Washington County Enterprise-Leader
Tigers Wrap Up Spring Practice
Prairie Grove Prepares For Fall Challenges Of Handling Adversity
PRAIRIE GROVE — In the past three seasons the Prairie Grove Junior High football program has compiled an impressive 28-2 record, including going 10-0 in the 2009 season.
Players from those three freshman classes, which enjoyed that remarkable success will be the group that takes the gridiron for the Tigers in the fall.
Last Tuesday, the group concluded their annual spring practices with a spirited inter-squad scrimmage.
“Hey, I’m smiling,” Tiger head coach Danny Abshier said after his charges wrapped up their final session. “Our offense was scoring all over the place”.
Offense was definitely the showcase in the Tigers’ scrimmage on the final day. Working behind a seasoned line consisting of Creyton Ledbetter, Jacob Kahl, Jacob Lacey, Luke Johnson, Jared Murphy and Spencer Gauldin, Tiger Quarterback Cooper Winters, along with a bevy of Tiger running backs, were able to move the ball with relative efficiency.
“It was nice to see our offense score a lot of points (in the scrimmage),” Abshier said. “We, of course, are nowhere where we will want to be come fall, we will need to get better at our timing, taking the right angles and picking up stunts. We still have a lot of things we will have to tweak.”
Abshier lauded a number of offensive players.
“Weston (Bartholomew), Logan (Bartholomew), Colby (Elkins) and Cooper (Winters) all ran the ball really well. Noah Hunter showed a lot of enthusiasm out there and Luke Johnson has really come on strong,” Abshier said.
On defense, the majority of Abshier’s accolades was directed at AllState returning linebacker Jacob Kahl.
“Jacob doesn’t understand offseason mode, he is intense and wants to bring it all the time. He is also quite the leader out there,” Abshier said.
Returning players were not the only ones to earn praise from coach Abshier, several freshmen who will be sophomores next season caught Abshier’s eye. Bobby Catt, Eli Lopez, Jacob Southerly, Adam Warneke, Austin Hall and Boyd Sparkman were all touted as incoming players that stood out during the spring practice sessions.
“Right now, we are obviously limited in some spots, but the most important thing is getting our younger players together with the older guys and seeing what we can do and what we are working with. All the other stuff will play out in its own time,” Abshier said.
Every sports team has experienced the frustration of a call or, in many cases, a no call that went against them and did not improve the quality of play from their perspective.
Two such calls manifested during state tournaments, one at the 4A softball quarterfinal and another during the 3A baseball semifinal.
On May 11, the defending 4A state