Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Tigers looking for depth during football camps
SPRINGDALE — Many of Bentonville’s projected starters were relegated to sideline duty as the Tigers took part in Monday’s team camp session at Springdale Har-Ber, just two weeks before high school football teams begin preseason workouts in earnest.
Those players aren’t in trouble, by any means. Bentonville coach Jody Grant just wants to have a few more players prepared for the battles that lie ahead.
“We have done so much team camping, which is new to us,” Grant said. “What we’re doing now is we’re trying to create some depth. We have some concerns, depthwise, and we’re trying to find some younger guys that can help us.
“We had some players that weren’t able to go through the spring because of injuries, and they have stepped up and made us open our eyes to realize they could help us on Friday nights.”
That need for more depth is imminent in the offensive and defensive lines. Senior guard Jacob Clark is the lone returning starter on Bentonville’s offensive line, and the Tigers must replace all three starters on the defensive line and add to their depth so they can rotate players like they have done in past seasons.
Junior Jack Short has worked some at center, guard and tight end during the summer, and Michael Toney — a sophomore who missed spring practices with a broken wrist — has shown promise at tackle or guard. Defensively, Jack Patterson and Dawson Lee have a chance to give Bentonville some quality backups at inside linebacker, while Tyler Johnson and Angel Guerrero have received a lot of time at outside linebacker and noseguard, respectively.
“It’s a hodge- podge up there right now,” Grant said. “We have several players rotating in at different positions.
“We have to find ourselves a noseguard. We’ve always had a pretty good noseguard, and we need to have that guy. We also use multiple defensive linemen so we can rotate them and keep them fresh. We need to get some guys in that area.”
The most pleasant surprise during the summer has been the play of Kam’ron MaysHunt, a sophomore transfer from White Hall. Mays-Hunt, who missed the spring practices with a hip injury, has been impressive during the summer workouts, and Grant said he could be used in a number of ways.
“He has shown that he can be the weapon that we’ve been looking for offensively,” Grant said. “I don’t want to give him the label of a Cody Scroggins because that’s an unfair title, but he’s got the ability to be that guy, a little bit.
“He’s shown it through 7-on-7 and team camps. He can help us and gives us the
“We had some players that weren’t able to go through the spring because of injuries, and they have stepped up and made us open our eyes to realize they could help us on Friday nights.”
— Jody Grant, Bentonville coach
‘it’ factor in a sense that every time he touches the football, he’s capable of doing something with it.”
Grant said senior cornerback Tyrone Mahone remains on the road to recovery, and that remains a work in progress. Mahone suffered an ankle injury on the third play of a Class 7A state semifinal game against North Little Rock.
He attempted to put in some work during the Southwest Elite 7-on-7 tournament, but has been pulled back a little bit for now.
“He’s been working hard to get back, and it’s a long process,” Grant said. “He’s been patient with it, but he wants to come back. We’re playing it slow because, ultimately, our goal is to have him ready for Week 1, so we’re not rushing him by any means.”