By JEFFREY SMITH
Leader staff writer
The overpayment of $21,000 to Beebe Parks and Recreation director Lynn Hatcher for vehicle reimbursements was due to miscommunication and will not have to be repaid, according to Mayor Mike Robertson.
On Tuesday morning, he vetoed the city council’s Monday decision to fire Hatcher — made after an alderman discovered the parks director had received a monthly car allowance of $1,000 instead of the $500 he was supposed to get for using his own personal truck over the past 42 months.
A special council meeting was held Tuesday night. The mayor’s veto allowed Hatcher to represent himself at the disciplinary hearing.
The meeting went into a closed-door executive session to discuss the personnel matter, which did not happen on Monday. Hatcher was not present at that first meeting. The mayor said Hatcher was having heart surgery, but Robertson did not know it had been rescheduled to Thursday.
On Tuesday, before the second meeting, the mayor and city clerk/treasurer Carol Westergren looked at the May 2012 council meeting minutes from when Hatcher was hired. The mayor said there was nothing in the minutes about the salary or the vehicle allowance. Hatcher’s salary is $40,019 a year.
Robertson said he had a typed letter he had written, but Westergren was not sure she received it. The mayor explained, “I can’t swear one way or the other,” as Westergren added, “I had nothing in my office on this matter.”
Robertson continued, “Whatever was communicated back in 2012, there is no way for (Westergren) to remember, or I to remember, if it got communicated in a letter or in verbal form, or how it was communicated.
“I don’t think what happened was a deliberate action on anybody’s part. It is a terrible thing that happened. It is apparent there are multiple interpretations of things that transpired,” he noted.
The council voted for Hatcher to stop receiving a vehicle allowance starting with the next pay period. The city will instead purchase a newFord truck for the parks department under state bid immediately for $22,146.
“I know we acted hastily with the decision and that didn’t afford (Hatcher) the right to a hearing or due process. The line of questioning (Monday) night was directed at me, and I answered them honestly. But answering the questions did not shed a good light on the city at the time,” Robertson said.
“Mr. Hatcher I apologize for any misinterpretation that I had,” Robertson said.
“Thank you for hearing me out…To get the news like I did, emotions and thoughts run wild with something like this,” Hatcher said.
Alderman David Pruitt told The Leader on Thursday, “I believe in my heart that we made the right decision Monday night to fire Lynn Hatcher. I don’t understand how five of the other council members could allow Hatcher to keep his job,” Pruitt said.
Pruitt said on Tuesday the mayor sent council members an email notifying that he vetoed their action.
“I thought the mayor felt the same way,” Pruitt said.
Pruitt said on Tuesday’s meeting the council made no motion to override the mayor’s veto. State law requires the council needs two-third majority to override a mayoral veto. Pruitt said he believed no one else was going to make a motion, and if he did, it would not get support, so he declined.
Pruitt said nobody questioned if Hatcher should pay the money back.
Pruitt said he would have made a motion requiring Hatcher to do so, if Pruitt knew he needed to do so.
Pruitt said he is still new to the council and still learning since coming on in January. Pruitt said he noticed Hatcher’s vehicle reimbursements when it was itemized for the 2016 parks budget.
According to Pruitt, Hatcher said in Tuesday’s meeting that the money was an entitlement for what he’s done for the city.
Friday, November 13, 2015
Tuesday, November 10, 2015
SPORTS STORY >> Razorback fans still relishing memorable overtime in Oxford
By RAY BENTON
Leader sports editor
Saturday’s SEC West showdown in Oxford, Miss., will go down as one of the wildest and most exciting in Arkansas football history.
School records were broken, conference milestones were matched and one of the most memorable endings in college football history took place as Arkansas beat Ole Miss 53-52 in overtime.
It’s the second instant all-time classic the two teams have played in Oxford this century. On Nov. 3, 2001, Arkansas beat Ole Miss 58-56 in seven overtimes.
Ole Miss fans still call that game, “The Longest Day.”
In this year’s game, Arkansas tight end Hunter Henry’s backwards heave on fourth down and 25 in overtime has spawned a series of nicknames as well. Some were the Henry Heave, the backwards Hail Mary and the Hog and Lateral. The best one, though, is the Hotty Totty Toss A Mighty, taken from the famous Hotty Totty Ole Miss cheer.
A debate about the legality of the play raged until as recently as yesterday. The debate started on Saturday night as people cited the rule that a fumble could not be advanced on fourth down by anyone except the person who fumbled.
What that interpretation got wrong was that another rule defines a fumble as a loss of possession by any means other than passing, kicking or successfully handing. Hunter Henry intentionally passed the ball backwards. That is clear from the video. He was 15 yards down field. The ball sailed 30 feet into the air and came down behind the original line of scrimmage. No fumble in the history of football has ever flown that far.
But on Monday, a website called footballscoop.com began challenging the ruling again on Twitter, saying it wasn’t a backward pass because it was not aimed at a specific player.
This interpretation depends on two assumptions that are not in the rule book.
Footballscoop.com tweeted, “once it hits the ground, that’s an intentional fumble on fourth down. Once touched by someone else, ball is dead.”
The mistake footballscoop makes is that there is no rule that says a pass has to be aimed at a specific target, and there’s no rule that says a backwards pass, even an indiscriminate one, becomes a fumble if it hits the ground.
There is one ironic twist to all this that works in Arkansas’ favor, and that is that the fourth-down fumble rule was added to keep teams from doing just what Henry did. But the Hogs’ win is still legal because of the simple technicality that only fumbles are referred to in the fourth down rule. And the words “fumble” and “backwards pass” are clearly defined as two different things elsewhere in the rule book.
One thing not in dispute is that Saturday’s performance by Razorback senior Brandon Allen is one of the best games by a quarterback in Arkansas football history. Allen completed 33 of 45 pass attempts for 442 yards and six touchdowns. The yardage is the second-most in school history, and the six touchdown passes breaks the old record of five set by Tyler Wilson a few years ago.
It’s a bit of solace to Allen, who has spent most of his career as one of the most maligned quarterbacks in Arkansas history. Some of the criticism he has received since being named the starter his sophomore year is deserved, but most of it has been over the top.
Saturday’s game was frustrating to watch for a defensive enthusiast’s, but the offensive onslaught made for an entertaining shootout and quarterback duel between, at least statistically, the top two quarterbacks in the SEC.
Ole Miss’ Chad Kelly leads the league in passing yards (3,224) and touchdowns (23), and has completed 65.7 percent of his passes this season. Allen is second in the SEC in passing yards (2,476) and touchdowns (21), and has completed 64.9 percent of his passes.
Allen also boasts the league’s highest quarterback rating at 164.7, with Kelly having the second-highest rating at 155.0. Allen does a better job of taking care of the football, with only five interceptions this year and just 10 over the last two seasons. Kelly has thrown 12 picks this season alone.
Neither team had a turnover Saturday. Kelly became only the second player in school history with 300-plus yards passing and 100-plus yards rushing in a game. The other guy to do that is Archie Manning.
Even with Kelly’s remarkable performance, Allen was the one who earned the College Football Performance Awards group’s National Player of the Week honor.
It looks as though Arkansas has found its groove offensively. After starting the year a disappointing 1-3, the Razorbacks have won four of their last five games, with their only loss coming to white-hot Alabama, who has the best front seven in college football.
That front seven dominated No. 2 LSU on Saturday, as the Crimson Tide rolled to a 30-16 win over the Tigers.
The Razorbacks’ win Saturday knocked the Rebels off their path toward what could’ve been their first SEC West title, and for the third-consecutive game, the Razorbacks have scored at least 50 points, which is the first time that’s happened in 99 years.
Arkansas is now one win away from bowl eligibility for the second year in a row. With three games remaining and Missouri (4-5, 1-5) left to play in the regular-season finale, the possibility of playing in the postseason is now likely.
It’s not out of the realm of possibility that Arkansas could win the rest of its regular-season games.
The biggest challenge of the three remaining opponents is next week at LSU (7-1, 4-1). The Tigers were the No. 2-ranked team in the country entering Saturday’s showdown at Alabama.
The Tigers have the best player in the country in Leonard Fournette, who entered Saturday’s game leading the nation in rushing, but was held to 31 yards on 19 carries by the Crimson Tide.
Recent history has shown that despite what the two teams are ranked or where the game is played, the Arkansas-LUS game is unpredictable.
If Arkansas’ offense can play close to the level it did against Ole Miss, it will compete with LSU. The schedule change that moved Arkansas’ annual Friday-after-Thanksgiving game with LSU to this week also helps Arkansas, because the Hogs catch the Tigers the week after Alabama.
SEC teams that play another SEC team the week after playing Alabama have a horrendous winning percentage, somewhere around 10 percent.
Mississippi State (7-3, 3-2) is another game that Arkansas probably won’t be favored in, but it’s another game that should be competitive in Fayetteville. That leaves Missouri at home on Nov. 27, a game Arkansas should win.
If the Razorbacks lose the next two games, the win they should get over Missouri will still put the Hogs in the postseason. Considering how the team started this season, Many Razorback fans will be excited about a bowl game.
Graham Powell contributed information for this column.
Leader sports editor
Saturday’s SEC West showdown in Oxford, Miss., will go down as one of the wildest and most exciting in Arkansas football history.
School records were broken, conference milestones were matched and one of the most memorable endings in college football history took place as Arkansas beat Ole Miss 53-52 in overtime.
It’s the second instant all-time classic the two teams have played in Oxford this century. On Nov. 3, 2001, Arkansas beat Ole Miss 58-56 in seven overtimes.
Ole Miss fans still call that game, “The Longest Day.”
In this year’s game, Arkansas tight end Hunter Henry’s backwards heave on fourth down and 25 in overtime has spawned a series of nicknames as well. Some were the Henry Heave, the backwards Hail Mary and the Hog and Lateral. The best one, though, is the Hotty Totty Toss A Mighty, taken from the famous Hotty Totty Ole Miss cheer.
A debate about the legality of the play raged until as recently as yesterday. The debate started on Saturday night as people cited the rule that a fumble could not be advanced on fourth down by anyone except the person who fumbled.
What that interpretation got wrong was that another rule defines a fumble as a loss of possession by any means other than passing, kicking or successfully handing. Hunter Henry intentionally passed the ball backwards. That is clear from the video. He was 15 yards down field. The ball sailed 30 feet into the air and came down behind the original line of scrimmage. No fumble in the history of football has ever flown that far.
But on Monday, a website called footballscoop.com began challenging the ruling again on Twitter, saying it wasn’t a backward pass because it was not aimed at a specific player.
This interpretation depends on two assumptions that are not in the rule book.
Footballscoop.com tweeted, “once it hits the ground, that’s an intentional fumble on fourth down. Once touched by someone else, ball is dead.”
The mistake footballscoop makes is that there is no rule that says a pass has to be aimed at a specific target, and there’s no rule that says a backwards pass, even an indiscriminate one, becomes a fumble if it hits the ground.
There is one ironic twist to all this that works in Arkansas’ favor, and that is that the fourth-down fumble rule was added to keep teams from doing just what Henry did. But the Hogs’ win is still legal because of the simple technicality that only fumbles are referred to in the fourth down rule. And the words “fumble” and “backwards pass” are clearly defined as two different things elsewhere in the rule book.
One thing not in dispute is that Saturday’s performance by Razorback senior Brandon Allen is one of the best games by a quarterback in Arkansas football history. Allen completed 33 of 45 pass attempts for 442 yards and six touchdowns. The yardage is the second-most in school history, and the six touchdown passes breaks the old record of five set by Tyler Wilson a few years ago.
It’s a bit of solace to Allen, who has spent most of his career as one of the most maligned quarterbacks in Arkansas history. Some of the criticism he has received since being named the starter his sophomore year is deserved, but most of it has been over the top.
Saturday’s game was frustrating to watch for a defensive enthusiast’s, but the offensive onslaught made for an entertaining shootout and quarterback duel between, at least statistically, the top two quarterbacks in the SEC.
Ole Miss’ Chad Kelly leads the league in passing yards (3,224) and touchdowns (23), and has completed 65.7 percent of his passes this season. Allen is second in the SEC in passing yards (2,476) and touchdowns (21), and has completed 64.9 percent of his passes.
Allen also boasts the league’s highest quarterback rating at 164.7, with Kelly having the second-highest rating at 155.0. Allen does a better job of taking care of the football, with only five interceptions this year and just 10 over the last two seasons. Kelly has thrown 12 picks this season alone.
Neither team had a turnover Saturday. Kelly became only the second player in school history with 300-plus yards passing and 100-plus yards rushing in a game. The other guy to do that is Archie Manning.
Even with Kelly’s remarkable performance, Allen was the one who earned the College Football Performance Awards group’s National Player of the Week honor.
It looks as though Arkansas has found its groove offensively. After starting the year a disappointing 1-3, the Razorbacks have won four of their last five games, with their only loss coming to white-hot Alabama, who has the best front seven in college football.
That front seven dominated No. 2 LSU on Saturday, as the Crimson Tide rolled to a 30-16 win over the Tigers.
The Razorbacks’ win Saturday knocked the Rebels off their path toward what could’ve been their first SEC West title, and for the third-consecutive game, the Razorbacks have scored at least 50 points, which is the first time that’s happened in 99 years.
Arkansas is now one win away from bowl eligibility for the second year in a row. With three games remaining and Missouri (4-5, 1-5) left to play in the regular-season finale, the possibility of playing in the postseason is now likely.
It’s not out of the realm of possibility that Arkansas could win the rest of its regular-season games.
The biggest challenge of the three remaining opponents is next week at LSU (7-1, 4-1). The Tigers were the No. 2-ranked team in the country entering Saturday’s showdown at Alabama.
The Tigers have the best player in the country in Leonard Fournette, who entered Saturday’s game leading the nation in rushing, but was held to 31 yards on 19 carries by the Crimson Tide.
Recent history has shown that despite what the two teams are ranked or where the game is played, the Arkansas-LUS game is unpredictable.
If Arkansas’ offense can play close to the level it did against Ole Miss, it will compete with LSU. The schedule change that moved Arkansas’ annual Friday-after-Thanksgiving game with LSU to this week also helps Arkansas, because the Hogs catch the Tigers the week after Alabama.
SEC teams that play another SEC team the week after playing Alabama have a horrendous winning percentage, somewhere around 10 percent.
Mississippi State (7-3, 3-2) is another game that Arkansas probably won’t be favored in, but it’s another game that should be competitive in Fayetteville. That leaves Missouri at home on Nov. 27, a game Arkansas should win.
If the Razorbacks lose the next two games, the win they should get over Missouri will still put the Hogs in the postseason. Considering how the team started this season, Many Razorback fans will be excited about a bowl game.
Graham Powell contributed information for this column.
SPORTS STORY >> Playoffs begin as locals all hit road
By RAY BENTON
Leader sports editor
Five local teams qualified for their respective football playoffs, and four hit the road this week for first-round games as lower-seeded visitors. The Cabot Panthers finished 10-0 and earned a first-round bye in the Class 7A playoffs.
Beebe is the highest seed of all the local teams playing this week. The Badgers take a three seed from the 5A-Central into Greenbrier, where it will play a rematch of its week-one victory over the 5A-West second-seeded Panthers.
The Badgers beat Greenbrier 41-27 in a Kickoff Classic game at War Memorial Stadium, but many people now believe the Panthers will be the one to advance to the second round of the Class 5A playoffs.
