England at Magnet Cove

MAGNET COVE — Magnet Cove will host England on Friday in a game that has become a crucial, annual, early-season matchup in the 2A-5 conference.

The Panthers (1-2) and the Lions (0-3) are among the favorites in the conference, along with Conway Christian (1-2).

Here are five things to watch:

Forfeit loss

England is officially winless through the first month of the season after becoming the second team in the state to forfeit a a victory. The Lions began the season with a 35-21 loss to Des Arc (1-2) at War Memorial Stadium on Aug. 21 and a 26-20 victory over McCrory (3-0) on Aug. 31.

The Arkansas Activities Association issued a release on Sept. 17 stating England High School “self-reported a violation of the AAA rules regarding the use of an ineligible student” in both games. The violation is in reference to Article 3, Rule 12 of the AAA Handbook.

England was forced to forfeit the win against McCrory. First-year head coach Andrew Roberson said the team discovered discrepancies regarding the supplemental improvement program, or S.I.P.

“Going back through there, we had about 12 kids in S.I.P,” Roberson said. “One of them was not eligible based on being in S.I.P, we caught it and we self-reported. We are not doing that. We are going to make sure we set it right.”

Junior running back K’Von McPherson is among players no longer with the team based on the violation. McPherson averaged 6.34 yards per carry for 279 yards and a touchdown through the first two games.

Clean slate

Roberson and Magnet Cove head coach Caleb Carmikle said they are looking for a new start as they enter the conference schedule.

“We have to get kids in the right spot and get them to understand responsibilities,” Roberson said. “Carmikle does a good job. I coached with Carmikle for a year. He was a volunteer assistant at Conway Christian when I was there. He is a good guy. He does a good job with their offense.”

The Panthers began the season with a 28-18 road win at Class 3A Mountain View before suffering a 20-0 home loss to Class 3A Atkins (3-0) and a 28-7 road loss at Mount Ida (3-0), ranked No. 1 in Class 2A in the most recent Arkansas Sports Media High School Football Poll.

“We made it through it healthy ,” Carmikle said. “That is always the big worry. If you play up in non-conference, if you get banged up, it is not going to matter, but we made it through it healthy and have learned a lot about us.

“We are still looking to find that identity, offensively, but we were in the same position last year and England was kind of our breakout game on the offensive side of the ball. Hopefully, that happens again Friday night. This will be the big test.”

Conference kickoff

“This is it,” Carmikle said. “You hate to say Week 4 is a must-win, but it is. You have to be careful with it because you don’t want to hype it up too much to where the kids feel this unnecessary amount of pressure. You want them to be loose and come out and play, but at the same time they have to understand how important the preparation is for a game like this.

“I think, this year, it has not necessarily been easier, but we have been in this boat before. They went through it last year and they have seen how important it is to beat England if you want to win a conference championship.”

The Panthers took a 31-30 victory a year ago at England. They finished 6-1 in conference to tie for first with Conway Christian and Hector, who moved back to the 2A-4 this season.

“I know that Magnet is fundamentally sound,” Roberson said. “We have to be fundamentally sound. Of course, losing those kids hurt, but they have been gone for two weeks. The kids are adjusting.

“The morale is the biggest thing with the team and just trying to get them up for the game. It is a new season and we can look at it that way, and that is the way we are going to have to look at it. It is conference, and that is what gets you to the playoffs. We want the kids to understand their responsibility and have them be confident in it.”

When England has the ball

“We are going to try to spread them out as much as possible,” Roberson said. “Athlete-wise, I am comfortable with who we have. We just have to get them the ball in space. That is what we are going to try our best to do: Spread Magnet out and try to find open areas on the field and get our playmakers the ball in space.

“That is what we are going to have to do. If we are not successful with that, we will not be successful in the game.”

Junior quarterback Mason Brazeal, whose older brother Brayden is the starting quarterback for the 3-0 Ouachita Baptist Tigers in the Great American Conference, was 28-for-50 for 315 yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions in the first two games. He was 6-for-22 for 101 yards, no touchdowns, two interceptions and a fumble last week in a 35-0 loss at Mineral Springs (3-0).

Senior Justus Filoteo made 15 catches for 155 yards through the first two games, but caught just one pass for nine yards a week ago. Senior Tyler Woods has 10 catches for 172 yards and two touchdowns through three games.

Seniors Tyler McJunkins and Ty Dawson expectedly lead the Panthers in tackles to start the season. McJunkins has made 29 stops so far this season, while Dawson has 25.

“It is like we are running out of gas right now,” Carmikle said. “The Atkins game was 0-0 midway through the fourth quarter and the wheels kind of fell off. That one had a lot to do with depth. They were rotating kids all night. That is really where we struggle is we are still trying to find some depth at key spots.

“We are playing about 15 kids all night long. Some of those young kids have got to step up and have more of a role where we have confidence in them to put them out there in critical situations, and we have to do a better job as coaches of finding times throughout the flow of the game to get some of the guys who never come off of the field a break. If you are out there and you play 100 hundred snaps, by the 101st snap, you are just gassed. It doesn’t matter what kind of shape you are in.”

When Magnet Cove has the ball

Senior running back Eli Dawson has 410 yards on 65 carries, but has scored only one touchdown so far this season. Senior quarterback Grant Eskola has a touchdown and 36 yards on 15 carries in the Wing T offense. He has thrown for 31 yards on 3-for-8 passing.

“A lot of that has to do with who we have played,” Carmikle said. “Atkins was very big and physical up front. Obviously, with Mount Ida, you know what you are getting when you play them.

McPherson also led the team with 15 tackles in the first two games. Sophomore linebacker Chris Lopez and Filoteo each have 14.5 stop through three games.

“That was all by design. I think you get a lot more out of playing quality opponents and you can figure out what you have to work on, as opposed to playing somebody that may not be as strong and you can score 50 in a half on them.”

“We are big this year,” Roberson said. “We are fairly big. It has just been a process teaching the kids how to fire off of the ball. The simplicity of that is obviously there, but it’s the importance of firing off of the ball with our big men up front in the trenches.

“We have to win the trench battle. If you do not win the trench battle, they are going to have 400-something yards on us like Des Arc did when we played at War Memorial. We just have to make sure we win that trench battle.”

Week 4

Other matchups this week include El Dorado (1-2) at Lake Hamilton (3-0), Little Rock McClellan (3-0) at Hot Springs (0-3), Lakeside

(1-2) at Camden Fairview (1-2), Fountain Lake (3-0) at Joe T. Robinson

(3-1), Bauxite (3-0) at Malvern (0-3), Jessieville (2-1) at Perryville (12), Mineral Springs at Mount Ida, Bismarck (1-2) at Camden Harmony Grove (2-1), Smackover (2-1) at Centerpoint (2-1) and Mountain Pine (1-2) at Cutter Morning Star (1-2) in another 2A-5 matchup.