Washington County Enterprise-Leader
Junior Tigers Hunger For Crown
PRAIRIE GROVE JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL PREVIEW
PRAIRIE GROVE — Prairie Grove’s 2019 junior high football team is ready to compete for a conference championship. Coach John Elder is beginning his 17th season at the helm of the program and he’s surrounded by some very capable assistants including varsity head coach Danny Abshier and varsity defensive coordinator Craig Laird.
Junior high defensive coordinator Mason Pinkley and assistant coach Nic Paroubek each spend a significant amount of time investing into the junior Tigers.
OFFENSE
Quarterback
Ninth-graders Tate Benoit and Conner Hubbs battled for the starting job in fall practices.
“They’re kind of both splitting time right now because neither one has really risen up above the other. Both do a pretty good so we’re trying them out to see how it goes,” Elder said. “I’m not a big fan of splitting time at quarterback, but we’ve done it before and its been all right.”
Wingbacks Camden Patterson also plays quarterback and has caught the coaches’ eye.
“What we love about Cam is that he’s so versatile. He can actually throw the ball pretty well so I’ll use him some at quarterback when we need somebody back there and does a good job for us,” Elder said. “He can play wing for us. He can play receiver, too.”
Halfback
“We’ve got (freshman) Ethan Miller, a super fast kid, loves football, a football player, who does a great job there,” Elder said. “(Freshman) Conner Whetsell plays there, too, and he’s just a tough, hard runner and just does what you ask of him. Ash Campbell’s another kid that’s there and he’s a ninthgrader. He runs hard, good athlete and great kid, just loves to go in there and get hit, get up laughing. He loves it.”
Fullback
“At fullback we got (freshman) Rhett Marrell, coaches were talking about him (after the Black and Gold game), said, ‘Hey, he looked better than I thought he was.’ He’s a pretty good football player, strong kid,” Elder said.
Rhett is the youngest of three brothers to play for Prairie Grove. Older brother, Ryan, quarterbacked the Tigers into the playoffs.
“Freshman Marshall Prince is super quick and once he gets things figured out in what he needs to do, he’ll be good. He can go,” Elder said.
“A little eighth grader playing there is Spencer Allen, Couper Allen’s younger brother, a tough, tough little eighth grader,” Elder said. “He’s going to be a good one.” Wingback
Another tough ninth-grader Gavin Butler starts at wingback.
“He’s a good blocker, he’s got good hands, and so he’s going to do a good job at wingback for us,” Elder said.
Eighth-grader David Stephens will fill in some at quarterback if needed, but Elder said he does a good job at wingback. Eighthgrader Asher Linn adds one more capable player at the position. Receivers
Freshman Will Stroud is picking up the game fast, showing potential to help the team at wide receiver.
“He’s a big, tall kid playing football for the first time,” Elder said. “He can catch the ball and has got some speed to him.”
Ninth-graders Brian Ward and Michael Uher and eighth-grader Evan Harris are additional personnel slated to fill out the junior Tigers’ receiving corps.
Tight End
Freshman Matthew Velasco is a returning starter at tight end.
“He played last year and has a lot of good experience there,” Elder said. “That helps a ton.”
Classmate Erick Bartholomew has earned Elder’s trust and will allow the junior Tigers to line up in double tight end sets.
“Eighth-grader Joseph Sims is a kid, who made a catch out there tonight (during the Black and Gold game),” Elder said. “He’s going to be a good one, once he gets things figured out. He’s got good hands.” Offensive Line
Returning starter Ryder Orr anchors the offensive line at center. The younger brother of former Tiger star, Reed Orr, is well-liked and has earned the respect of his teammates.
“He just loves sports, football, basketball, baseball, he’s a great athlete all-around,” said assistant coach Nic Paroubek. “He’s a great kid, a great leader for us. Every kid on the team likes him. He’s respected.”
Classmate Tyler Dickerson backs up Orr at center. Freshman Chayton Smith starts at right guard backed up by Demetri Hall and eighth-grader Jacob Staats. Freshman Linden Hall starts at left guard with Gavin Graham and Conner Lantz making the freshmen class three deep at the spot.
Ninth grader James Moss returns as a starter playing left tackle with Zeke Rose, who came out for football last year as an eighth-grader learning the game well.
“He had a great off-season,” Paroubek said. “He’s coming on.”
The junior Tigers have another returning starter at right tackle in Corbin Bowlin, whose value goes beyond his capabilities on the football field.
“He has the kind of attitude we want every kid to see and follow,” Paroubek said. “He’s hilarious and he’s talented. He got up and sang a song during the talent show last spring. He’s a cool kid.”
Rose also backs up Bowlin at right tackle with eighth-grader Robert Fleming also displaying a good attitude to round out the junior Tiger offensive line.
DEFENSE
Paroubek noted Prairie Grove hasn’t changed its alignment at the junior level on the defensive line. Although the varsity switched to a 3-4 defense, the junior Tigers under defensive coordinator Mason Pinkley will play the traditional 4-2-5 defense utilized by Prairie Grove for a number of years. Defensive Line
Postured to challenge offenses from twin defensive tackle spots are: Ryder Orr, Chayton Smith, James Moss, Linden Hall and Corbin Bowlin.
“Chayton Smith is a hard-nosed football player. He’s kind of a throwback,” Paroubek said.
Their partners employed to thwart opposing offenses from defensive end are: Gavin Graham, Matthew Velasco, Erick Bartholomew, and Tyler Dickerson. Dickerson made himself known during an early season scrimmage.
“He had a big Black and Gold game,” Paroubek said while Pinkley added, “He was the standout of the night.”
Paroubek notes eighth-grade defensive end Joseph Sims is a big kid with good size. Linebackers
Ethan Miller is a returning starter at inside linebacker with Rhett Marrell expected to play there, as well. Pinkley and Paroubek both agree, “freshman Demetri Hall is little, but feisty,” and will do what he can to deny yardage. Eighthgrader Spencer Allen showed his stuff during the Black and Gold game.
“He had a good night,” Pinkley said.
The junior Tigers don’t lack at outside linebacker. Paroubek praised Conner Whetsell for being a really sound tackler, who hits hard and plays scrappy. Rovers, Marshall Prince and Camden Patterson both bring speed to the position while Paroubek pointed out freshman Taren Hodges played well in the Black and Gold game. Defensive Backs
The junior Tigers are three deep at safety with eighth-grader Conner Hubbs asserting himself along with ninth-graders, Ash Campbell and Will Stroud. Campbell also plays cornerback.
“He’s doing a little of both,” Pinkley said. “He prefers to play safety, but I make him play
cornerback because we need him there.”
Ninth-graders Gavin Butler and Tate Benoit plus eighth-grader Evan Harris also play cornerback. Pinkley singled out Harris for having a really good night during the Black and Gold game.
SPECIAL TEAMS
Special teams were still a work in progress early in the preseason.
“We were spoiled the last two years with Paytin Higgins kicking, but now he’s a 10th-grader,” Paroubek said. “Rhett Marrell is kicking off and Ethan Miller is doing the punting with a bunch of other guys hoping to show their talent.”
OVERVIEW
“Last year we came within one game of winning the conference championship,” Paroubek said. “They were close. The eighth-graders on that team are now freshmen and we’re hoping to knock over that last pin and turn a spare into a strike.”