The Badgers (5-4) are a different team than the third-ranked squad that handled Greenbrier with relative ease in early September. The very next week, starting halfback and safety Jo’Vaughn Wyrick suffered a season-ending broken leg against Lonoke. Wyrick rushed for 213 yards in the win over Greenbrier. Since then, Beebe has lost four other players for the season, including three other starters.
After losing Wyrick, the Badgers lost starting quarterback Justin Burlison for the Vilonia game, and lost that game 28-18. In the conference opener, the second- and third- string quarterbacks were injured, one for the season, in a 14-13 loss to McClellan. Burlison returned for the Jacksonville game in week five, but suffered a season-ending head injuryin the second quarter of that game. Beebe still pulled out a 13-12 win, but then lost 49-13 to Pulaski Academy, and was sitting at 2-4 overall and 1-2 in conference play after six games.
Shannon says the biggest key to the team’s turnaround has been leadership, particularly from the senior class.
“These guys just keep coming to work every day. When an underclassman messes something up, it’s been correction and encouragement instead of finger pointing and saying, you know, ‘it’s my senior year and you’re messing it up.’ I couldn’t be more proud of my seniors than I already am.”
SCORING PROWESS
Sylvan Hills has a big test as it takes on the No. 2 ranked Warriors and their All-State Camden-Fairview transfer Damarea Crockett.
Sylvan Hills once held the state’s high scoring average, but that now belongs to LRCA. The 10-0 Warriors average 50.3 points per game and have not been held below 40 points all season. They’ve given up at least three touchdowns in six of their 10 games. Sylvan Hills averaged 57 points per game through five games, but have averaged 25.8 since then.
UNFAMILIAR FOE
Lonoke (5-5) looks like an underdog when comparing its record to the 8-1 Pirates, but this could be a close game. The 4A-3 is not a powerhouse conference, and Gosnell’s loss to league champ Pocahontas was a 40-0 blowout.
Pocahontas opened the season with a 64-39 win over Riverview, who Lonoke beat 38-21 in last week’s regular-season finale.
HORNETS HOT
Carlisle’s opponent enters the playoffs on an eight-game winning streak. The Hackett Hornets have not lost since a 22-16 defeat to 2A-4 champion Hector in week two.
Hackett has played Carlisle’s conference mate Palestine-Wheatley.
The week after Carlisle went to PWHS and won 27-26, The Patriots traveled to Hackett and lost 46-26.
Leader sports editor
Five local teams qualified for their respective football playoffs, and four hit the road this week for first-round games as lower-seeded visitors. The Cabot Panthers finished 10-0 and earned a first-round bye in the Class 7A playoffs.
Beebe is the highest seed of all the local teams playing this week. The Badgers take a three seed from the 5A-Central into Greenbrier, where it will play a rematch of its week-one victory over the 5A-West second-seeded Panthers.
The Badgers beat Greenbrier 41-27 in a Kickoff Classic game at War Memorial Stadium, but many people now believe the Panthers will be the one to advance to the second round of the Class 5A playoffs.
The Badgers (5-4) are a different team than the third-ranked squad that handled Greenbrier with relative ease in early September. The very next week, starting halfback and safety Jo’Vaughn Wyrick suffered a season-ending broken leg against Lonoke. Wyrick rushed for 213 yards in the win over Greenbrier. Since then, Beebe has lost four other players for the season, including three other starters.
After losing Wyrick, the Badgers lost starting quarterback Justin Burlison for the Vilonia game, and lost that game 28-18. In the conference opener, the second- and third- string quarterbacks were injured, one for the season, in a 14-13 loss to McClellan. Burlison returned for the Jacksonville game in week five, but suffered a season-ending head injuryin the second quarter of that game. Beebe still pulled out a 13-12 win, but then lost 49-13 to Pulaski Academy, and was sitting at 2-4 overall and 1-2 in conference play after six games.
Shannon says the biggest key to the team’s turnaround has been leadership, particularly from the senior class.
“These guys just keep coming to work every day. When an underclassman messes something up, it’s been correction and encouragement instead of finger pointing and saying, you know, ‘it’s my senior year and you’re messing it up.’ I couldn’t be more proud of my seniors than I already am.”
SCORING PROWESS
Sylvan Hills has a big test as it takes on the No. 2 ranked Warriors and their All-State Camden-Fairview transfer Damarea Crockett.
Sylvan Hills once held the state’s high scoring average, but that now belongs to LRCA. The 10-0 Warriors average 50.3 points per game and have not been held below 40 points all season. They’ve given up at least three touchdowns in six of their 10 games. Sylvan Hills averaged 57 points per game through five games, but have averaged 25.8 since then.
UNFAMILIAR FOE
Lonoke (5-5) looks like an underdog when comparing its record to the 8-1 Pirates, but this could be a close game. The 4A-3 is not a powerhouse conference, and Gosnell’s loss to league champ Pocahontas was a 40-0 blowout.
Pocahontas opened the season with a 64-39 win over Riverview, who Lonoke beat 38-21 in last week’s regular-season finale.
HORNETS HOT
Carlisle’s opponent enters the playoffs on an eight-game winning streak. The Hackett Hornets have not lost since a 22-16 defeat to 2A-4 champion Hector in week two.
Hackett has played Carlisle’s conference mate Palestine-Wheatley.
The week after Carlisle went to PWHS and won 27-26, The Patriots traveled to Hackett and lost 46-26.
SPORTS STORY >> Badger rumbling towards 5,000
By GRAHAM POWELL
Leader sportswriter
Beebe senior fullback Trip Smith recently broke the school’s career rushing record, but that feat has yet to sink in with Smith, whose focus is solely on helping his team win Friday’s first-round playoff game at Greenbrier.
Smith broke the school rushing record in the team’s week-eight win at J.A. Fair on Oct. 23. Going into that game, Smith needed only 69 yards to surpass previous record-holder Nic Bradley’s career mark of 4,640 rushing yards set in 1995. Smith got 104 yards in that game to help the Badgers to a dominant 42-6 win over the War Eagles.
The next week, which was the Badgers’ regular-season finale, Smith ran for more than 240 yards and two touchdowns in the team’s 35-28 win over Sylvan Hills. Smith now has a career total of 4,916 yards rushing. He’s done it on 828 carries, giving him a career average of 5.9 yards per carry.
“He’s been pretty special for us,” said Beebe coach John Shannon of his senior fullback. “He’s 84 yards away from 5,000 on his career. You know, you hear about kids rushing for 5,000 yards. Well, most of the time they’re playing as freshmen, and he’s done it in 30 games.
“It’ll be 31 high school games this Friday night. That’s a pretty special kid.”
Smith said it’s great to be the school’s all-time leading rusher, but added that his main focus is on winning this week’s playoff game against Greenbrier – the same Greenbrier team Beebe beat, 41-27, in the regular-season opener at War Memorial Stadium on Sept. 1.
“It’s all cool,” said Smith. “I feel great about it, but right now we’re focused on winning games. After the season ends, I’ll probably be more focused on that. But right now, I’m just focused on getting ready for Greenbrier.”
Smith has led the Badger backfield since he was a sophomore. That year, he had his best statistical season as a Badger, carrying the ball 312 times for 1,928 yards and 23 touchdowns.
It was a breakout season for the up-and-coming Smith, but he wasn’t expected to be relied on that heavily going into that 2013 season. In fact, originally, he wasn’t even expected to be a fullback, which is the feature running back position in Shannon’s Dead-T offense.
“He wasn’t even technically a fullback,” Shannon said. “A kid had quit and we were in search of a fullback. During spring ball, we kept looking at him, and the more we looked at him the more we liked him. So he kind of won the job in spring ball.
“Come his sophomore year, we weren’t planning on giving him that many touches. But that first game he ran for over 280-something yards in his first high school football game. From that point on, we knew we needed to get him the ball quite a bit.”
“I started playing in seventh grade,” Smith said, “but up until 10th grade I was a halfback and rotated in at the right side of the fullback, and I played safety. I started at safety.
“Coach Shannon said the (fullback) job was open, and I went in and won the competition I guess.”
Smith gave the bulk of the credit to his offensive linemen for the success he had as a 10th grader.
“I felt my sophomore year was mainly because of my offensive linemen,” Smith said. “I didn’t have much experience. I was just kind of letting them do all the work and I was just going through the hole. It was kind of a learning experience for me.”
After a phenomenal sophomore campaign, big things were expected from Smith going into his junior year, but just before the season started, he suffered a gruesome weightlifting injury to the upper end of his finger.
“It took a chunk of it,” Smith said of the injury. “Some of the bone was taken off, too. There was a piece (of flesh) just sitting on the dumbbell, they told me. When I sat it (the dumbbell) down, I knew I smashed it. I was feeling pain, but I didn’t think it was like a huge deal.
“Then I saw people running when they saw it, and I looked down and I was like, wow.”
Even though he came close to losing that part of his finger, Smith had it reattached and was back on the field for the team’s first conference game in week four – meaning he only missed the first three games of last season.
The injured finger was nowhere near 100 percent when he started playing again, but a cast he wore around it helped protect it and allowed him to get back onto the field and start carrying the ball again.
“They gave me a big ole cast to put on my finger,” Smith said. “We had to work with it for a while to make sure I could secure the ball and not fumble. There were a few times in the first couple of games where it got hit, and the initial pain, it felt like I had reinjured it.”
Smith said he’s always nervous before games, but he said even more so that first game back against McClellan. His first carry in that game, though, went for 30 yards, and he said that was a big help in easing his anxiety the rest of the way.
“I’m usually nervous before games, but I was especially nervous for that one,” Smith said. “My first carry was a trap right up the middle, and it went for 30 yards and it just loosened me up a little for the rest of the game.”
Smith said his finger fully healed toward the end of the regular season, which helped him contribute even more to the team’s magical run to the Class 5A state semifinals. Despite missing the first three games of last season, he finished 2014 with 262 carries for 1,643 yards and 18 touchdowns.
Those numbers once again led the Beebe backfield, but the Badgers had another 1,000-yard rusher in 2014 in halfback Jo’Vaughn Wyrick. Wyrick averaged a whopping 14.3 yards per carry last season, and he and Smith had become the thunder and lightning duo of Beebe’s backfield.
Unfortunately for Beebe, Wyrick suffered a season-ending leg injury toward the end of the first half in the team’s week-two game at Lonoke. Smith and Wyrick are teammates, but also close friends off the field. Smith described what it was like to see his teammate and friend being carted off the field that Friday night.
“When he first went down, I was kind of optimistic that it was just a stinger and that maybe he’d get back up in a little bit,” Smith said. “Even when he went to the hospital, I was trying to stay positive. When I heard that it was broken, I was kind of heartbroken, especially for him.
“He worked so hard to get where he was, and to just get it taken away like that, it hurt.”
Others have stepped in to try and fill the void that Wyrick left, but it’s once again been Smith that’s carried the bulk of the load on offense this season. For the third-consecutive year, Smith is the team’s leading rusher, and he enters Friday’s first-round playoff game at Greenbrier with 254 carries for 1,345 yards and 13 touchdowns this season.
Smith is a proven standout on the gridiron, but he also stands out in the classroom. Smith ranks in the top five percent of his class with a 4.1 cumulative grade point average, and he scored a 30 on his ACT.
“He’s a straight-A student,” Shannon said. “He’s a yes sir, no sir type of kid – just a hard worker. It’s a blessing to have a kid that does well in the classroom and on the football field, and he’s just a good kid.
“You don’t have to worry about him getting in trouble in classes. You don’t have to worry about him getting in trouble out on the streets. He’s just an incredible kid. He’s going to work hard every day and do everything you ask him to do, and like I said, he’s a special athlete, too.”
“There are some days that are easier than others,” Smith said of balancing school work and football, “but most of the time I can get through it.”
With a 4.1 GPA and score of 30 on the ACT, Smith can get a full-paid academic scholarship to nearly any school of his choosing, at least in state. He said he doesn’t yet know where he’ll attend college, or if he’ll even choose to play football at the next level.
As of now, his focus is on the present and doing his best in the classroom and on the football field, where the Badgers have won four of their last five games. As far as doing his best on the football field, though, the two-time All-State fullback doesn’t do it for personal records or accolades. He does it for his team, which he says is like family.
“It feels like a family,” Smith said. “We’re like a brotherhood here. It feels like you go in every day, working hard to please your family, and make sure that you’re not letting them down.”
Leader sportswriter
Beebe senior fullback Trip Smith recently broke the school’s career rushing record, but that feat has yet to sink in with Smith, whose focus is solely on helping his team win Friday’s first-round playoff game at Greenbrier.
Smith broke the school rushing record in the team’s week-eight win at J.A. Fair on Oct. 23. Going into that game, Smith needed only 69 yards to surpass previous record-holder Nic Bradley’s career mark of 4,640 rushing yards set in 1995. Smith got 104 yards in that game to help the Badgers to a dominant 42-6 win over the War Eagles.
The next week, which was the Badgers’ regular-season finale, Smith ran for more than 240 yards and two touchdowns in the team’s 35-28 win over Sylvan Hills. Smith now has a career total of 4,916 yards rushing. He’s done it on 828 carries, giving him a career average of 5.9 yards per carry.
“He’s been pretty special for us,” said Beebe coach John Shannon of his senior fullback. “He’s 84 yards away from 5,000 on his career. You know, you hear about kids rushing for 5,000 yards. Well, most of the time they’re playing as freshmen, and he’s done it in 30 games.
“It’ll be 31 high school games this Friday night. That’s a pretty special kid.”
Smith said it’s great to be the school’s all-time leading rusher, but added that his main focus is on winning this week’s playoff game against Greenbrier – the same Greenbrier team Beebe beat, 41-27, in the regular-season opener at War Memorial Stadium on Sept. 1.
“It’s all cool,” said Smith. “I feel great about it, but right now we’re focused on winning games. After the season ends, I’ll probably be more focused on that. But right now, I’m just focused on getting ready for Greenbrier.”
Smith has led the Badger backfield since he was a sophomore. That year, he had his best statistical season as a Badger, carrying the ball 312 times for 1,928 yards and 23 touchdowns.
It was a breakout season for the up-and-coming Smith, but he wasn’t expected to be relied on that heavily going into that 2013 season. In fact, originally, he wasn’t even expected to be a fullback, which is the feature running back position in Shannon’s Dead-T offense.
“He wasn’t even technically a fullback,” Shannon said. “A kid had quit and we were in search of a fullback. During spring ball, we kept looking at him, and the more we looked at him the more we liked him. So he kind of won the job in spring ball.
“Come his sophomore year, we weren’t planning on giving him that many touches. But that first game he ran for over 280-something yards in his first high school football game. From that point on, we knew we needed to get him the ball quite a bit.”
“I started playing in seventh grade,” Smith said, “but up until 10th grade I was a halfback and rotated in at the right side of the fullback, and I played safety. I started at safety.
“Coach Shannon said the (fullback) job was open, and I went in and won the competition I guess.”
Smith gave the bulk of the credit to his offensive linemen for the success he had as a 10th grader.
“I felt my sophomore year was mainly because of my offensive linemen,” Smith said. “I didn’t have much experience. I was just kind of letting them do all the work and I was just going through the hole. It was kind of a learning experience for me.”
After a phenomenal sophomore campaign, big things were expected from Smith going into his junior year, but just before the season started, he suffered a gruesome weightlifting injury to the upper end of his finger.
“It took a chunk of it,” Smith said of the injury. “Some of the bone was taken off, too. There was a piece (of flesh) just sitting on the dumbbell, they told me. When I sat it (the dumbbell) down, I knew I smashed it. I was feeling pain, but I didn’t think it was like a huge deal.
“Then I saw people running when they saw it, and I looked down and I was like, wow.”
