By JASON KING
Leader sportswriter
High-school football teams usually look forward to Fridays.
It marks game day during the season, and the end of a hard week’s work during two-a-days. But for Lonoke, Friday has marked critical setbacks in the first two weeks of August.
On Aug. 6, senior receiver Scott Smith broke his collarbone while making a diving catch and was projected to be out for five weeks.
It was Lonoke’s first significant injury of summer camp and Smith’s absence was a big setback for the Jackrabbits.
But a broken ankle for junior quarterback Tarale Watson one week later, on Friday the 13th, could have been monumental.
Watson is scheduled for a medical evaluation next month, and the result could determine when, or if, he returns to the field.
“He’s going back on Sept. 27 and if everything looks good, they’re not ruling out him coming back at some point if everything is healing on its own,” Jackrabbits coach Doug Bost said.
The initial word Friday was Watson would have to wear a boot cast for up to three months, which meant until the end of the season.
Watson’s injury could have been even more disastrous without senior Logan DeWhitt on hand. Watson and DeWhitt battled for the quarterback spot throughout the summer, and Watson had just begun to emerge as the top candidate when his ankle was rolled during a tackling drill late Friday morning.
“I sat down and had a good one-hour meeting with Logan,” Bost said. “We have all the confidence in the world in him. He took about 90 percent of the snaps in 7-on-7, so the receivers are used to him.”
DeWhitt was scheduled to fill in at one of the receiver slots, and his move to quarterback has made way for sophomore Reed McKenzie to earn a starting receiver spot.
“He’s about 6-2 or 6-3, so he’s the same size kid as Logan,” Bost said of McKenzie. “He played receiver last year for the junior high, so he slides right in place there.”
Watson’s injury marked a bad end to an otherwise good week of practice for the Jackrabbits.
“The rest of the week, I was very pleased,” Bost said. “Even with the temperatures up like they were, everyone has been healthy, so the conditioning has to be there. We were pushing them and pushing them, and they kept responding.”
DeWhitt’s presence makes quarterback much less of a question mark, especially compared to Lonoke’s tailback situation.
Bost has gone with a rotation of three players at the spot, including defensive players T.J. Scott and Dre Offord, as well as Keli Bryant.
None of the three has made a push to lay claim to the position vacated by graduated all-state standout Brandon Smith, and now sophomore Eric Williams has emerged as a candidate.
“He’s about a 4.5 kid,” Bost said of Williams’ speed in the 40-yard dash and compared his speed to that of receiver Darius Scott.
“He’s a half-step slower than Darius, our fastest kid. He’s not a huge guy, about 5-6 or so, but he can duck behind those big linemen.”
Lonoke went with 4 p.m. starting times for its Monday and Tuesday practices before switching to 3 p.m. on Wednesday as the
Jackrabbits settle into their normal after-school routine.
It is the final week of practice Lonoke has to prepare for a home scrimmage against Oak Grove on Aug. 23.
Lonoke will begin the regular season against 8-4A Conference favorite Star City on Aug. 30 at the UAPB campus as part of the Hooten’s Kickoff Classic.
