Davis brothers aim to go out with title
Preston Davis was inches away from changing history last fall.
Little Rock Christian took a four-point lead with just over a minute to go in last season’s Class 6A state quarterfinals against Little Rock Catholic. On fourth down and the game on the line, the senior linebacker fell short of a sack. Instead, LR Catholic quarterback Sam Sanders found his receiver for the first down to keep the drive alive, eventually leading the Rockets on a game-winning drive to beat the Warriors 26-23.
The Warriors felt they had a team that could go all the way. With a highly-touted quarterback, defensive playmakers and a coach that had won a state championship before, they felt it was their year. But that drive ended it all.
Little Rock Christian has done the hard part this time around — it defeated Benton 42-35 last week to advance to the 6A state championship game tonight against Greenwood at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock.
Now this crop of Warriors is looking to do what the last one couldn’t.
“We knew what we could have done last year in terms of getting to the state [championship game] and winning state,” Davis said. “We knew we had a really good team, and we knew that we didn’t live up to our capabilities. I think that’s what really stung, right there, just not living up to what we could have done. That really put a fire under everybody in the offseason.”
“For me, it’s been surreal knowing that last year we got beat by Catholic and having that feeling that we missed out on something, that we could have made it to the championship,” junior linebacker Garland Davis said. “Knowing that we’ve worked hard enough in the offseason, spring, summer, in the fall just to be here at this moment, we deserve to be here.”
While Preston was causing havoc in backfields and racking up tackles for Little Rock Christian last season, his younger brother watched from the sideline mostly, including that final play against Catholic.
Heading into their benefit game in August, Garland said he wasn’t sure if he’d even be a starter at his position, and he didn’t fully feel comfortable in the role until October. But paired with Preston and fellow linebacker Cooper Jones, the Warriors have a more formidable defense than they did last season.
“It’s truly been a very helpful thing having Preston on my side because he’s already been through the varsity experience,” Garland said. “Being able to ask him questions, get his point of view on things. I may not always be right about things and learning from a different perspective allows you to look at the game in a different way.”
Preston and Garland first played together at age 7 and 6, respectively. They played just one season together, winning a championship with an undefeated record for the Maumelle Purple Wildcats, before moving to Little Rock Christian when Preston was in the third grade and Garland was in the second.
The next time they played together was last season, albeit in a limited role for Garland, who mostly played special teams.
“It’s really cool,” Garland said. “To play with my brother, somebody I’ve grown up with all my life, and to have the feeling and the experience of getting to win a state championship that we’re about to play, I really feel like it’s a great experience.”
This season, Garland is making a substantial impact on a Warriors defense that has held opponents to 17.2 points per game. He leads the team with 13 tackles for loss and 6 sacks. Preston leads the team with 116 tackles, with 6 tackles for loss and 2 sacks.
Today’s game will be Preston’s last with the classmates he’s played alongside for eight years.
“It’s been a long ride,” he said. “I’ve been doing this with these seniors since fifth grade and, you know, I might get a little emotional, I don’t know. It’s special just because you’ve been with these guys for so long.
“Coach [Eric] Cohu, he kind of looked at our class like, ‘You look like the class that could get
“To play with my brother, somebody I’ve grown up with all my life, and to have the feeling and the experience of getting to win a state championship that we’re about to play, I really feel like it’s a great experience.” Little Rock Christian linebacker Garland Davis
the job done again. Because everybody was just all in at such a young age, and we had so many athletes and playmakers and just guys who could get it done. So I think he just had a lot of faith in this group.”
For Garland, who will be around for the Warriors’ move to Class 7A next season, it’s likely the last time he ever plays with his older brother.
“It does feel a little weird knowing that I’m not going to be playing by, not just my brother. but by this group of seniors because I’ve always looked up to their class,” Garland said. “They’ve always been successful in everything — basketball, football. And not [having them] right next to me going into the next year, it’s going to feel a little weird. I may get a little emotional as well.”
Little Rock Christian and Greenwood faced once already this season, a 56-39 win for the Bulldogs.
The Davis brothers said the Warriors have spent this week looking to right the mistakes they made in that game and to clinch the program’s first state championship since 2018.
“Last time we played them, we missed so many opportunities that would have [aided] us in winning that game,” Preston said. “We can’t leave that many opportunities on the board like that.”
“Stuff like that gets you beat,” Garland said. “So we have to lower the margin of error. I feel like whoever has the least number of errors is the one that’s going to win the game.”