Even though he came close to losing that part of his finger, Smith had it reattached and was back on the field for the team’s first conference game in week four – meaning he only missed the first three games of last season.
The injured finger was nowhere near 100 percent when he started playing again, but a cast he wore around it helped protect it and allowed him to get back onto the field and start carrying the ball again.
“They gave me a big ole cast to put on my finger,” Smith said. “We had to work with it for a while to make sure I could secure the ball and not fumble. There were a few times in the first couple of games where it got hit, and the initial pain, it felt like I had reinjured it.”
Smith said he’s always nervous before games, but he said even more so that first game back against McClellan. His first carry in that game, though, went for 30 yards, and he said that was a big help in easing his anxiety the rest of the way.
“I’m usually nervous before games, but I was especially nervous for that one,” Smith said. “My first carry was a trap right up the middle, and it went for 30 yards and it just loosened me up a little for the rest of the game.”
Smith said his finger fully healed toward the end of the regular season, which helped him contribute even more to the team’s magical run to the Class 5A state semifinals. Despite missing the first three games of last season, he finished 2014 with 262 carries for 1,643 yards and 18 touchdowns.
Those numbers once again led the Beebe backfield, but the Badgers had another 1,000-yard rusher in 2014 in halfback Jo’Vaughn Wyrick. Wyrick averaged a whopping 14.3 yards per carry last season, and he and Smith had become the thunder and lightning duo of Beebe’s backfield.
Unfortunately for Beebe, Wyrick suffered a season-ending leg injury toward the end of the first half in the team’s week-two game at Lonoke. Smith and Wyrick are teammates, but also close friends off the field. Smith described what it was like to see his teammate and friend being carted off the field that Friday night.
“When he first went down, I was kind of optimistic that it was just a stinger and that maybe he’d get back up in a little bit,” Smith said. “Even when he went to the hospital, I was trying to stay positive. When I heard that it was broken, I was kind of heartbroken, especially for him.
“He worked so hard to get where he was, and to just get it taken away like that, it hurt.”
Others have stepped in to try and fill the void that Wyrick left, but it’s once again been Smith that’s carried the bulk of the load on offense this season. For the third-consecutive year, Smith is the team’s leading rusher, and he enters Friday’s first-round playoff game at Greenbrier with 254 carries for 1,345 yards and 13 touchdowns this season.
Smith is a proven standout on the gridiron, but he also stands out in the classroom. Smith ranks in the top five percent of his class with a 4.1 cumulative grade point average, and he scored a 30 on his ACT.
“He’s a straight-A student,” Shannon said. “He’s a yes sir, no sir type of kid – just a hard worker. It’s a blessing to have a kid that does well in the classroom and on the football field, and he’s just a good kid.
“You don’t have to worry about him getting in trouble in classes. You don’t have to worry about him getting in trouble out on the streets. He’s just an incredible kid. He’s going to work hard every day and do everything you ask him to do, and like I said, he’s a special athlete, too.”
“There are some days that are easier than others,” Smith said of balancing school work and football, “but most of the time I can get through it.”
With a 4.1 GPA and score of 30 on the ACT, Smith can get a full-paid academic scholarship to nearly any school of his choosing, at least in state. He said he doesn’t yet know where he’ll attend college, or if he’ll even choose to play football at the next level.
As of now, his focus is on the present and doing his best in the classroom and on the football field, where the Badgers have won four of their last five games. As far as doing his best on the football field, though, the two-time All-State fullback doesn’t do it for personal records or accolades. He does it for his team, which he says is like family.
“It feels like a family,” Smith said. “We’re like a brotherhood here. It feels like you go in every day, working hard to please your family, and make sure that you’re not letting them down.”
EDITORIAL >> Can’t stand heat, blame the media
I never did give them hell. I just told the truth, and they thought it was hell.”
— Harry S. Truman
Mike Huckabee and Gov. Chris Christie found themselves relegated to the undercard at last night’s Republican debate on Fox Business News, dealing a blow to their campaigns. Don’t be surprised if both candidates drop out before the end of the month.
Republicans who thought last month’s CNBC debate was biased shouldn’t have expected an easy pass in Milwaukee on Tuesday night. Fox journalists may wear kid gloves when they interview Republican hopefuls, but the panel chosen for the debates even on Fox have shown an admirable toughness toward the candidates.
The questions were no worse than what were lobbed at them on Fox News. The candidates have now taken control of the debates from the Republican National Committee, which negotiated the terms with broadcasters, who have lobbed tough questions that have often exposed the candidates’ weaknesses.
Several candidates have submitted their demands to the networks for less confrontational debates, but even Fox couldn’t agree to them. If the candidates expected less hostile questions from Fox Business anchors Maria Bartiromo and Neil Cavuto at Tuesday’s debate, Wall Street Journal editor-in-chief Gerard Baker, a seasoned journalist with a solid reputation, showed them he’s nobody’s fool. Both Fox and the Wall Street Journal are owned by News Corp.
To be sure, Bartiromo has participated in Clinton Foundation events, but so has the Murdoch family, who controls Fox. If the Republican candidates think that shows a left-wing bias, they should organize their own debates funded by the Koch brothers.
The CNBC moderators were perhaps less prepared, but they asked some pretty good questions, except for the softball opener about the candidates’ weaknesses (which none of them answered). Compare that to what CNN’s Anderson Cooper asked Hillary Clinton at the start of the first Democratic debate: “Will you say anything to get elected?”
If Huckabee thought the questions were often snarky, let’s hope he gets more of them should he stay in the race.
The candidates should stop complaining and take questions even from the most hostile interviewers. Invite Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong-il. Let’s see how the candidates handle those two villains. We should find out who is best prepared for the toughest job in the world.
If you want to be the heavyweight champion of the world, it’s not enough to get in the ring with Muhammad Ali and then duck. Come out swinging, or don’t bother asking the American people to elect you.
“I’m happy to take questions from a Democrat, a Republican, an independent,” Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal said. “I’m even happy to take questions from a socialist.” Good for him. The presidency is not for wimps.
“If you can’t handle that stage, you’ve got no chance of handling Hillary Clinton,” said Gov. Chris Christie. “I’m not one of these whiners and complainers. Any debate they put on, I’ll show up cause I’ll do just fine.”
But, as their poll numbers sank, Huckabee and Christie realized weeks ago they wouldn’t qualify for the main debate on Fox Business Network.
“I have enough humility to know I gotta get better,” said Bush after his poor performance.He has a lot to be humble about, but at least he didn’t blame his shortcomings on the moderators.
Sen. Ted Cruz, who complained the loudest about the slanted questions in the earlier debates, accuses the Democratic candidates of sounding like the Bolsheviks (Soviet communists) and the Mensheviks (Russian social democrats).
Sometimes it’s hard to tell which faction he belongs to: “The truth of the matter is, big government benefits the wealthy, it benefits the lobbyists, it benefits the giant corporations,” Cruz said during the CNBC debate. “And the people who are getting hammered are small businesses; it’s single moms; it’s Hispanics.”
This from a politician who is married to a regional manager of Goldman Sachs, which shares some of the blame for rising inequality in our country.
The debates could break up as the candidates fight among themselves and with the Republican National Committee over the rules. Donald Trump, who flopped on “Saturday Night Live,” still wants to boycott Telemundo, the Spanish-language channel the Republican National Committee is punishing for the CNBC debacle. They’re both owned by NBC-Universal. Most of the other candidates think dumping Telemundo will only further alienate Hispanic voters.
Is it too late to get Mitt Romney in the race?
— Harry S. Truman
Mike Huckabee and Gov. Chris Christie found themselves relegated to the undercard at last night’s Republican debate on Fox Business News, dealing a blow to their campaigns. Don’t be surprised if both candidates drop out before the end of the month.
Republicans who thought last month’s CNBC debate was biased shouldn’t have expected an easy pass in Milwaukee on Tuesday night. Fox journalists may wear kid gloves when they interview Republican hopefuls, but the panel chosen for the debates even on Fox have shown an admirable toughness toward the candidates.
The questions were no worse than what were lobbed at them on Fox News. The candidates have now taken control of the debates from the Republican National Committee, which negotiated the terms with broadcasters, who have lobbed tough questions that have often exposed the candidates’ weaknesses.
Several candidates have submitted their demands to the networks for less confrontational debates, but even Fox couldn’t agree to them. If the candidates expected less hostile questions from Fox Business anchors Maria Bartiromo and Neil Cavuto at Tuesday’s debate, Wall Street Journal editor-in-chief Gerard Baker, a seasoned journalist with a solid reputation, showed them he’s nobody’s fool. Both Fox and the Wall Street Journal are owned by News Corp.
To be sure, Bartiromo has participated in Clinton Foundation events, but so has the Murdoch family, who controls Fox. If the Republican candidates think that shows a left-wing bias, they should organize their own debates funded by the Koch brothers.
The CNBC moderators were perhaps less prepared, but they asked some pretty good questions, except for the softball opener about the candidates’ weaknesses (which none of them answered). Compare that to what CNN’s Anderson Cooper asked Hillary Clinton at the start of the first Democratic debate: “Will you say anything to get elected?”
If Huckabee thought the questions were often snarky, let’s hope he gets more of them should he stay in the race.
The candidates should stop complaining and take questions even from the most hostile interviewers. Invite Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong-il. Let’s see how the candidates handle those two villains. We should find out who is best prepared for the toughest job in the world.
If you want to be the heavyweight champion of the world, it’s not enough to get in the ring with Muhammad Ali and then duck. Come out swinging, or don’t bother asking the American people to elect you.
“I’m happy to take questions from a Democrat, a Republican, an independent,” Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal said. “I’m even happy to take questions from a socialist.” Good for him. The presidency is not for wimps.
“If you can’t handle that stage, you’ve got no chance of handling Hillary Clinton,” said Gov. Chris Christie. “I’m not one of these whiners and complainers. Any debate they put on, I’ll show up cause I’ll do just fine.”
But, as their poll numbers sank, Huckabee and Christie realized weeks ago they wouldn’t qualify for the main debate on Fox Business Network.
“I have enough humility to know I gotta get better,” said Bush after his poor performance.He has a lot to be humble about, but at least he didn’t blame his shortcomings on the moderators.
Sen. Ted Cruz, who complained the loudest about the slanted questions in the earlier debates, accuses the Democratic candidates of sounding like the Bolsheviks (Soviet communists) and the Mensheviks (Russian social democrats).
Sometimes it’s hard to tell which faction he belongs to: “The truth of the matter is, big government benefits the wealthy, it benefits the lobbyists, it benefits the giant corporations,” Cruz said during the CNBC debate. “And the people who are getting hammered are small businesses; it’s single moms; it’s Hispanics.”
This from a politician who is married to a regional manager of Goldman Sachs, which shares some of the blame for rising inequality in our country.
The debates could break up as the candidates fight among themselves and with the Republican National Committee over the rules. Donald Trump, who flopped on “Saturday Night Live,” still wants to boycott Telemundo, the Spanish-language channel the Republican National Committee is punishing for the CNBC debacle. They’re both owned by NBC-Universal. Most of the other candidates think dumping Telemundo will only further alienate Hispanic voters.
Is it too late to get Mitt Romney in the race?
TOP STORY >> Five cities plan their Christmas parades
Area cities have set dates for their annual Christmas parades. The following is a schedule and registration information:
The Jacksonville Boys and Girls Club is seeking entries for its 58th annual Christmas parade, which is set for 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 1. The fee is $25, and the event is a fundraiser for the club. Nov. 20 is the deadline to register.
This year’s theme is “Jacksonville’s Night of Twinkling Lights.”
Call the club at 501-982-4316, drop by its location off Graham Road or visit the Jacksonville Parks and Recreation website for more information.
The parade’s West Main Street route begins at Popeye’s and ends at First United Methodist Church.
Following the parade, the chamber of commerce is hosting a Flix on the Bricks screening of “It’s a Wonderful Life” at the Esther D. Nixon Library pavilion, 703 W. Main St.
The Beebe Christmas Parade will be held at 6 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 5. This year’s theme is “Winter Wonderland”.
The parade route starts on Badger Drive, turns left on West Center Street left on North Main Street, left on College Street and left on Lemon Street, before heading back to the Beebe High School.
Sherwood’s annual Christmas parade will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 5.
The theme will be “An American Christmas.” Don Hindman, director of the Jack Evans Senior Center, will be the grand marshal.
It will start at Kiehl Avenue and Lantrip Road and will continue west down Kiehl and end at Oakbrooke Drive.
To request an entry form, call Sherwood Chamber of Commerce director Marcia Cook at 501-835-7600 or email shwdchamber@att.net.
The Ward Christmas Parade will be held at 4:30 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 12. The entry fee is $5. Applications must be turned in by 4:30 p.m. Friday, Dec. 11 at the Ward Municipal Complex receptionist office.
The parade will line up along Front Street and travel up Markham Street from Front Street to Hwy. 367, then turn left past the Dollar General store and up to Hickory Street, ending in front of City Hall along Fourth Street.
The grand marshal will be state Rep. Joe Farrer (R-Austin).
For more information, call the Ward reception office at 501-843-7686 or Jamee Moore at 501-743-2710.
Cabot’s annual Christmas parade will be held at 3 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 13.
This year’s theme is “Christmas Around The World.” Participants are asked to select an idea or image that represents their favorite memory or interpretation of the theme and use it to design their float.
There will be several marching bands, clowns, veterans groups and Santa Claus.
Organizers encourage businesses and civic and church groups to participate by placing some type of entry in the parade. Trophies will be awarded in the five categories: best school or civic group, best church float, business and one for best animal/equestrian or general/personal entry.
Entry forms, parade rules and route maps will soon be available at the Veterans Park Community Center, the Cabot Chamber of Commerce office and online at www.cabotparks.com.
The deadline to enter is Monday, Dec. 7. Completed forms, along with the $10 entry fee, should be sent to: Cabot Christmas Parade, P.O. Box 1101, Cabot, Ark. 72023.
The parade will travel South Pine Street/Hwy. 89, beginning at Panther Trail, and, continuing north past the Knights Shopping Center, make a left turn onto Pond Street and end at Central Elementary School.
It is the same route of the Cabot Homecoming Parade.
For more information, call 501-920-2122 or email cabotbeautiful@yahoo.com.
The Jacksonville Boys and Girls Club is seeking entries for its 58th annual Christmas parade, which is set for 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 1. The fee is $25, and the event is a fundraiser for the club. Nov. 20 is the deadline to register.
This year’s theme is “Jacksonville’s Night of Twinkling Lights.”
Call the club at 501-982-4316, drop by its location off Graham Road or visit the Jacksonville Parks and Recreation website for more information.
The parade’s West Main Street route begins at Popeye’s and ends at First United Methodist Church.
Following the parade, the chamber of commerce is hosting a Flix on the Bricks screening of “It’s a Wonderful Life” at the Esther D. Nixon Library pavilion, 703 W. Main St.
The Beebe Christmas Parade will be held at 6 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 5. This year’s theme is “Winter Wonderland”.
The parade route starts on Badger Drive, turns left on West Center Street left on North Main Street, left on College Street and left on Lemon Street, before heading back to the Beebe High School.
Sherwood’s annual Christmas parade will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 5.
The theme will be “An American Christmas.” Don Hindman, director of the Jack Evans Senior Center, will be the grand marshal.
It will start at Kiehl Avenue and Lantrip Road and will continue west down Kiehl and end at Oakbrooke Drive.
To request an entry form, call Sherwood Chamber of Commerce director Marcia Cook at 501-835-7600 or email shwdchamber@att.net.
