By JASON KING
Leader sportswriter
A 3-7 season for Cabot was one of the strongest indicators that 2011 was not the typical year for high-school football in the state of Arkansas. Sure, there were those never-ending general constants such as northwest dominance and more parity in the smaller classifications, but many teams akin to tradition and success struggled mightily as some powerhouses of old rose from the dust in a new era of glory.
But there was little glory for the Panthers this year. Even Mike Malham’s 30-plus years running the successful program was not enough to curtail the growing pains of a young squad trying to emerge from the shadows of a wildly productive group that netted Malham three 7A-Central Conference titles and four straight trips to the state playoffs since the 2007 season.
The Panthers did win their final two conference games of the year against Van Buren and Russellville, but did not accumulate enough “power points” to qualify for the playoffs. Maybe the Arkansas Activities Association can team up with the local McDonalds restaurants across the state and develop a program where teams can earn power points based on the amount of French fries they can eat in a week. It sure beats the heck out of a collector’s edition Shrek glass, and I’m pretty sure our Jacksonville Red Devils would prefer that over the current system that put them in the postseason as a lower seed than a team it tied with in the final standings and beat on the field.
The Red Devils proved they could play with just about anyone this year, except for West Memphis. With the exception of what seemed at times to be a revolving door at the quarterback position, Jacksonville displayed its most powerful lineup in years on its way to finishing tied for third in the 6A East Conference.
Many people said entering the 6A playoffs this year was a lot like the gifted and talented program at Cave City where everybody gets in, but the Red Devils punched their ticket the old-fashioned way, by finishing in the top half of their league, despite getting the short end of the screwy system.
Another year of Falcon football at North Pulaski leads to the question: will their head coach return next year? If Teodis Ingram comes back for a second season, it will be the first time since current athletic director Tony Bohannon stepped down following the 2008 season after six years as head coach. Rick Russell, currently head coach at Jacksonville, and Terrod Hatcher, his replacement in 2010, each lasted only one season.
The senior group leaving the Falcons program this year, a sizeable club with talent, strength and speed, had three head coaches in three seasons and went 2-28. Count your blessings, Cabot fans.
Basketball may be the hottest game in town at Sylvan Hills these days, but Bears football coach Jim Withrow is excited about the young talent coming up from the junior-high ranks at Hillside. The Bears fought excessive injuries and other personnel problems this season, and still found a way to have a shot at earning a playoff seed late in the year.
It didn’t pan out this season, but the talent cycles at Sylvan Hills are kind of funny. One group is nothing but baseball players, then the next will be basketball players, and so forth. Baseball had its turn back in 2006-09, now it’s obviously the basketball team that shines, so maybe that means the next group will be the new gridiron gang for the Bears.
The Beebe Badgers got new artificial turf on their field and won their first playoff game since 2008. But that’s nothing – they threw the ball 10 times in one game this year – no kidding. Next year, they may get even crazier and allow the media to watch a game from their press box. Talk about your wild fantasies!
Lonoke went to the playoffs after finishing 3-4 in the 4A-2 Conference, including a win over Newport and a loss to Batesville Southside. Remember the earlier comment about this not being a typical season? File that as further proof.
And finally, for the newest member in our coverage area, Carlisle, let’s just say those Bison have been a thrill to cover in 2011. Driving through the tiny town gives the impression of a community not large enough to support a successful football program, but go to Fred C. Hardke Field on a Friday night in September or October, and that impression will quickly change. That place is wild about football, and wild about their Bison for a reason – they’re really good.
In fact, they were the only team left standing in our area after last week, coming from a 16-0 deficit to beat Danville 22-16.
It’s a busy week ahead with the start of invitational basketball tournaments and the finals for 2A-4A football beginning on Friday, so store up some energy from all that leftover turkey and dressing and go watch some of our local prep athletes doing what they do best.
