Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
HARD WORK PAYS OFF IN PURPLE’DOGS’ PERFECT SEASON
LITTLE ROCK — The night before the Class 7A state championship football game, Fayetteville Coach Casey Dick had a special message for his Purple Bulldogs.
On the verge of completing the first 13-0 season in program history, Dick told his players they “understood the progress within the process, which was awesome to watch.”
“They don’t hang banners or give rings out in 7 on 7 tournaments or team camps in the summer,” Dick said. “Maybe those all didn’t go our way, but we’re obviously here in December. We just won a state championship on December 2nd. I’m proud of our school, our community, our fans, everybody that showed up — just a tremendous job.”
For Fayetteville, the roots of the undefeated 2023 7A state championship season and 7A-West Conference title started on the night their 2022 season ended.
A disappointing 37-0 loss at home to Conway in the quarterfinals of the 2022 playoffs meant an earlier than expected offseason for the Purple’Dogs.
So Fayetteville went back to work with plenty of motivation, said record-setting senior quarterback Drake Lindsey.
“We really had the vision from the get-go,” Lindsey said. “We lost 22 starters going into my junior year. We really had to start fresh. Getting all that experience and losing those tough games prepared us for these moments to win those tough games.”
Lindsey, who will sign with Minnesota, has been at the forefront of all of it for Fayetteville.
Lindsey, who stands 6-foot-5 and weighs 220 pounds, finished the season completing 273 of 406 passes for 3,924 yards, 52 touchdown passes — a Class 7A single-season record — and just five interceptions.
“You go look back at the last two years, I don’t know that there’s been a more prolific kid come through the state of Arkansas,” Dick said. “From a completion percentage to touchdowns to interceptions and seeing a different defense every single
week, and we throw the ball. I know P.A. (Pulaski Academy) sees some different things with what they do, but man it’s been incredible to watch.
Lindsey finished off his high school career by completing 27 of 38 passes for 355 yards in Fayetteville’s 22-16 win over Bentonville in the Class 7A state title game, earning Most Valuable Player honors. As a bonus, Lindsey did it in front of three of his future college colleges at Minnesota, including head coach P.J. Fleck, and co-offensive coordinators Matt Simon and Greg Harbaugh Jr.
“So glad he could cap it off like that and really glad to have all the Minnesota coaches here watching him,” Dick said.
Following the game, Lindsey appeared a loss for words on how to describe the feeling of winning the state title.
“I don’t even know to be honest,” Lindsey said. “I’m kind of just trying to soak it in to be honest. It’s kind of hard to process right now. You’re just trying to soak in the moment and enjoy with your teammates and family and coaches. I’m just blessed to be here.”
Lindsey was not alone in having a fine individual season. He was one of seven all-state players for Fayetteville.
All-state wideout Jaison DeLamar had 88 catches for 1,394 yards and 17 touchdowns.
Joining Lindsey and DeLamar on the all-state team were defensive end Kaden Spencer (92 total tackles, 30 quarterback hurries, 39 tackles for loss and 10 sacks), defensive end Trey Lisle, linebackers Rhett Tidwell (108 tackles, 20 TFL, 2 sacks) and Landon Jones (90 tackles, 16 sacks), and safety Isaiah Taylor.
“Man it means the world to me,” said Spencer after the state title game. “Coming from Springdale, we got two wins in two years. The bond we have with my brothers it’s just unreal. Every single day we came in and worked our ass off. It showed out here tonight. We really persevered and took on the biggest challenges as a team.
“Every since (last) January, I knew we were going to be there in December man, we’ve been working harder than anyone else in the 7A and I feel like it showed.”
Seven Purple’Dogs earned 7A-West first team honors: WR Kaden Spencer (59 catches, 1,025 yards 11 TDs), OL Desmond Peterson, OL Crew Kvern, DL Jaxon Oliver, DL Isaiah Perez, CB Isaac Pearson and CB Kasey Lehman.
Outside linebacker Luke Roblee was the All-Conference Defensive Newcomer of the Year.
Earning All-Conference Second Team honors were K Nathan Kachel, LB Jeff Miller, OLB Noah Janski, Safety Eli Rose, WR Charlie Graves (47-546, 10 TDs), and RB Christian Setzer who had five straight 100-yard games toward the end of the season and had 202 rushes for 1,243 yards and 13 touchdowns, including two touchdowns in the state title game.
Ten Bulldogs received All-Conference Honorable Mention honors: WR Catavion Taylor, WR Landon Luck, TE Connor Kryzanowsky, OL Ryan Lunningham, OL Drake Orsburne, OL Eli Carpenter, LB Reid Slankard, LB Jadon Holte, DB Walker Evins, Safety Joey Ogden.
“It’s funny, you go back and watch film, and it’s like each kid had their own couple of weeks and they don’t know who that is and what it’s going to be like,” Dick said. “They just showed up to work every day. Didn’t care, just wanted to be here on December 2nd and go compete for a state championship.”