Washington County Enterprise-Leader
All-Star Game Reunion
LINCOLN — Brad Harris hadn’t dialed up a touchdown pass for a Lincoln quarterback since 2013, the Benton head coach and West All-Star football coach, contributed three that were successful Saturday.
Caleb Lloyd, 2019 Lincoln graduate and late addition to the West All-Star football squad, threw touchdown passes of 7, 20 and 52 yards, the latter pulling the West within, 34-28, on a long reception by Bentonville’s Harrison Campbell. The East ran out the clock on the ensuing possession to claim victory in the 64th annual Arkansas High School Coaches Association All-Star football game played at Estes Stadium on the University of Central Arkansas campus.
Filling All-Star Spots
Harris, who coached Lincoln from 2008-2013, wouldn’t take credit for all three saying he called one with West and Benton offensive coordinator Justin Ray calling the other two.
“We had several guys drop late on us. We needed somebody from that conference so we picked up Caleb as kind of a utility player. We knew he could play quarterback, H-back, even linebacker, but it worked out that he played quarterback for us,” Harris said. “It was a good experience for Caleb. I was excited for him. He had some success and got to play one last football game.”
As head coach for the West, Harris was trying to fill each of those spots plus several others due to a rash of players deciding not to participate.
“We had three defensive backs drop the day before and we had a no-show,” Harris said.
Harris excels as a football coach making adjustments on the fly and he brought in two defensive backs from Benton to fill the roster at the last minute.
Relationship Dividends
Among the logistical challenges for the first-time All-Star head coach, who was selected three times as an All-Star assistant baseball coach during his tenure at Lincoln, was finding available personnel due to summer baseball. Two quarterbacks on the
All-Star list were already on college campuses.
Lloyd was a good friend to Harris’ son, Brayden, and the boys spent a lot of time at each other’s house while the Harris family resided at Lincoln. Harris coached Lloyd as a seventh grader when he played runningback and linebacker.
“He was such a weapon for us at the runningback position,” Harris said. “He got switched to quarterback and he developed. He’s one of those kids that can do anything for you. He could have played defense for us if we needed him to. He meant a lot to the Lincoln Wolves’ football team. I remember him being a good player and try to keep up with him.”
Harris and Caleb’s dad, Jerry Lloyd, coached summer baseball together and the families became close friends maintaining a relationship which paid handsome dividends six years after Harris left Lincoln for Benton.
“It was kind of neat how things came full circle. We tried to pick up the best available guys, who could help the team the most. Caleb ended up filling that quarterback spot,” Harris said. “We scored 28 points and Caleb was in on 21 of them. Caleb threw the ball well. It took him a little bit to adjust to the speed of the game with some of the guys from bigger schools. You’re out there with the best of the best. He did a great job for us.”
Scoring Drives
Lloyd played an instrumental role in helping the West battle back from deficits of 14-0 at the end of the first quarter and 34-14 at the half. At that juncture, the East had forced West into three turnovers and had gained 59 more yards of total offense.
North Little Rock’s Dwain Hunt intercepted a West pass which led to Salem’s Jordan Turner scoring on a 9-yard run as the East captured a 7-0 lead with 10:16 left in the first quarter. Bryant’s Ren Hefley, whom Harris coached against in the Salt Bowl last August, completed a 19-yard touchdown pass to Pine Bluff’s Berkario Black.
Then Lloyd got going, leading the West 75 yards in eight plays capped by Lloyd’s 7-yard touchdown toss to Joe T. Robinson’s Mekel Kentle.
East answered with its own 75-yard march culminated by Helena-West Helena’s Demarcus Sheard’s 4-yard score on the ground on the 10th play of the drive.
Lloyd again rallied the West throwing complete to Kentle for a 20-yard touchdown reception trimming the East’s lead to 21-14.
Skilled Quarterbacks
A lot of East’s offense came via quarterback Demilon Brown, of Rivercrest, who threw touchdown passes to West Memphis’ Devin Olloway (19 yards) and Marion’s Joyrion Chase (8 yards) over a 2:11 span giving the East a 34-14 halftime advantage. Brown completed 10-of-13 passes for 136 yards and 2 touchdowns while rushing 11 times for 105 yards to wrap up the MVP.
In the third quarter Jacob Wood played quarterback for the West. The Conway Christian graduate scored on a 4-yard carry with 1:20 left closing the West within 34-21.
The final score of the game came with 2:36 to go with Lloyd connecting on the 52-yard pass to Campbell.
East ran out the clock to seal the 34-28 win and claim a series lead of 35-27-1.
Among five awards presented to players featured: Kentle (Outstanding Back), Nashville’s Robert Dunham (Outstanding Offensive Lineman), West Memphis’ Mark Robinson (Outstanding Defensive Lineman), Conway’s Malik Benton (Outstanding Defensive Back), and Arkadelphia’s Gabe Goodman (Outstanding Special Teams Player).
“It was a fun atmosphere,” Harris said. “We were just trying to give those kids a great experience for a week.”