The Ward Christmas Parade will be held at 4:30 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 12. The entry fee is $5. Applications must be turned in by 4:30 p.m. Friday, Dec. 11 at the Ward Municipal Complex receptionist office.
The parade will line up along Front Street and travel up Markham Street from Front Street to Hwy. 367, then turn left past the Dollar General store and up to Hickory Street, ending in front of City Hall along Fourth Street.
The grand marshal will be state Rep. Joe Farrer (R-Austin).
For more information, call the Ward reception office at 501-843-7686 or Jamee Moore at 501-743-2710.
Cabot’s annual Christmas parade will be held at 3 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 13.
This year’s theme is “Christmas Around The World.” Participants are asked to select an idea or image that represents their favorite memory or interpretation of the theme and use it to design their float.
There will be several marching bands, clowns, veterans groups and Santa Claus.
Organizers encourage businesses and civic and church groups to participate by placing some type of entry in the parade. Trophies will be awarded in the five categories: best school or civic group, best church float, business and one for best animal/equestrian or general/personal entry.
Entry forms, parade rules and route maps will soon be available at the Veterans Park Community Center, the Cabot Chamber of Commerce office and online at www.cabotparks.com.
The deadline to enter is Monday, Dec. 7. Completed forms, along with the $10 entry fee, should be sent to: Cabot Christmas Parade, P.O. Box 1101, Cabot, Ark. 72023.
The parade will travel South Pine Street/Hwy. 89, beginning at Panther Trail, and, continuing north past the Knights Shopping Center, make a left turn onto Pond Street and end at Central Elementary School.
It is the same route of the Cabot Homecoming Parade.
For more information, call 501-920-2122 or email cabotbeautiful@yahoo.com.
TOP STORY >> Vietnam War helicopter restored
By JEFFREY SMITH
Leader staff writer
An Army helicopter used during the Vietnam War is back on display at the Jacksonville Museum of Military History. On Saturday, Sam Grimes, the crew chief of that Bell UH-1C “Huey” helicopter, was there for its rededication.
The helicopter was restored by volunteers from the 913th Air Reserve Squadron at Little Rock Air Force Base.
“At least she’s not in the scrap pile like so many end up. It is close to when I had it, a lot cleaner,” Grimes said.
Grimes, 70, of Snowflake, Ariz., served in the Vietnam War from 1966 to 1968. He was stationed at Pleiku. Grimes started out in maintenance for five months and then transferred to the flight platoon in April 1967.
“We resupplied food, weapons and transported troops. We were then known as the Courtesy Cab. If you needed to go someplace, we’d come get you,” Grimes said.
He was a helicopter crew chief for nine months, until he left the military in January 1968. “I turned the ship over to a friend, and that was the last I saw her until 2013,” he recalled.
Grimes was doing research, trying to find his helicopter. He discovered it was at Central Flying Service in Little Rock. Grimes and his wife, Trudy, went to Little Rock in 2013 to find the helicopter and visit the School for the Deaf, where his father went to school.
“As soon as I saw it, I knew,” Grimes said.
“Originally, she had rocket pods on the side and a 40 mm gun turret on the front of the nose. The door gunner and I shot a 160 machine gun off the door. It had 14 rockets, 500 rounds of 40 mm shells and 2,000 rounds of M16 ammo for each of us,” Grimes said.
He also said his helicopter was always the lead ship. They flew low, level with the tree tops. Sister ships would take hits from the enemy because the enemy fighters on the ground would see his helicopter first and would start spraying shots toward the other helicopters.
“I never took a round. When I went on leave, that is when it got hit,” Grimes said.
He added that, for a small-town museum, the Jacksonville Museum of Military History is one of the best.
“She is preserved for future generations for those who want to know about the Vietnam War as it is compared to now,” Grimes said.
The helicopter is permanently on loan from Dick Holbert,
who owns Central Flying Service in Little Rock.
The helicopter was to be displayed at the Arkansas Aerospace Education Center in
Little Rock, across the street from Central Flying Service, but that center closed.
One of the Jacksonville museum’s volunteers is a friend of Holbert
and convinced him to send the helicopter to Jacksonville.
The helicopter arrived at the Jacksonville museum in 2012. It was pulled on a trailer in the second annual Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans parade before being restored this year.
Museum board chairman Joan Zumwalt said at the dedication, “Today represents what can be achieved when determined civilians, cooperative city officials and employees and generous members of the military can do when they band together to achieve a goal.”
Leader staff writer
An Army helicopter used during the Vietnam War is back on display at the Jacksonville Museum of Military History. On Saturday, Sam Grimes, the crew chief of that Bell UH-1C “Huey” helicopter, was there for its rededication.
The helicopter was restored by volunteers from the 913th Air Reserve Squadron at Little Rock Air Force Base.
“At least she’s not in the scrap pile like so many end up. It is close to when I had it, a lot cleaner,” Grimes said.
Grimes, 70, of Snowflake, Ariz., served in the Vietnam War from 1966 to 1968. He was stationed at Pleiku. Grimes started out in maintenance for five months and then transferred to the flight platoon in April 1967.
“We resupplied food, weapons and transported troops. We were then known as the Courtesy Cab. If you needed to go someplace, we’d come get you,” Grimes said.
He was a helicopter crew chief for nine months, until he left the military in January 1968. “I turned the ship over to a friend, and that was the last I saw her until 2013,” he recalled.
Grimes was doing research, trying to find his helicopter. He discovered it was at Central Flying Service in Little Rock. Grimes and his wife, Trudy, went to Little Rock in 2013 to find the helicopter and visit the School for the Deaf, where his father went to school.
“As soon as I saw it, I knew,” Grimes said.
“Originally, she had rocket pods on the side and a 40 mm gun turret on the front of the nose. The door gunner and I shot a 160 machine gun off the door. It had 14 rockets, 500 rounds of 40 mm shells and 2,000 rounds of M16 ammo for each of us,” Grimes said.
He also said his helicopter was always the lead ship. They flew low, level with the tree tops. Sister ships would take hits from the enemy because the enemy fighters on the ground would see his helicopter first and would start spraying shots toward the other helicopters.
“I never took a round. When I went on leave, that is when it got hit,” Grimes said.
He added that, for a small-town museum, the Jacksonville Museum of Military History is one of the best.
“She is preserved for future generations for those who want to know about the Vietnam War as it is compared to now,” Grimes said.
The helicopter is permanently on loan from Dick Holbert,
who owns Central Flying Service in Little Rock.
The helicopter was to be displayed at the Arkansas Aerospace Education Center in
Little Rock, across the street from Central Flying Service, but that center closed.
One of the Jacksonville museum’s volunteers is a friend of Holbert
and convinced him to send the helicopter to Jacksonville.
The helicopter arrived at the Jacksonville museum in 2012. It was pulled on a trailer in the second annual Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans parade before being restored this year.
Museum board chairman Joan Zumwalt said at the dedication, “Today represents what can be achieved when determined civilians, cooperative city officials and employees and generous members of the military can do when they band together to achieve a goal.”
TOP STORY >> Competitive races in ’16 after filings
By SARAH CAMPBELL
Leader staff writer
The deadline to file for office has now passed.
The primary and nonpartisan general election is March 1. Early voting starts Feb. 15, and the voter registration deadline is Feb. 1.
One highlight of the filings is that Dist. 42 Rep. Bob Johnson (D-Jacksonville) has a Republican opponent, Jacksonville businessman Patrick Thomas.
Lonoke County Judge Doug Erwin, a Republican, is facing off against two Republicans, Richard Kyzer and Fred D. (Skipper) Clement Jr.
State Sen. David Johnson (D-Little Rock), who filed last week, is now opposed by Cammack Village-Wrightsville District Court Judge Rita Bailey in the race to preside over both the Jacksonville and Maumelle district courts. She filed for the office on Monday.
The two courts will soon share a judge and have countywide jurisdiction because of a 2011 law aimed at lightening the caseload of circuit courts across the state. All of Pulaski County will vote on the new judge.
Other important dates to know include that, if a runoff is required after the primary election, it will be held March 22. The voter registration deadline for that is Feb. 22.
The general election, and nonpartisan runoffs if they are needed, will be Nov. 8, 2016. The voter registration deadline for that election is Oct. 10, 2016.
If a runoff is needed after the general election, it will be held Nov. 29, 2016. The voter registration deadline would be Oct. 31, 2016.
Voters must apply to register to vote one day before the actual deadline, according to the secretary of state’s website. It also states that any deadline falling on a weekend or holiday will be extended to the next business day.
The following people are campaigning for seats that represent The Leader’s coverage area:
STATE SENATE
Dist. 34 Sen. Jan English (R-North Little Rock) faces two challengers, a Republican and a Democrat. They are Rep. Donnie Copeland (R-Little Rock) and Joe Woodson.
Dist. 29 Sen. Eddie Joe Williams (R-Cabot) and Lonoke County Justice of the Peace R.D. Hopper, also a Republican, have filed for Williams’ seat.
Sen. Jonathan Dismang (R-Beebe) is unopposed.
STATE HOUSE
Three have filed for Copeland’s Dist. 38 seat. Dist. 38 includes much of Sherwood.
The candidates are Kent Walker, Victoria Leigh — both Democrats — and Carlton Wing, a Republican.
Dist. 14 Rep. Camille Bennett (D-Lonoke) and Roger D. Lynch, a Republican, have filed for her seat.
Dist. 44 Rep. Joe Farrer (R-Austin) also has an opponent, Garry Baker, a Libertarian.
Dist. 40 Rep. Douglas House (R-North Little Rock), Dist. 41 Rep. Karilyn Brown (R-Sherwood), Dist. 43 Rep. Tim Lemons (R-Cabot) and Dist. 45 Rep. Jeremy Gillam (R-Judsonia) are unopposed.
Dist. 13 Rep. David Hillman (D-Almyra) is also unopposed. Dist. 13 includes parts of Lonoke and White counties.
JUDICIAL RACES
Joseph (Joe) O’Bryan is running for re-election in the Lonoke County District Judge-Northern Division race, after being arrested in August for third-degree domestic battery.
His case was dismissed last week, when special, appointed Faulkner County District Court Judge David Reynolds signed an order Thursday, according to a Lonoke District Court clerk.
Cabot attorney John Flynn, Ward City Attorney Clint McGue and Judge Teresa Hallum Smith are opposing O’Bryan for the Cabot court position.
Judge Milas “Butch” Hale III is unopposed in his re-election bid as judge over the Sherwood district court.
PULASKI COUNTY
Many candidates are unopposed.
Sheriff Doc Holladay, a Democrat, has a Libertarian opponent, Patrick Mulligan.
Dist. 3 Justice of the Peace Kathy S. Lewison, a Democrat, has an opponent, Republican Lynn Jacuzzi.
Democrats Jason Christopher Smedley and Lillie McMullen have filed for the Dist. 5 JP seat.
Democrat Teresa Coney and Republican Andrew Norwood have filed for the Dist. 7 JP seat.
Judge Barry Hyde, a Democrat, is unopposed and seeking re-election, as is Democrat Larry Crane for circuit/county clerk.
Democrats Janet Troutman Ward and Debra Buckner are doing the same for assessor and treasurer, respectively.
For the quorum court, the following have filed: JP Doug Reed (Republican, Dist. 1), JP Tyler Denton (Democrat, Dist. 2), JP Julie Blackwood (Democrat, Dist. 4), JP Donna Massey (Democrat, Dist. 6), JP Curtis Keith (Democrat, Dist. 8) and JP Judy Green (Democrat, Dist. 9).
Also, JP R. Green (Demo-crat, Dist. 10), JP Aaron Robinson (Republican, Dist. 11), JP Luke McCoy (Republican, Dist. 12), JP Phil Stowers (Republican, Dist. 13), JP Paul Elliott (Republican, Dist. 14) and Staci Medlock (Democrat, Dist. 15) are unopposed.
LONOKE COUNTY
County Clerk Dawn Porterfield, a Republican, has a Republican opponent, Courtney Ruble.
Circuit Clerk Deborah Oglesby is unopposed, as is Treasurer Patti Weathers and Assessor Jerrel Maxwell.
Republican Sheriff John Staley is facing off against Steve Finch, also a Republican.
Therese L. O’Donnell is unopposed for the collector position.
Three Republicans have filed for coroner. They are Carla Horton, Kenny Fraley and Karl E. (Eddie) Pennington.
There are also three Republicans seeking J.D. Hopper’s Justice of the Peace Dist. 1 seat. He’s running for Eddie Joe Williams’ state Senate seat. The Dist. 1 JP candidates are Brent Canon, Jesse Bear and Kevin Livengood.
Three Republicans, John D. Howard, Claud E. Irvin and Gregory Gibson, have filed for the Dist. 4 JP seat.
Dist. 5 JP Adam Justice, a Republican, has a Republican opponent, Robert (Bobby) Gilliam.
Dist. 7 JP Ralph Brown, a Republican, is being challenged in his re-election bid by Democrat Dan F. Stowers.
For Dist. 9, Republicans Linda Waddell and Les Carpenter have filed.
Republicans Daniel Hayes, Kenny Ridgeway and Bob Morris are seeking the Dist. 13 JP seat.
But JPs Barry (B.J) Weathers (Dist. 2), Henry Lang (Dist. 3), Jerry E. Cole (Dist. 6), Tate House (Dist. 8), Bill Ryker (Dist. 10) and Mike Dolan (Dist. 11) are unopposed. All are Republicans, with the exception of Dolan and Ryker. They are Democrats. Republican Patty Knox is also unopposed for Dist. 12, but isn’t a current JP.
CITY RACES
Cabot has one city council race because Alderman Dallan Buchanan resigned Oct. 1 from representing Ward 2 in Position 1 to pursue a job in another city. Damon Bivins and Douglas E. Warner — both Independents — have filed for that seat.
All of the Lonoke City Council races are unopposed. The aldermen seeking re-election are Jane Derning (Dist. 1), Woody Evans (Dist. 2), Pat Howell (Dist. 3), Wendell Walker (Dist. 4), Efrem Z. Jones (Dist. 5) and Raymond Hatton (Dist. 6). All are Democrats, with the exception of Evans, who is Republican.
U.S. SENATE
Democrat Conner Eldridge of Lonoke, a former U.S. attorney; Republican Curtis Coleman, Libertarian Frank Gilbert and Jason Tate, a write-in candidate, have filed for Sen. John Boozman’s seat.
Boozman (R-Ark.) is seeking re-election. He filed for the office on Monday.
CONGRESS
Rep. Rick Crawford (R-Jonesboro) has filed for re-election to continue representing District 2. He has one opponent, Libertarian Mark West.
In District 2, Rep. French Hill (R-Little Rock) is seeking re-election. He has five opponents. They are Democrat Dianne Curry, Republican Brock Olree, Libertarian Chris Hayes and two write-in candidates, Mathew Wescott and Charles Neely.
Leader staff writer
The deadline to file for office has now passed.
The primary and nonpartisan general election is March 1. Early voting starts Feb. 15, and the voter registration deadline is Feb. 1.
One highlight of the filings is that Dist. 42 Rep. Bob Johnson (D-Jacksonville) has a Republican opponent, Jacksonville businessman Patrick Thomas.
Lonoke County Judge Doug Erwin, a Republican, is facing off against two Republicans, Richard Kyzer and Fred D. (Skipper) Clement Jr.
State Sen. David Johnson (D-Little Rock), who filed last week, is now opposed by Cammack Village-Wrightsville District Court Judge Rita Bailey in the race to preside over both the Jacksonville and Maumelle district courts. She filed for the office on Monday.
