little Rock Parkview.
Both by circumstance and performance, Haygood solidified the spot as his heading into last week’s Class 5A playoff opener against top-seeded Farmington.
Vaughn said he knew with the strength of his offensive line, rotating seven players and Haygood’s explosiveness could make for a big night as the fourth-seeded Cardinals looked for the upset.
Haygood rushed for a school-record 317 yards and 3 touchdowns on 22 carries as Camden Fairview beat Farmington 43-29.
“He’s a special talent, he’s a great kid, and we’re fortunate that our O-line’s really starting to come around and had a great game,” Vaughn said.
“We knew we were the four and they were the one, and we had tons of respect for Farmington. But for us, it’s always been about us. And we’ve always thought that we had the potential to play at an extremely high level when we’re clicking on all cylinders.”
The 5A-South went 3-1 against the 5A-West last week in the first round of the Class 5A playoffs, with Camden Fairview, Parkview and Hot Springs Lakeside winning.
Next up, Camden Fairview will hit the road again, this time to face second-seeded Southside Batesville.
Vaughn said he believes the playing style and depth of the 5A-South, beyond Parkview, has set its teams up for success in November.
“I think it helps prepare our league in a way,” he said. “I think that people look at Parkview and they tend to forget about everybody else. In my opinion, I think we have a really good league. There’s a lot of depth there.”
“I think that the style of play in our league, the physicality, has helped prepare our teams for the playoffs.”
Family ties
Nashville Coach Mike Volarvich has known of Zaccheus Harris since he was in the first grade.
With his older brothers Tyae and Elijah playing for the Scrappers before him, Volarvich became familiar with the Harris family long before Zaccheus made his varsity debut.
Last season, Harris was added to the varsity roster for the state playoffs as a freshman and within two practices, earned himself a starting spot at defensive end.
“He’s one of those guys that just kind of has a unique skill set,” Volarvich said. “Physically, he’s built well, he’s strong in the weight room and he’s explosive. He has that first step, that get-off paired with his athleticism to make a lot of plays.”
He recorded sacks in his third and fourth varsity games, a 63-62 win over Elkins and a 56-37 loss to eventual Class 4A champion Malvern.
This season, it took one game of Harris playing at linebacker for Volarvich to realize he needed to move the now-sophomore back to his original position.
In the next three games, all at defensive end, Harris showed how quickly he’d taken to varsity football.
He recorded 17 tackles, 9 tackles for loss, 4 quarterback hurries and 7 sacks.
“He just kind of started out nonconference on fire,” Volarvich said.
As each week of the regular season went by, Harris grew more and more comfortable. And the mentions of the sophomore edge-rusher became more standard from other coaches to Volarvich.
At 6-2 and 220 pounds, Harris is one of the Scrappers’ fastest players, running 4.6 seconds in the 40-yard dash. He presents a lightning-quick start on the edge and a high motor to relentlessly pressure opposing quarterbacks.
There were a few games you might describe as breakouts for Harris. A three-sack performance against Hope in the second game of the season. A four-sack outing against defending Class 3A champion Charleston. A season-high five sacks against Ashdown. But the most impressive of all has to be his meeting with Malvern tackle Vinny Winters, a University of Central Arkansas commit and a firstteam selection on last year’s Arkansas Democrat-Gazette All-Arkansas Preps team.
In that game, Harris recorded 3 sacks, 7 tackles and 2 hurries in a 35-21 loss to the defending Class 4A champion Leopards.
“He’s been able to do it against Division I players,” Volarvich said. “He’s been able to have success against everybody.”
Now 11 games in, Harris leads the state with 23 sacks — eight more than the next closest player among reported statistics. Last week, in a 41-36 win over Crossett in the first round of the 4A playoffs, Harris recorded 2 sacks, 5 tackles and 3 hurries.
“He’s a quiet kid, doesn’t talk a whole lot,” Volarvich said of Harris. “He’s not a rah-rah guy. He’s just kind of a no-nonsense guy who shows up and goes to work every day.”
Record-setters
Four other players set benchmarks at their schools in recent weeks.
Stuttgart freshman quarterback Cain Price has raised the bar for his program this season. In his varsity debut campaign, he set the season school records for passing yards (2,563), touchdown passes (25) and total offense (2,659).
Malvern’s Jalen Dupree and Harrison’s Braden Long have battled all season for the top spot in the rushing yards leaderboard. In a 58-42 loss to Hot Springs Lakeside last week, Long rushed for 249 yards and three touchdowns to take the top spot from Dupree.
With that performance, Long set the Harrison program record for rushing yards in a season with 2,224.
Shortly after announcing his achievement on social media Wednesday, Long was offered a scholarship by by Arkansas Tech.
Senior James Martin has shared carries with plenty of players in the Bryant backfield this season, so his 809 rushing yards and nine touchdowns don’t stand out.
But with two rushing touchdowns against Conway on Nov. 3, Martin set the Bryant record for career rushing scores with 38.
His teammate, senior safety Drake Fowler, also set a record in the same game. In the second quarter, Fowler intercepted a pass on the goal line from Conway quarterback Donovyn Omolo. It was his fourth this season and 12th for his career, setting the school record for the latter.