Washausen Salutes Abshier

PRAIRIE GROVE — Seventh-grader Max Washausen ran up to Prairie Grove head football coach Danny Abshier as the Tigers came off the field for halftime during a game against Gravette.

“Hey, Coach, when are you going to do the ‘wrong-ball’ play?”

Washausen had got word from his oldest brother, Hans, a senior on the squad about a trick play Abshier intended to run and couldn’t wait to see it happen.

“Hush, we’re about to run it,” Abshier said, quickly quieting the inquisitive youngster.

The date was Oct. 10, 1997, and the Tigers, then in their fourth season with Abshier as head coach, had begun the season 3-2 with losses to Shiloh Christian and Holland Hall, of Tulsa, Okla., but were unbeaten in conference play (3-0) with wins over Huntsville (12-0), Gentry (22-19) and rival Farmington (15-6).

Abshier called the play during the second half with Tiger quarterback Clay Waggle going up to the center on a ruse.

“Hey, we have the wrong ball.” At which point the Tiger center picked up the ball, turned around and handed it to Waggle. Waggle nonchalantly walked past the Lion defenders toward the official while holding the ball out as if he intended to give the ball to the official. Waggle then took off running for the end zone and scored a touchdown.

“It was one of those moments, if you’re a Prairie Grove Tiger, you laugh,” Washausen said.

Gravette didn’t think the trickery

was funny. They had been burned for 60 yards and a touchdown by Abshier’s innovative play.

“The Gravette coach (Charlie Phillips) was as mad as he ever could be,” Washausen said.

The Tigers went on to victory, 34-13, and would not lose a conference game that year.

Football Turnaround

Washausen, now in his fourth season as Cedarville head football coach, attributes Abshier’s influence with the emergence of the Tigers as a contender.

“With Prairie Grove, he’s changed that place. You can almost guarantee that they’re going to make the playoffs. There’s a really good chance he’ll win his 200th game this year,” Washausen said. “What’s so impressive is he’s about to win 200 games and Prairie Grove was so bad when he got there.”

Washausen grew up watching Abshier coach. He started Kindergarten around the same time Abshier arrived in Prairie Grove as defensive coordinator.

“I just loved football and was around the field house all the time,” Washausen said.

Washausen graduated from Prairie Grove in 2003, then earned a Bachelor’s of Science & Education and eventually a Master’s in Kinesiology from the University of Arkansas. He once held school records for most career receptions and yardage highlighted by a 24 catches for 525 yards as a junior at Prairie Grove in 2001.

“That was before they had guys like Isaac Disney and Dylan Soehner, who might have broke those records,” Washausen said.

Coaching Journey

Washausen took a job as head junior high coach at Palestine-Wheatley and assistant varsity football coach in 2009. After one year he returned to Prairie Grove where he served as assistant coach for varsity football and baseball as well as junior high defensive coordinator and head seventh grade football coach.

In the spring of 2014, Washausen became head baseball coach and senior high defensive coordinator at Westville, Okla. The next spring he was hired as defensive coordinator at Cedarville then named interim head coach midway through the 2015 season. Abshier serves as his mentor and inspiration.

“Him being my head coach, I knew in 11th grade that I wanted to be a head football coach,” Washausen said. “It was really tough on me when I left Prairie Grove. There were a few tears there. I knew I was leaving home, but I knew I had to leave in order to become a head coach.”

Washausen took the three rules by which Abshier operates: 1. Do what’s right; 2. Treat others the way you want to be treated; and 3. Do your best, and implemented those at Cedarville where they are posted in the weight room and locker room.

“In seventh grade I heard those and those rules kind of stuck with me, too,” Washausen said. “I can go on about his traits, but the main thing is I wanted to be like that guy. He just made you better, not just as a football player, but he also made you better as a person. He took time to show that he cared.”

Wing-T Offense

Washausen also took Abshier’s offense and installed the Wing-T at Cedarville.

“We do run the Wing-T. It’s something I know so well. I’ve been around this offense 20-to-25 years. It’s what I know best. It’s an offense that works,” Washausen said. “You can have inferior players and still beat the Nashvilles of the world. In 2012, we beat Nashville in the playoffs. We had no business beating them. They were bigger, faster and stronger than us. I think the Wing-T offense was a big reason for that.”

Prairie Grove went 12-1 overall and 7-0 in conference in 2012. The Tigers stormed their way into the State 4A semifinals with wins over Crossett (52-0), Pottsville (34-28), and Nashville (41-34) before losing to Stuttgart (32-15).

“The 2012 playoffs, of course they have went on and done better than that now,” Washausen said referring to the Tigers’ 2015 State Runner-up finish when they played Nashville for the State 4A championship at Little Rock’s War Memorial Stadium.

“For me, being there that year (2012), that’s a coaching memory I’ll take with me until I’m done coaching.”

Now, as Abshier (195107-2) nears the 200-win career milestone, Washausen salutes his high school coach.

“I know the history. I remember how bad Prairie Grove was before Coach Abshier got there. I’ve seen the wins and losses. I’ve seen the improvement of the program. He turned Prairie Grove into a winner,” Washausen said. “I also see now he’s coaching kids that he coached their fathers. All these generations of kids can tell stories of Coach Abshier. It’s really neat to see all the people that he’s impacted.”