The two courts will soon share a judge and have countywide jurisdiction because of a 2011 law aimed at lightening the caseload of circuit courts across the state. All of Pulaski County will vote on the new judge.
Other important dates to know include that, if a runoff is required after the primary election, it will be held March 22. The voter registration deadline for that is Feb. 22.
The general election, and nonpartisan runoffs if they are needed, will be Nov. 8, 2016. The voter registration deadline for that election is Oct. 10, 2016.
If a runoff is needed after the general election, it will be held Nov. 29, 2016. The voter registration deadline would be Oct. 31, 2016.
Voters must apply to register to vote one day before the actual deadline, according to the secretary of state’s website. It also states that any deadline falling on a weekend or holiday will be extended to the next business day.
The following people are campaigning for seats that represent The Leader’s coverage area:
STATE SENATE
Dist. 34 Sen. Jan English (R-North Little Rock) faces two challengers, a Republican and a Democrat. They are Rep. Donnie Copeland (R-Little Rock) and Joe Woodson.
Dist. 29 Sen. Eddie Joe Williams (R-Cabot) and Lonoke County Justice of the Peace R.D. Hopper, also a Republican, have filed for Williams’ seat.
Sen. Jonathan Dismang (R-Beebe) is unopposed.
STATE HOUSE
Three have filed for Copeland’s Dist. 38 seat. Dist. 38 includes much of Sherwood.
The candidates are Kent Walker, Victoria Leigh — both Democrats — and Carlton Wing, a Republican.
Dist. 14 Rep. Camille Bennett (D-Lonoke) and Roger D. Lynch, a Republican, have filed for her seat.
Dist. 44 Rep. Joe Farrer (R-Austin) also has an opponent, Garry Baker, a Libertarian.
Dist. 40 Rep. Douglas House (R-North Little Rock), Dist. 41 Rep. Karilyn Brown (R-Sherwood), Dist. 43 Rep. Tim Lemons (R-Cabot) and Dist. 45 Rep. Jeremy Gillam (R-Judsonia) are unopposed.
Dist. 13 Rep. David Hillman (D-Almyra) is also unopposed. Dist. 13 includes parts of Lonoke and White counties.
JUDICIAL RACES
Joseph (Joe) O’Bryan is running for re-election in the Lonoke County District Judge-Northern Division race, after being arrested in August for third-degree domestic battery.
His case was dismissed last week, when special, appointed Faulkner County District Court Judge David Reynolds signed an order Thursday, according to a Lonoke District Court clerk.
Cabot attorney John Flynn, Ward City Attorney Clint McGue and Judge Teresa Hallum Smith are opposing O’Bryan for the Cabot court position.
Judge Milas “Butch” Hale III is unopposed in his re-election bid as judge over the Sherwood district court.
PULASKI COUNTY
Many candidates are unopposed.
Sheriff Doc Holladay, a Democrat, has a Libertarian opponent, Patrick Mulligan.
Dist. 3 Justice of the Peace Kathy S. Lewison, a Democrat, has an opponent, Republican Lynn Jacuzzi.
Democrats Jason Christopher Smedley and Lillie McMullen have filed for the Dist. 5 JP seat.
Democrat Teresa Coney and Republican Andrew Norwood have filed for the Dist. 7 JP seat.
Judge Barry Hyde, a Democrat, is unopposed and seeking re-election, as is Democrat Larry Crane for circuit/county clerk.
Democrats Janet Troutman Ward and Debra Buckner are doing the same for assessor and treasurer, respectively.
For the quorum court, the following have filed: JP Doug Reed (Republican, Dist. 1), JP Tyler Denton (Democrat, Dist. 2), JP Julie Blackwood (Democrat, Dist. 4), JP Donna Massey (Democrat, Dist. 6), JP Curtis Keith (Democrat, Dist. 8) and JP Judy Green (Democrat, Dist. 9).
Also, JP R. Green (Demo-crat, Dist. 10), JP Aaron Robinson (Republican, Dist. 11), JP Luke McCoy (Republican, Dist. 12), JP Phil Stowers (Republican, Dist. 13), JP Paul Elliott (Republican, Dist. 14) and Staci Medlock (Democrat, Dist. 15) are unopposed.
LONOKE COUNTY
County Clerk Dawn Porterfield, a Republican, has a Republican opponent, Courtney Ruble.
Circuit Clerk Deborah Oglesby is unopposed, as is Treasurer Patti Weathers and Assessor Jerrel Maxwell.
Republican Sheriff John Staley is facing off against Steve Finch, also a Republican.
Therese L. O’Donnell is unopposed for the collector position.
Three Republicans have filed for coroner. They are Carla Horton, Kenny Fraley and Karl E. (Eddie) Pennington.
There are also three Republicans seeking J.D. Hopper’s Justice of the Peace Dist. 1 seat. He’s running for Eddie Joe Williams’ state Senate seat. The Dist. 1 JP candidates are Brent Canon, Jesse Bear and Kevin Livengood.
Three Republicans, John D. Howard, Claud E. Irvin and Gregory Gibson, have filed for the Dist. 4 JP seat.
Dist. 5 JP Adam Justice, a Republican, has a Republican opponent, Robert (Bobby) Gilliam.
Dist. 7 JP Ralph Brown, a Republican, is being challenged in his re-election bid by Democrat Dan F. Stowers.
For Dist. 9, Republicans Linda Waddell and Les Carpenter have filed.
Republicans Daniel Hayes, Kenny Ridgeway and Bob Morris are seeking the Dist. 13 JP seat.
But JPs Barry (B.J) Weathers (Dist. 2), Henry Lang (Dist. 3), Jerry E. Cole (Dist. 6), Tate House (Dist. 8), Bill Ryker (Dist. 10) and Mike Dolan (Dist. 11) are unopposed. All are Republicans, with the exception of Dolan and Ryker. They are Democrats. Republican Patty Knox is also unopposed for Dist. 12, but isn’t a current JP.
CITY RACES
Cabot has one city council race because Alderman Dallan Buchanan resigned Oct. 1 from representing Ward 2 in Position 1 to pursue a job in another city. Damon Bivins and Douglas E. Warner — both Independents — have filed for that seat.
All of the Lonoke City Council races are unopposed. The aldermen seeking re-election are Jane Derning (Dist. 1), Woody Evans (Dist. 2), Pat Howell (Dist. 3), Wendell Walker (Dist. 4), Efrem Z. Jones (Dist. 5) and Raymond Hatton (Dist. 6). All are Democrats, with the exception of Evans, who is Republican.
U.S. SENATE
Democrat Conner Eldridge of Lonoke, a former U.S. attorney; Republican Curtis Coleman, Libertarian Frank Gilbert and Jason Tate, a write-in candidate, have filed for Sen. John Boozman’s seat.
Boozman (R-Ark.) is seeking re-election. He filed for the office on Monday.
CONGRESS
Rep. Rick Crawford (R-Jonesboro) has filed for re-election to continue representing District 2. He has one opponent, Libertarian Mark West.
In District 2, Rep. French Hill (R-Little Rock) is seeking re-election. He has five opponents. They are Democrat Dianne Curry, Republican Brock Olree, Libertarian Chris Hayes and two write-in candidates, Mathew Wescott and Charles Neely.
Saturday, November 07, 2015
SPORTS STORY >> Bruins breeze through Sylvan Hills
By GRAHAM POWELL
Leader sportswriter
Sylvan Hills’ offense struggled to get things going in Thursday night’s regular-season finale against top-ranked Pulaski Academy, as the Bruins held the Bears’ offense to its lowest point total of the season on the way to a 36-14 win at Bill Blackwood Field.
Pulaski Academy, who finished the regular season 10-0 with the win, scored the first 36 points of the game to invoke the sportsmanship rule early in the second half.
“They played great on defense,” said Sylvan Hills coach Jim Withrow of PA’s defense. “That’s one thing, nobody talks about their defense. Their defense is phenomenal.
“They play really good defense and, you know, you got to make plays when you get chances. We just didn’t get it done. We didn’t get it done, offensively. We played well all year, we just didn’t get it done right then.”
The Bruins’ first score came on a 51-yard run by running back Jaren Watkins with 9:16 to play in the first quarter. Tre Bruce added the two-point conversion to give the visitors an early 8-0 lead.
Sylvan Hills, who finished the regular season 6-3, turned it over on downs on its first offensive series, but PA’s next drive ended with quarterback Layne Hatcher being intercepted by Sylvan Hills’ Cameron Flippo. It was one of three interceptions by Flippo on Thursday.
Pulaski Academy didn’t score again until the 6:56 mark of the second quarter. That touchdown came on a 19-yard Hatcher pass to receiver Sam Starkey. The PAT was no good, making it 14-0 Bruins.
The Bruins then covered the onside kick that followed, and scored on the next offensive play, which was a 55-yard run by Bruce. Trey Adams added the two-point conversion to give PA a 22-0 cushion. That was the score at halftime.
The visitors covered another onside kick to start the second half, and capitalized with a 5-play scoring drive. That touchdown came on a 16-yard pass from Hatcher to Bruce a minute and 30 seconds into the third quarter. The extra point made it 29-0 PA.
Sylvan Hills turned it over on downs on the following drive, and PA added its final score on another Hatcher pass, this one a 50-yarder with 7:45 left in the third. The extra point was good, and the clock ran continuously the rest of the way because of the 35-point sportsmanship rule.
Flippo’s third pick of the game was in the end zone on a Corbin Witham pass, which set the Bears’ offense up at their own 20 with just over nine minutes to play. On the next snap, Sylvan Hills found the end zone with an 80-yard run by Ty Compton.
Tito Mendoza’s extra point made it 36-7, and the final score was set on the fourth play of the Bruins’ ensuing drive.
The backup quarterback took a big hit from the Bears’ defense, causing a fumble, and Tyler Yeoman scooped it up and scored from about 20 yards out. The PAT set the final score.
Sylvan Hills finished the night with 180 yards of offense. PA had 541 yards of offense. Quarterback Jordan Washington led the Bears with 13 carries for 85 yards. Compton added 81 yards and a touchdown on three carries.
The Bears started the year 6-0, but finished the regular season having lost their last three games – albeit against the top three teams in the 5A-Central (PA, McClellan and Beebe). Considering that, Withrow isn’t worried as his team now gears up for the Class 5A playoffs, which begin next week.
“We’re fine,” Withrow said. “We’re a young football team. Other than Fair, we’re probably the youngest football team in the conference. We’ll bounce back and we’ll get after it.”
The Bears enter next week’s playoffs as the No. 4 seed from the 5A-Central. They’ll travel to undefeated Little Rock Christian, the top seed from the 5A-West, for next Friday’s first round. Kickoff next Friday is set for 7 p.m.
Leader sportswriter
Sylvan Hills’ offense struggled to get things going in Thursday night’s regular-season finale against top-ranked Pulaski Academy, as the Bruins held the Bears’ offense to its lowest point total of the season on the way to a 36-14 win at Bill Blackwood Field.
Pulaski Academy, who finished the regular season 10-0 with the win, scored the first 36 points of the game to invoke the sportsmanship rule early in the second half.
“They played great on defense,” said Sylvan Hills coach Jim Withrow of PA’s defense. “That’s one thing, nobody talks about their defense. Their defense is phenomenal.
“They play really good defense and, you know, you got to make plays when you get chances. We just didn’t get it done. We didn’t get it done, offensively. We played well all year, we just didn’t get it done right then.”
The Bruins’ first score came on a 51-yard run by running back Jaren Watkins with 9:16 to play in the first quarter. Tre Bruce added the two-point conversion to give the visitors an early 8-0 lead.
Sylvan Hills, who finished the regular season 6-3, turned it over on downs on its first offensive series, but PA’s next drive ended with quarterback Layne Hatcher being intercepted by Sylvan Hills’ Cameron Flippo. It was one of three interceptions by Flippo on Thursday.
Pulaski Academy didn’t score again until the 6:56 mark of the second quarter. That touchdown came on a 19-yard Hatcher pass to receiver Sam Starkey. The PAT was no good, making it 14-0 Bruins.
The Bruins then covered the onside kick that followed, and scored on the next offensive play, which was a 55-yard run by Bruce. Trey Adams added the two-point conversion to give PA a 22-0 cushion. That was the score at halftime.
The visitors covered another onside kick to start the second half, and capitalized with a 5-play scoring drive. That touchdown came on a 16-yard pass from Hatcher to Bruce a minute and 30 seconds into the third quarter. The extra point made it 29-0 PA.
Sylvan Hills turned it over on downs on the following drive, and PA added its final score on another Hatcher pass, this one a 50-yarder with 7:45 left in the third. The extra point was good, and the clock ran continuously the rest of the way because of the 35-point sportsmanship rule.
Flippo’s third pick of the game was in the end zone on a Corbin Witham pass, which set the Bears’ offense up at their own 20 with just over nine minutes to play. On the next snap, Sylvan Hills found the end zone with an 80-yard run by Ty Compton.
Tito Mendoza’s extra point made it 36-7, and the final score was set on the fourth play of the Bruins’ ensuing drive.
The backup quarterback took a big hit from the Bears’ defense, causing a fumble, and Tyler Yeoman scooped it up and scored from about 20 yards out. The PAT set the final score.
Sylvan Hills finished the night with 180 yards of offense. PA had 541 yards of offense. Quarterback Jordan Washington led the Bears with 13 carries for 85 yards. Compton added 81 yards and a touchdown on three carries.
The Bears started the year 6-0, but finished the regular season having lost their last three games – albeit against the top three teams in the 5A-Central (PA, McClellan and Beebe). Considering that, Withrow isn’t worried as his team now gears up for the Class 5A playoffs, which begin next week.
“We’re fine,” Withrow said. “We’re a young football team. Other than Fair, we’re probably the youngest football team in the conference. We’ll bounce back and we’ll get after it.”
The Bears enter next week’s playoffs as the No. 4 seed from the 5A-Central. They’ll travel to undefeated Little Rock Christian, the top seed from the 5A-West, for next Friday’s first round. Kickoff next Friday is set for 7 p.m.
SPORTS STORY >> Jackrabbits climb back
By ANN THARP
Special to The Leader
SEARCY – The Lonoke Jackrabbits completed a remarkable turnaround to a dismal start to conference play on Thursday, beating the Riverview Raiders 38-21 and qualifying for the five seed in the playoffs from the 4A-2 Conference. In the win-or-go-home matchup, Lonoke came through with several big plays to keep its season alive.
They will travel to Gosnell next Friday for its first-round playoff game.
With the threat of severe weather moving in and penalty flags flying everywhere, it was Lonoke who scored first and last in the game. The Jackrabbits won three of their last four games, finishing the regular season with an overall record of 5-5 and a conference record of 3-4.
“We’ve had our backs against the wall the last few weeks,” said Lonoke coach Doug Bost. “We said, ‘hey, we got to win this one, we got to win this one, we got to get some help from some other teams that have got to get beat. And we got to keep winning,’ and they were able to do that and were able to get themselves in the playoffs. I’m proud of their effort, just real proud of them.
“It was a struggle early. We turned the ball over on offense more than we needed to. I thought the defense played good. In the first half, they kept us in there. But then we got a little of a rhythm in the second with our offense able to sustain some drives and run the ball right at them and able to hit a big touchdown right there from Will (Miller) to Justin (Meadows), which was real big. That really opened it up for us.”
Riverview had the first possession of the game, and the Raiders went three-and-out.
