By JASON KING
Leader sportswriter
If their result in the scrimmage against Searcy is any indication, this year’s Beebe Badgers could be dominant.
The Badgers shut out Searcy while posting eight scores of their own to dominate the practice game at Lion Stadium on Tuesday night.
It was the Lions’ first game back with the Spread offense, which suited Beebe coach John Shannon just fine.
“Defensively, we did really well,” Shannon said. “Our first two games are against Spread teams, so to get some time in against a Spread team gave us a pretty good look. We had 11 kids flying to the ball, which is what you want to see.”
The Badgers made minimal mistakes, with only one fumble and one holding penalty, but Shannon wants his team to be near perfect when it faces the Greenbrier Panthers on Friday, and is focusing on the details.
“There’s always something to work on,” Shannon said. “There’s little things like getting better angles and hitting the holes better.”
Shannon was pleased with the running attack.
“Our running was pretty balanced,” Shannon said. “We ran the option pretty well. Sammy Williams is our workhorse, and he did a good job running between the tackles. As far as halfbacks go, Victor Howell did a good job. He had a sweep that he took 70 yards for a score, and had some other good sweeps as well.”
The Internet heckling of the Searcy football program has already begun before an official game has been played, but Shannon was quick to defend his neighbors to the north.
“They’ll be fine. They’re just young,” Shannon said. “They threw their screens well and had some pretty good blocking going on. I don’t pay much attention to what people say on message boards. I think they will improve as the year goes on and win some games. They’re like us — they’re young and need to develop a little more speed. If they can do that, I think they’ll be alright.”
The Badgers will start the regular season on the road Friday at Greenbrier.