Lonoke turned the ball over by way of a fumble on the 10th play of its first drive, but Riverview fumbled it right back. The Raider fumble was picked up by Juwaun Bryant, who eluded tacklers and took the ball 41 yards for the touchdown. The two-point conversion was no good, but the Jackrabbits had the 6-0 lead with 6:35 remaining in the opening quarter.
Riverview’s next possession ended on an interception by Deondray Joyner, who returned the ball 45 yards to the 25-yard line of the Raiders. Lonoke could not convert, but pinned Riverview on the 6-yard line with a punt. After a 4-yard gain on first down, quarterback David Lee connected with Kirby Keeney for a 90-yard touchdown. The extra point gave the Raiders a 7-6 advantage.
After Casey Martin returned the ensuing kickoff to midfield, the Jackrabbits moved down the field largely on runs by Xavier Hodge, who finished the drive with a 3-yard plunge into the end zone, and Lonoke regained the lead, 12-7, with 11:56 to go in the second period.
The Raiders took the lead back with 19 seconds remaining in the half, but then gave the ball to Lonoke on its own 43-yard line on the kickoff. One play was all it took for Justin Meadows to move the 57 yards into the end zone. The two-point conversion was good by Hodge for a 20-14 Jackrabbit lead at the half.
That lead grew quickly in the second half when Meadows returned the opening kickoff 90 yards for another touchdown to put Lonoke ahead 26-14.
Riverview responded, though, moving 71 yards to score with 6:52 remaining in the third to cut the lead to 26-21. The Raiders then recovered an onside kick, but the Lonoke defense forced a punt.
The Jackrabbits’ next score came with 8:55 remaining in the final quarter. Quarterback Will Miller found Meadows for a 52-yard touchdown pass to expand the lead to 32-21. The two-point conversion again was no good.
After turning the ball over on downs, Riverview forced a punt by Lonoke. The punt was partially blocked by the Raiders, but was recovered by Lonoke in first-down territory.
That led to another Jackrabbit score, this time a 43-yard drive, capped by a 3-yard run by Josh Coleman. Again the two-point conversion was unsuccessful, setting the final score at 38-21 with 1:33 remaining on the clock.
Lonoke finished the game with 268 rushing yards and 52 yards passing, while the Raiders finished with 347 total yards.
Hodge led the Jackrabbits in rushing with 94 yards on 18 carries and one touchdown. Meadows rushed for 69 yards and one touchdown, plus the 52-yard touchdown reception and the 90-yard kickoff return for a touchdown. Coleman added 63 yards on 15 carries and one touchdown.
Special to The Leader
SEARCY – The Lonoke Jackrabbits completed a remarkable turnaround to a dismal start to conference play on Thursday, beating the Riverview Raiders 38-21 and qualifying for the five seed in the playoffs from the 4A-2 Conference. In the win-or-go-home matchup, Lonoke came through with several big plays to keep its season alive.
They will travel to Gosnell next Friday for its first-round playoff game.
With the threat of severe weather moving in and penalty flags flying everywhere, it was Lonoke who scored first and last in the game. The Jackrabbits won three of their last four games, finishing the regular season with an overall record of 5-5 and a conference record of 3-4.
“We’ve had our backs against the wall the last few weeks,” said Lonoke coach Doug Bost. “We said, ‘hey, we got to win this one, we got to win this one, we got to get some help from some other teams that have got to get beat. And we got to keep winning,’ and they were able to do that and were able to get themselves in the playoffs. I’m proud of their effort, just real proud of them.
“It was a struggle early. We turned the ball over on offense more than we needed to. I thought the defense played good. In the first half, they kept us in there. But then we got a little of a rhythm in the second with our offense able to sustain some drives and run the ball right at them and able to hit a big touchdown right there from Will (Miller) to Justin (Meadows), which was real big. That really opened it up for us.”
Riverview had the first possession of the game, and the Raiders went three-and-out.
Lonoke turned the ball over by way of a fumble on the 10th play of its first drive, but Riverview fumbled it right back. The Raider fumble was picked up by Juwaun Bryant, who eluded tacklers and took the ball 41 yards for the touchdown. The two-point conversion was no good, but the Jackrabbits had the 6-0 lead with 6:35 remaining in the opening quarter.
Riverview’s next possession ended on an interception by Deondray Joyner, who returned the ball 45 yards to the 25-yard line of the Raiders. Lonoke could not convert, but pinned Riverview on the 6-yard line with a punt. After a 4-yard gain on first down, quarterback David Lee connected with Kirby Keeney for a 90-yard touchdown. The extra point gave the Raiders a 7-6 advantage.
After Casey Martin returned the ensuing kickoff to midfield, the Jackrabbits moved down the field largely on runs by Xavier Hodge, who finished the drive with a 3-yard plunge into the end zone, and Lonoke regained the lead, 12-7, with 11:56 to go in the second period.
The Raiders took the lead back with 19 seconds remaining in the half, but then gave the ball to Lonoke on its own 43-yard line on the kickoff. One play was all it took for Justin Meadows to move the 57 yards into the end zone. The two-point conversion was good by Hodge for a 20-14 Jackrabbit lead at the half.
That lead grew quickly in the second half when Meadows returned the opening kickoff 90 yards for another touchdown to put Lonoke ahead 26-14.
Riverview responded, though, moving 71 yards to score with 6:52 remaining in the third to cut the lead to 26-21. The Raiders then recovered an onside kick, but the Lonoke defense forced a punt.
The Jackrabbits’ next score came with 8:55 remaining in the final quarter. Quarterback Will Miller found Meadows for a 52-yard touchdown pass to expand the lead to 32-21. The two-point conversion again was no good.
After turning the ball over on downs, Riverview forced a punt by Lonoke. The punt was partially blocked by the Raiders, but was recovered by Lonoke in first-down territory.
That led to another Jackrabbit score, this time a 43-yard drive, capped by a 3-yard run by Josh Coleman. Again the two-point conversion was unsuccessful, setting the final score at 38-21 with 1:33 remaining on the clock.
Lonoke finished the game with 268 rushing yards and 52 yards passing, while the Raiders finished with 347 total yards.
Hodge led the Jackrabbits in rushing with 94 yards on 18 carries and one touchdown. Meadows rushed for 69 yards and one touchdown, plus the 52-yard touchdown reception and the 90-yard kickoff return for a touchdown. Coleman added 63 yards on 15 carries and one touchdown.
SPORTS STORY >> McClellan pummels Red Devils
By GRAHAM POWELL
Leader sportswriter
Jacksonville didn’t get to end its season on a high note Friday night at Jan Crow Stadium, as visiting McClellan shut out the Red Devils in the second half on its way to a dominant 60-18 win.
The game began on Thursday, but a power outage in that part of the city caused the game to be pushed back to Friday. The score was tied at 6-6 when the game was called Thursday, and on Friday, play resumed with 1:54 left in the first quarter and the score tied at 6-6.
Jacksonville (2-7, 2-4) and McClellan (7-2, 5-1) both scored on their first two offensive possessions Friday, but the Red Devils turned it over on downs on their third drive Friday, and the Crimson Lions added a touchdown and two-point conversion before halftime to lead 28-18 at the break.
The second half was all McClellan, as the Lions found the end zone on their first three drives of the second half, and on defense, they forced two safeties and returned a fumble for a touchdown late, which led to the 42-point win.
“McClellan’s got a good football team,” said Jacksonville coach Barry Hickingbotham. “They’ve got some good running backs. Number five (Pierre Strong), he’s just a great player.
“We had some kids sitting out tonight because they couldn’t get to practice on time and things like that. We knew this was our last game. We wanted to keep it close. We had a lot of kids out there that still fought and played hard till the last whistle.
“It’s just a tough deal, man. We had kids play tonight that got some exposure that hadn’t played all year, which is good for those kids because they stepped out here and they practiced and played as hard as they could. It was just a tough year – just a tough year.”
Jacksonville struck first Thursday, scoring on a 1-yard run by Shawn Ellis with 3:27 to go in the first quarter. Strong matched the score on the Lions’ next drive with a 3-yard run with 1:54 left in the first. That was when the game was called because of the power outage.
The Red Devils struck first Friday on the first drive, scoring on a 23-yard run by Robbie Knowlin with 15 seconds left in the first quarter. McClellan answered with a 7-play drive that ended with a 30-yard touchdown run by quarterback Dalvion Childs with 8:16 to go in the second quarter. That tied the game at 12-12.
Jacksonville quarterback HarDerrious Martin answered with a 2-yard score at the 5:41 mark of the second quarter, giving Jacksonville an 18-12 lead. McClellan took the lead for good with 3:54 left in the half on a 10-yard scoring run by Childs. Strong added the two-point conversion to give the Lions a 20-18 lead.
A fake punt by Jacksonville was stopped inches shy of a first down on the Devils’ next possession. That set the Lions up at the JHS 17. A delay of game followed, but Strong scored on the next play and the two-point conversion made it 28-18 at halftime.
The first half was marred with penalties. The two teams combined for 20 first-half penalties for a total of 130 yards – 75 by McClellan and 55 by Jacksonville. The Red Devils also had two players ejected by halftime – one for a late hit and the other for a thrown punch on the last play of the first half.
Trenton Lewis scored McClellan’s first three touchdowns of the second half, and the Lions converted 2 of 3 two-point conversion attempts. Before Lewis’ third score, McClellan’s defense got its first safety on a high snap that was booted out of the back of the end zone by the JHS punter with 5:18 left in the third.
The next safety was a dropped punt snap that was stuffed in the back of the end zone with 5:23 to play. That invoked the mercy rule, with the score 54-18, and the final score was set on McClellan’s 60-plus yard fumble return for a touchdown.
McClellan finished with 388 yards of offense. Strong led the way with 18 carries for 188 yards and two touchdowns. Jacksonville had 140 yards, with Knowlin leading with 10 carries for 71 yards and a score.
Leader sportswriter
Jacksonville didn’t get to end its season on a high note Friday night at Jan Crow Stadium, as visiting McClellan shut out the Red Devils in the second half on its way to a dominant 60-18 win.
The game began on Thursday, but a power outage in that part of the city caused the game to be pushed back to Friday. The score was tied at 6-6 when the game was called Thursday, and on Friday, play resumed with 1:54 left in the first quarter and the score tied at 6-6.
Jacksonville (2-7, 2-4) and McClellan (7-2, 5-1) both scored on their first two offensive possessions Friday, but the Red Devils turned it over on downs on their third drive Friday, and the Crimson Lions added a touchdown and two-point conversion before halftime to lead 28-18 at the break.
The second half was all McClellan, as the Lions found the end zone on their first three drives of the second half, and on defense, they forced two safeties and returned a fumble for a touchdown late, which led to the 42-point win.
“McClellan’s got a good football team,” said Jacksonville coach Barry Hickingbotham. “They’ve got some good running backs. Number five (Pierre Strong), he’s just a great player.
“We had some kids sitting out tonight because they couldn’t get to practice on time and things like that. We knew this was our last game. We wanted to keep it close. We had a lot of kids out there that still fought and played hard till the last whistle.
“It’s just a tough deal, man. We had kids play tonight that got some exposure that hadn’t played all year, which is good for those kids because they stepped out here and they practiced and played as hard as they could. It was just a tough year – just a tough year.”
Jacksonville struck first Thursday, scoring on a 1-yard run by Shawn Ellis with 3:27 to go in the first quarter. Strong matched the score on the Lions’ next drive with a 3-yard run with 1:54 left in the first. That was when the game was called because of the power outage.
The Red Devils struck first Friday on the first drive, scoring on a 23-yard run by Robbie Knowlin with 15 seconds left in the first quarter. McClellan answered with a 7-play drive that ended with a 30-yard touchdown run by quarterback Dalvion Childs with 8:16 to go in the second quarter. That tied the game at 12-12.
Jacksonville quarterback HarDerrious Martin answered with a 2-yard score at the 5:41 mark of the second quarter, giving Jacksonville an 18-12 lead. McClellan took the lead for good with 3:54 left in the half on a 10-yard scoring run by Childs. Strong added the two-point conversion to give the Lions a 20-18 lead.
A fake punt by Jacksonville was stopped inches shy of a first down on the Devils’ next possession. That set the Lions up at the JHS 17. A delay of game followed, but Strong scored on the next play and the two-point conversion made it 28-18 at halftime.
The first half was marred with penalties. The two teams combined for 20 first-half penalties for a total of 130 yards – 75 by McClellan and 55 by Jacksonville. The Red Devils also had two players ejected by halftime – one for a late hit and the other for a thrown punch on the last play of the first half.
Trenton Lewis scored McClellan’s first three touchdowns of the second half, and the Lions converted 2 of 3 two-point conversion attempts. Before Lewis’ third score, McClellan’s defense got its first safety on a high snap that was booted out of the back of the end zone by the JHS punter with 5:18 left in the third.
The next safety was a dropped punt snap that was stuffed in the back of the end zone with 5:23 to play. That invoked the mercy rule, with the score 54-18, and the final score was set on McClellan’s 60-plus yard fumble return for a touchdown.
McClellan finished with 388 yards of offense. Strong led the way with 18 carries for 188 yards and two touchdowns. Jacksonville had 140 yards, with Knowlin leading with 10 carries for 71 yards and a score.
SPORTS STORY >> Panthers 10-0 East champs
By RAY BENTON
Leader sports editor
SEARCY – An extremely efficient offense and a vastly improved defensive performance led to a 41-10 Cabot victory Friday over the Searcy Lions. The Cabot offense scored on each of its first six possessions while the defense overcame a slow start to dominate the last three quarters of play, leading to the Panthers’ 10th-straight victory, a perfect regular season and an outright 7A/6A-East Conference championship.
“That was one of the goals, to finish 10-0,” said Cabot coach Mike Malham. “Now we can take a deep breath, rest a little bit and hopefully get a few people well.”
The Panthers, who earned a bye next week in the first round of the Class 7A state playoffs, won Friday’s game without two starting defensive linemen, a starting linebacker and a starting offensive lineman.
Cabot’s banged up defense gave up 540 yards and 53 points in last week’s wild, nine-point win over Jonesboro. It looked like Friday’s game might shake out the same way early on. Searcy took the opening kickoff and drove 75 yards in 12 plays, overcoming a personal foul penalty and executing four plays of 12 yards or more.
Cabot almost stopped the drive when it forced quarterback Andrew Neaville to scramble to his right. He found no one open in that direction, but threw across the field to Luke Dixon for the score.
After that, Searcy (6-4, 3-4) managed just 115 yards and three points the rest of the half, and just 35 total yards in the second half.
“Searcy moved the ball on us in that first half,” Malham said. “The second half we came out and did a lot better job. Obviously, if you want to win a championship you have to play good defense. You can’t outscore everybody.
“We did a good job tonight. We got a conference championship, a perfect regular season. Now we see if we can look to bigger and better things.”
Cabot’s first possession started on its own 38. On third and 3 from the 45, Panther quarterback Jarrod Barnes broke loose for 45 yards to the Searcy 10. Three plays gained 9 yards, and fullback Kolton Eads punched it in on fourth down to tie the game with 4:18 left in the first quarter.
The Lions converted on third and 6 and fourth and 3 on their next drive. But on the third set of downs, a holding penalty moved them back 13 yards on first down. Three incomplete passes followed, and Searcy punted from midfield.
Cabot started on its own 15, and went 85 yards in 15 plays for the score. The drive started with a minute left in the first quarter, and Eads again scored from 1 yard out with 6:43 remaining in the half.
Camron Washington returned the ensuing kickoff 44 yards to the Searcy 45. Dixon then took the handoff 46 yards up the middle to the Cabot 9-yard line. The Panther defense stiffened up, pushing Searcy back 2 yards and forcing a 28-yard field goal by Kolton Howe to make it 14-10 with 5:10 left in the half.
The Lions tried an onside kick and got a perfect high bounce over Cabot’s initial fielder, but Colin Thompson secured the loose ball for the Panthers at the Cabot 47.
On the second play, sophomore John Weins took an end around handoff 21 yards to the Searcy 30. Runs by Barnes and fullback Alex Roberts set up first down at the 16.
Facing fourth and 6 from the 12, Cabot scored much like Searcy did in the first quarter. Barnes scrambled right after a high snap, and then found Weins back across the field for the 12-yard touchdown pass. Caleb Shulte’s extra point made it 21-10 with 1:46 left in the half.
Searcy drove to the Cabot 25 on the next possession, but Howe’s 42-yard field goal attempt at the buzzer sailed left.
Cabot took the opening possession of the second half 65 yards in 10 plays. Halfback Jess Reed had a 15-yard gain on third and 4, and halfback Austin Morse got the last 22 on a counter with 7:37 on the clock. Shulte missed the extra point.
Cabot senior Drew Stout sacked Neaville for an 11-yard loss on second and 8 of the next possession. After an incomplete pass, Searcy went for it on fourth and 19 from its own 26. Neaville found Dixon 13 yards downfield, but safety Holdyn Barnes stopped him right there, giving Cabot the ball at the Searcy 39.
After one first down, halfback Adam Flores carried 20 yards to the 8-yard line. Barnes got the rest on an option keep left for a 34-10 lead with 2:43 left in the third.
Searcy lost a yard and went three-and-out on its possession, punting from its own 9-yard line and giving Cabot excellent field position at the Lion 36.
Eads carried for 11 yards on the last play of the third quarter. On the second play of the fourth period, Roberts got the final 10, dragging two Searcy defenders the last 5 yards into the end zone. Shulte’s PAT set the final margin with 11:15 remaining in the game.
Leader sports editor
SEARCY – An extremely efficient offense and a vastly improved defensive performance led to a 41-10 Cabot victory Friday over the Searcy Lions. The Cabot offense scored on each of its first six possessions while the defense overcame a slow start to dominate the last three quarters of play, leading to the Panthers’ 10th-straight victory, a perfect regular season and an outright 7A/6A-East Conference championship.
“That was one of the goals, to finish 10-0,” said Cabot coach Mike Malham. “Now we can take a deep breath, rest a little bit and hopefully get a few people well.”
The Panthers, who earned a bye next week in the first round of the Class 7A state playoffs, won Friday’s game without two starting defensive linemen, a starting linebacker and a starting offensive lineman.
Cabot’s banged up defense gave up 540 yards and 53 points in last week’s wild, nine-point win over Jonesboro. It looked like Friday’s game might shake out the same way early on. Searcy took the opening kickoff and drove 75 yards in 12 plays, overcoming a personal foul penalty and executing four plays of 12 yards or more.
Cabot almost stopped the drive when it forced quarterback Andrew Neaville to scramble to his right. He found no one open in that direction, but threw across the field to Luke Dixon for the score.
After that, Searcy (6-4, 3-4) managed just 115 yards and three points the rest of the half, and just 35 total yards in the second half.
“Searcy moved the ball on us in that first half,” Malham said. “The second half we came out and did a lot better job. Obviously, if you want to win a championship you have to play good defense. You can’t outscore everybody.
“We did a good job tonight. We got a conference championship, a perfect regular season. Now we see if we can look to bigger and better things.”
Cabot’s first possession started on its own 38. On third and 3 from the 45, Panther quarterback Jarrod Barnes broke loose for 45 yards to the Searcy 10. Three plays gained 9 yards, and fullback Kolton Eads punched it in on fourth down to tie the game with 4:18 left in the first quarter.
The Lions converted on third and 6 and fourth and 3 on their next drive. But on the third set of downs, a holding penalty moved them back 13 yards on first down. Three incomplete passes followed, and Searcy punted from midfield.
Cabot started on its own 15, and went 85 yards in 15 plays for the score. The drive started with a minute left in the first quarter, and Eads again scored from 1 yard out with 6:43 remaining in the half.
Camron Washington returned the ensuing kickoff 44 yards to the Searcy 45. Dixon then took the handoff 46 yards up the middle to the Cabot 9-yard line. The Panther defense stiffened up, pushing Searcy back 2 yards and forcing a 28-yard field goal by Kolton Howe to make it 14-10 with 5:10 left in the half.
The Lions tried an onside kick and got a perfect high bounce over Cabot’s initial fielder, but Colin Thompson secured the loose ball for the Panthers at the Cabot 47.
On the second play, sophomore John Weins took an end around handoff 21 yards to the Searcy 30. Runs by Barnes and fullback Alex Roberts set up first down at the 16.
Facing fourth and 6 from the 12, Cabot scored much like Searcy did in the first quarter. Barnes scrambled right after a high snap, and then found Weins back across the field for the 12-yard touchdown pass. Caleb Shulte’s extra point made it 21-10 with 1:46 left in the half.
Searcy drove to the Cabot 25 on the next possession, but Howe’s 42-yard field goal attempt at the buzzer sailed left.
Cabot took the opening possession of the second half 65 yards in 10 plays. Halfback Jess Reed had a 15-yard gain on third and 4, and halfback Austin Morse got the last 22 on a counter with 7:37 on the clock. Shulte missed the extra point.
Cabot senior Drew Stout sacked Neaville for an 11-yard loss on second and 8 of the next possession. After an incomplete pass, Searcy went for it on fourth and 19 from its own 26. Neaville found Dixon 13 yards downfield, but safety Holdyn Barnes stopped him right there, giving Cabot the ball at the Searcy 39.
After one first down, halfback Adam Flores carried 20 yards to the 8-yard line. Barnes got the rest on an option keep left for a 34-10 lead with 2:43 left in the third.
Searcy lost a yard and went three-and-out on its possession, punting from its own 9-yard line and giving Cabot excellent field position at the Lion 36.
Eads carried for 11 yards on the last play of the third quarter. On the second play of the fourth period, Roberts got the final 10, dragging two Searcy defenders the last 5 yards into the end zone. Shulte’s PAT set the final margin with 11:15 remaining in the game.
Friday, November 06, 2015
TOP STORY >> United marching band thriving
 |
| The Jacksonville-North Pulaski High School Band finish their final practice of marching season on Tuesday. It was the first year for both high school bands to be combined into one. North Pulaski students will attend Jacksonville High School next year, when NPHS will become a middle school. |
By JEFFREY SMITH
Leader staff writer
The Jacksonville-North Pulaski Band’s first marching competition season has been quite a success.
Members brought home first division ratings in class 5A for the band, drum major Khagji Warren, color guard and drum line after competing in the Showcase of Bands held Oct. 10 at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock.
Members competed again on Oct. 17 at The Forrest City Marching Invitational. They received first division ratings for the band, drum major, color guard and drum line there, too.
The band can also tout having the class B first place soloists (the Cieariah Reese and Jamal Gulley trombone duet), taking first place in class B and fourth place overall.
The band also earned a first division rating in the Region 1 Marching Assessment at North Little Rock High School, which was held Oct. 20.
This year, the Jacksonville High School and North Pulaski High School marching bands were consolidated, as part of the developing new school district.
The result was a mashup of North Pulaski’s structured corps style and Jacksonville’s high-stepping, energetic show style.
This was evident in the combined ensemble’s presentation of a competitive show called iBand, which was technologically themed to be performed like a live concert with current pop music.
North Pulaski High School 11th grader Sarah Walker said, “Combining the bands was perfection. Without combining, North Pulaski would be competing in a 2A class instead of 5A.”
The Jacksonville-North Pulaski band has 50 students.
North Pulaski had 75 band students last year but lost students to Sylvan Hills High School when attendance zone boundaries were re-drawn.
Jacksonville High School has 10 members in the band.
People were afraid of change, Walker explained, so both schools saw declines. She said some students didn’t want to learn a new style.
But, Walker continued, “We made new friends. Some of the juniors will be going to Jacksonville and some to Sylvan Hills. I will know people there at Jacksonville.”
Jacksonville High School 10th grader Brendon Crow said, “This was the best year for the first time. Last year, Jacksonville did not compete in the marching competition.”
Walker added, “I’m glad Jacksonville (students) made and accepted the challenge. They were motivated, even through the hard times of practice. Concert season is going to go just as well. It is a little different. We are seated, but it will still be fun.”
TOP STORY >> Vet records memories of Second World War
By JEFFREY SMITH
Leader staff writer
Retired Lt. Col. Wilmer Plate of Jacksonville, a Second World War veteran, recorded on Tuesday his memories of war for future generations.
Retired Col. Anita Deason, military and veterans affairs liaison for U.S. Sen. John Boozman (R-Ark.), interviewed Plate at his Jacksonville home. The 90-minute recording is for the Library of Congress Veterans History Project.
Plate, 96, was a B-24 bomber pilot. He flew 31 missions with the 489th Bomber Group. The crew of 10 men flew over Germany and France from May 30 to Sept. 27, 1944. Plate was awarded many service medals, including the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Legion of Merit and the Purple Heart.
Plate described one of his missions by asking viewers to imagine they were behind the pilot’s seat as he narrated. The mission was a July 31, 1944 flight to Ludwigshafen, Germany, to bomb a railroad complex. It was a seven-hour job, and Plate recalled the end of the bombing run.
“You look out the front and in the sky. Those black puffs, that is flak going off in the target area. We’ll be going through that. Look off to the left, you see the airplane. He took a shot in the wing and he blew up. Did you see any parachutes? I didn’t see any parachutes,” Plate said.
“Over here on the right, this guy took a shot in the right engine. Look at the fire,” the bombardier said.
He continued, “Bombs away! The airplane jumps up 3 to 5 feet. You feel the jump? BOOM!
“That flak went off right belowour bomb bay. If we had not jumped up, we’d be right in it,” Plate continued.
“The plane shutters from one end to the other. There is something wrong with the number three engine. I tell the co-pilot to shut that engine down. I check to see if all the crew is still alive. In the meantime, I adjust the power to the other engines,” he said.
“We are stable for the moment. The plane has a lot of holes. I know the bomb bay is hit. The engineer tells me the bomb bay is a mess. There are hydraulic lines, oxygen lines and fuel lines all leaking. There is a hole in the wing tank the size of a baseball. Fuel is flowing out like crazy,” Plate recalled.
“Engine two is now overheating. I have to reduce the power on that engine. I can’t stay in the formation anymore. We fall out and make a turn. I tell the navigator set us up for a course to England,” he continued.
“We set up for a three-hour flight home. We are on oxygen bottles. I don’t think we can make it. If we lose another engine, we are going to go in. If we have a spark, we’ll blow up. Now would be a good time if you want to bail out,” Plate told his invisible audience.
But, he said, the whole crew stayed with the airplane.
“We go on for two hours. We can see the land,” Plate recalled.
The engineer started to crank down the landing gear.
“We are now over the English Channel and lining up to the runway. I slow down the airplane and tell the tower to bring the fire trucks and ambulance because we’re going to do a crash landing,” Plate said.
“We’re coming in and boom! The tire held and we’re holding the nose off and then it drops down. Boom! It crashes and we skid down the runway on our nose in the grass and stop. We bail out,” the veteran remembered.
He said the doctor checked the crew out and they debriefed. Twelve hours later, they’re back in the bomber.
Deason said Boozman supports the work of the Veterans History Project because his father was a World War II veteran who died at age 69.
“(Boozman) was not able to ask these questions and collect and capture the story,” Deason said.
“I lost my father as a teenager. He was 65 and a WWII vet. This is a chance to honor and respect all our veterans. It gives them an opportunity to share their story and preserve it for their family and future generations,” she continued.
Deason said the Veterans History Project also has workshops to train volunteers on interviewing veterans of all wars and civilians who worked in the war industry. Locally, they have trained 115 people. Her work involves doing outreach with veterans service agencies.
Deason said veterans are interviewed when the project hears of them. She said there are 250,000 veterans of all wars in the state and 1,200 from Arkansas have been interviewed for the project since it was approved by Congress 15 years ago.
Leader staff writer
Retired Lt. Col. Wilmer Plate of Jacksonville, a Second World War veteran, recorded on Tuesday his memories of war for future generations.
Retired Col. Anita Deason, military and veterans affairs liaison for U.S. Sen. John Boozman (R-Ark.), interviewed Plate at his Jacksonville home. The 90-minute recording is for the Library of Congress Veterans History Project.
Plate, 96, was a B-24 bomber pilot. He flew 31 missions with the 489th Bomber Group. The crew of 10 men flew over Germany and France from May 30 to Sept. 27, 1944. Plate was awarded many service medals, including the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Legion of Merit and the Purple Heart.
Plate described one of his missions by asking viewers to imagine they were behind the pilot’s seat as he narrated. The mission was a July 31, 1944 flight to Ludwigshafen, Germany, to bomb a railroad complex. It was a seven-hour job, and Plate recalled the end of the bombing run.
“You look out the front and in the sky. Those black puffs, that is flak going off in the target area. We’ll be going through that. Look off to the left, you see the airplane. He took a shot in the wing and he blew up. Did you see any parachutes? I didn’t see any parachutes,” Plate said.
“Over here on the right, this guy took a shot in the right engine. Look at the fire,” the bombardier said.
He continued, “Bombs away! The airplane jumps up 3 to 5 feet. You feel the jump? BOOM!
“That flak went off right belowour bomb bay. If we had not jumped up, we’d be right in it,” Plate continued.
“The plane shutters from one end to the other. There is something wrong with the number three engine. I tell the co-pilot to shut that engine down. I check to see if all the crew is still alive. In the meantime, I adjust the power to the other engines,” he said.
“We are stable for the moment. The plane has a lot of holes. I know the bomb bay is hit. The engineer tells me the bomb bay is a mess. There are hydraulic lines, oxygen lines and fuel lines all leaking. There is a hole in the wing tank the size of a baseball. Fuel is flowing out like crazy,” Plate recalled.
“Engine two is now overheating. I have to reduce the power on that engine. I can’t stay in the formation anymore. We fall out and make a turn. I tell the navigator set us up for a course to England,” he continued.
“We set up for a three-hour flight home. We are on oxygen bottles. I don’t think we can make it. If we lose another engine, we are going to go in. If we have a spark, we’ll blow up. Now would be a good time if you want to bail out,” Plate told his invisible audience.
But, he said, the whole crew stayed with the airplane.
“We go on for two hours. We can see the land,” Plate recalled.
The engineer started to crank down the landing gear.
“We are now over the English Channel and lining up to the runway. I slow down the airplane and tell the tower to bring the fire trucks and ambulance because we’re going to do a crash landing,” Plate said.
“We’re coming in and boom! The tire held and we’re holding the nose off and then it drops down. Boom! It crashes and we skid down the runway on our nose in the grass and stop. We bail out,” the veteran remembered.
He said the doctor checked the crew out and they debriefed. Twelve hours later, they’re back in the bomber.
Deason said Boozman supports the work of the Veterans History Project because his father was a World War II veteran who died at age 69.
“(Boozman) was not able to ask these questions and collect and capture the story,” Deason said.
“I lost my father as a teenager. He was 65 and a WWII vet. This is a chance to honor and respect all our veterans. It gives them an opportunity to share their story and preserve it for their family and future generations,” she continued.
Deason said the Veterans History Project also has workshops to train volunteers on interviewing veterans of all wars and civilians who worked in the war industry. Locally, they have trained 115 people. Her work involves doing outreach with veterans service agencies.
Deason said veterans are interviewed when the project hears of them. She said there are 250,000 veterans of all wars in the state and 1,200 from Arkansas have been interviewed for the project since it was approved by Congress 15 years ago.
TOP STORY >> Election papers pour in
By SARAH CAMPBELL
Leader staff writer
Candidates have until Monday to file for office. The deadline for all but those seeking judicial seats is noon, and the latter have until 3 p.m.
The primary election is March 1. Early voting starts Feb. 15.
One highlight of the filings is that Joseph (Joe) O’Bryan is running for re-election in the Lonoke County District Judge-Northern Division race, after being arrested in August for third-degree domestic battery.
His case was dismissed this week, when special, appointed Faulkner County District Court Judge David Reynolds signed an order Thursday, according to a Lonoke District Court clerk.
Cabot attorney John Flynn, Ward City Attorney Clint McGue and Judge Teresa Hallum Smith are opposing O’Bryan for the Cabot court position.
U.S. SENATE
Democrat Conner Eldridge of Lonoke, a former U.S. attorney, and Libertarian Frank Gilbert have filed for Sen. John Boozman’s seat. Boozman (R-Ark.) had announced previously that he intended to seek re-election. But his name was not on the list yet, as of Friday evening.
U.S. CONGRESS
For District 1, the only candidate who had filed was Mark West, a Libertarian. In District 2, Rep. French Hill (R-Ark.) is seeking re-election. He has an opponent, Libertarian Frank Gilbert.
STATE SENATE
Dist. 34 Sen. Jan English (R-North Little Rock) will face two challengers, a Republican and a Democrat, if no one else files by the Monday deadline. They are Rep. Donnie Copeland (R-Little Rock) and Joe Woodson.
Dist. 29 Sen. Eddie Joe Williams (R-Cabot) and Lonoke County Justice of the Peace R.D. Hopper, also a Republican, have filed for Williams’ seat.
Sen. Jonathan Dismang (R-Beebe) is unopposed so far.
STATE HOUSE
Three have filed for Copeland’s Dist. 38 seat. District 38 includes some of Sherwood.
The candidates so far are Kent Walker, Victoria Leigh — both Democrats — and Carlton Wing, a Republican.
Dist. 14 Rep. Camille Bennett (D-Lonoke) and Roger D. Lynch, a Republican, have filed for her seat.
Dist. 44 Rep. Joe Farrer (R-Austin) also has an opponent, Garry Baker, a Libertarian.
So far, Dist. 40 Rep. Douglas House (R-North Little Rock), Dist. 41 Rep. Karilyn Brown (R-Sherwood), Dist. 42 Rep. Bob Johnson (D-Jacksonville), Dist. 43 Rep. Tim Lemons (R-Cabot) and Dist. 45 Rep. Jeremy Gillam (R-Judsonia) are unopposed.
JUDICIAL RACES
State Sen. David Johnson (D-Little Rock) was the only candidate who had filed by Friday evening to preside over both the Jacksonville and Maumelle district courts.
The two courts will soon share a judge and have countywide jurisdiction because of a 2011 law aimed at lightening the caseload of circuit courts across the state.
Wrightsville District Court Judge Rita Bailey hadn’t filed for the position yet, but she has announced plans to run for the Jacksonville-Maumelle seat.
Judge Milas “Butch” Hale III was unopposed on Friday evening for judge of the Sherwood district court.
PULASKI COUNTY
Most candidates were unopposed, according to the filing list as of Friday evening.
Sheriff Doc Holladay, a Democrat, has a Libertarian opponent in Patrick Mulligan.
Dist. 3 Justice of the Peace Kathy S. Lewison, a Democrat, has an opponent, Republican Lynn Jacuzzi.
Judge Barry Hyde, a Democrat, is seeking re-election, as is Democrat Larry Crane for circuit/county clerk.
Democrats Janet Troutman Ward and Debra Buckner are doing the same for assessor and treasurer, respectively.
For the quorum court, the following have filed: JP Doug Reed (Republican, Dist. 1), Lynn Jacuzzi (Republican, Dist. 3), JP Julie Blackwood (Deomcrat, Dist. 4), JP Donna Massey (Democrat, Dist. 6), Teresa Coney (Democrat, Dist. 7), JP Curtis Keith (Democrat, Dist. 8), JP R. Green (Democrat, Dist. 10), JP Aaron Robinson (Dist. 11), JP Luke McCoy (Republican, Dist. 12), JP Phil Stowers (Republican, Dist. 13), JP Paul Elliott (Republican, Dist. 14). and Staci Medlock (Democrat, Dist. 15)
LONOKE COUNTY
County Judge Doug Erwin, a Republican, is facing off against two Republicans, Richard Kyzer and Fred D. (Skipper) Clement Jr.
County Clerk Dawn Porterfield and Circuit Clerk Deborah Oglesby are unopposed so far, as is Treasurer Patti Weathers, Assessor Jerrel Maxwell and Sheriff John Staley. Therese L. O’Donnell was the only one to file for the collector position as of Friday evening.
Three Republicans have filed for coroner; Carla Horton, Kenny Fraley and Karl E. (Eddie) Pennington.
There are also three Republicans seeking J.D. Hopper’s Justice of the Peace Dist. 1 seat. He’s running for Eddie Joe Williams’ state Senate seat. The three who filed are also Republicans.
The Dist. 1 JP candidates are Brent Canon, Jesse Bear and Kevin Livengood.
Two Republicans, John D. Howard and Claud E. Irvin, have filed for the Dist. 4 JP seat.
Dist. 5 JP Adam Justice, a Republican, has a Republican opponent, Robert (Bobby) Gilliam.
Dist. 7 JP Ralph Brown, a Republican, is being challenged in his re-election bid by Democrat Dan F. Stowers.
For Dist. 9, as of Friday evening, Republicans Linda Waddell and Les Carpenter had filed.
Republicans Daniel Hayes, Kenny Ridgeway and Bob Morris are seeking the Dist. 13 JP seat.
But JPs Barry (B.J) Weathers (Dist. 2), Henry Lang (Dist. 3), Jerry E. Cole (Dist. 6), Tate House (Dist. 8), Bill Ryker (Dist. 10) and Mike Dolan (Dist. 11) are unopposed so far. Patty Knox is unopposed for Dist. 12, but isn’t a current JP.
CITY RACES
Cabot has one city council race because Alderman Dallan Buchanan resigned Oct. 1 from representing Ward 2 in Position 1 to pursue a job in another city.
Damon Bivins has filed for that seat.
All of the Lonoke City Council races are unopposed by current aldermen seeking re-election. Those who have filed are Jane Derning (Dist. 1), Woody Evans (Dist. 2), Pat Howell (Dist. 3), Wendell Walker (Dist. 4), Efrem Z. Jones (Dist. 5) and Raymond Hatton (Dist. 6).
Leader staff writer
Candidates have until Monday to file for office. The deadline for all but those seeking judicial seats is noon, and the latter have until 3 p.m.
The primary election is March 1. Early voting starts Feb. 15.
One highlight of the filings is that Joseph (Joe) O’Bryan is running for re-election in the Lonoke County District Judge-Northern Division race, after being arrested in August for third-degree domestic battery.
His case was dismissed this week, when special, appointed Faulkner County District Court Judge David Reynolds signed an order Thursday, according to a Lonoke District Court clerk.
Cabot attorney John Flynn, Ward City Attorney Clint McGue and Judge Teresa Hallum Smith are opposing O’Bryan for the Cabot court position.
U.S. SENATE
Democrat Conner Eldridge of Lonoke, a former U.S. attorney, and Libertarian Frank Gilbert have filed for Sen. John Boozman’s seat. Boozman (R-Ark.) had announced previously that he intended to seek re-election. But his name was not on the list yet, as of Friday evening.
U.S. CONGRESS
For District 1, the only candidate who had filed was Mark West, a Libertarian. In District 2, Rep. French Hill (R-Ark.) is seeking re-election. He has an opponent, Libertarian Frank Gilbert.
STATE SENATE
Dist. 34 Sen. Jan English (R-North Little Rock) will face two challengers, a Republican and a Democrat, if no one else files by the Monday deadline. They are Rep. Donnie Copeland (R-Little Rock) and Joe Woodson.
Dist. 29 Sen. Eddie Joe Williams (R-Cabot) and Lonoke County Justice of the Peace R.D. Hopper, also a Republican, have filed for Williams’ seat.
Sen. Jonathan Dismang (R-Beebe) is unopposed so far.
STATE HOUSE
Three have filed for Copeland’s Dist. 38 seat. District 38 includes some of Sherwood.
The candidates so far are Kent Walker, Victoria Leigh — both Democrats — and Carlton Wing, a Republican.
Dist. 14 Rep. Camille Bennett (D-Lonoke) and Roger D. Lynch, a Republican, have filed for her seat.
Dist. 44 Rep. Joe Farrer (R-Austin) also has an opponent, Garry Baker, a Libertarian.
So far, Dist. 40 Rep. Douglas House (R-North Little Rock), Dist. 41 Rep. Karilyn Brown (R-Sherwood), Dist. 42 Rep. Bob Johnson (D-Jacksonville), Dist. 43 Rep. Tim Lemons (R-Cabot) and Dist. 45 Rep. Jeremy Gillam (R-Judsonia) are unopposed.
JUDICIAL RACES
State Sen. David Johnson (D-Little Rock) was the only candidate who had filed by Friday evening to preside over both the Jacksonville and Maumelle district courts.
The two courts will soon share a judge and have countywide jurisdiction because of a 2011 law aimed at lightening the caseload of circuit courts across the state.
Wrightsville District Court Judge Rita Bailey hadn’t filed for the position yet, but she has announced plans to run for the Jacksonville-Maumelle seat.
Judge Milas “Butch” Hale III was unopposed on Friday evening for judge of the Sherwood district court.
PULASKI COUNTY
Most candidates were unopposed, according to the filing list as of Friday evening.
Sheriff Doc Holladay, a Democrat, has a Libertarian opponent in Patrick Mulligan.
Dist. 3 Justice of the Peace Kathy S. Lewison, a Democrat, has an opponent, Republican Lynn Jacuzzi.
Judge Barry Hyde, a Democrat, is seeking re-election, as is Democrat Larry Crane for circuit/county clerk.
Democrats Janet Troutman Ward and Debra Buckner are doing the same for assessor and treasurer, respectively.
For the quorum court, the following have filed: JP Doug Reed (Republican, Dist. 1), Lynn Jacuzzi (Republican, Dist. 3), JP Julie Blackwood (Deomcrat, Dist. 4), JP Donna Massey (Democrat, Dist. 6), Teresa Coney (Democrat, Dist. 7), JP Curtis Keith (Democrat, Dist. 8), JP R. Green (Democrat, Dist. 10), JP Aaron Robinson (Dist. 11), JP Luke McCoy (Republican, Dist. 12), JP Phil Stowers (Republican, Dist. 13), JP Paul Elliott (Republican, Dist. 14). and Staci Medlock (Democrat, Dist. 15)
LONOKE COUNTY
County Judge Doug Erwin, a Republican, is facing off against two Republicans, Richard Kyzer and Fred D. (Skipper) Clement Jr.
County Clerk Dawn Porterfield and Circuit Clerk Deborah Oglesby are unopposed so far, as is Treasurer Patti Weathers, Assessor Jerrel Maxwell and Sheriff John Staley. Therese L. O’Donnell was the only one to file for the collector position as of Friday evening.
Three Republicans have filed for coroner; Carla Horton, Kenny Fraley and Karl E. (Eddie) Pennington.
There are also three Republicans seeking J.D. Hopper’s Justice of the Peace Dist. 1 seat. He’s running for Eddie Joe Williams’ state Senate seat. The three who filed are also Republicans.
The Dist. 1 JP candidates are Brent Canon, Jesse Bear and Kevin Livengood.
Two Republicans, John D. Howard and Claud E. Irvin, have filed for the Dist. 4 JP seat.
Dist. 5 JP Adam Justice, a Republican, has a Republican opponent, Robert (Bobby) Gilliam.
Dist. 7 JP Ralph Brown, a Republican, is being challenged in his re-election bid by Democrat Dan F. Stowers.
For Dist. 9, as of Friday evening, Republicans Linda Waddell and Les Carpenter had filed.
Republicans Daniel Hayes, Kenny Ridgeway and Bob Morris are seeking the Dist. 13 JP seat.
But JPs Barry (B.J) Weathers (Dist. 2), Henry Lang (Dist. 3), Jerry E. Cole (Dist. 6), Tate House (Dist. 8), Bill Ryker (Dist. 10) and Mike Dolan (Dist. 11) are unopposed so far. Patty Knox is unopposed for Dist. 12, but isn’t a current JP.
CITY RACES
Cabot has one city council race because Alderman Dallan Buchanan resigned Oct. 1 from representing Ward 2 in Position 1 to pursue a job in another city.
Damon Bivins has filed for that seat.
All of the Lonoke City Council races are unopposed by current aldermen seeking re-election. Those who have filed are Jane Derning (Dist. 1), Woody Evans (Dist. 2), Pat Howell (Dist. 3), Wendell Walker (Dist. 4), Efrem Z. Jones (Dist. 5) and Raymond Hatton (Dist. 6).
Wednesday, November 04, 2015
SPORTS STORY >> Local teams’ postseason set
By RAY BENTON
Leader sports editor
A lot of football playoff positions are still yet to be settled around the state, but most of the local teams already know where they will be when the postseason begins Friday, Nov. 13. Only Lonoke’s fate hasn’t been settled, and the Jackrabbits play a win-and-your-in game this Thursday at Riverview.
The winner of that game will get the five seed from the 4A-2 Conference and will travel to Gosnell in the first round of the playoffs. The loser’s season is over.
CABOT
Jacksonville and Cabot will be sitting at home when the playoffs begin, but not for the same reason. The Red Devils can’t make the playoffs even with a win over McClellan on Friday, while the undefeated Panthers have already clinched a one seed and a first-round bye in the Class 7A playoffs.
Cabot travels to Searcy on Friday to play another meaningless conference game against a 6A opponent, but it will be important for the Panthers to shore up a defense that was torched for 540 yards and 53 points at Jonesboro last week.
The Panthers’ offense continued to produce, piling up 512 total yards, and the team continued to find other ways to score. Cabot looked good on special teams when Jonesboro kicked deep, but was poor at covering onside kicks.
Jonesboro scored three quick touchdowns early in the fourth quarter, aided by two successful onside kicks. That’s how the Hurricanes turned a game on the verge of a blowout into a nail-biter. Cabot led 55-31 at the end of the third, but that lead was down to two points with seven minutes remaining.
Cabot senior Holdyn Barnes got his third kickoff return for a touchdown at Jonesboro, and also returned a recovered fumble for a score. He has scored six non-offensive touchdowns this season.
Searcy has also shown a knack for scoring points this year, though not at the same rate as Jonesboro. The Lions’ lowest point total of the year was 14 against Little Rock Central in the conference opener. They have scored at least four touchdowns in every other game. Last week, Searcy (6-3, 3-3) plowed through Mountain Home 61-26 and has scored 49 points or more two other times this year.
Regardless of Friday’s outcome, Cabot will wait for Friday’s outcomes to see whom it might play in the second round of the playoffs in two weeks. The Panthers are set to play the winner between the West four seed and the Central three seed.
Both of those spots will be determined in head-to-head matchups this Friday. Catholic faces Van Buren for the Central three seed, while Fort Smith Northside’s rivalry game with Fort Smith Southside is for the West four seed.
CARLISLE IS FIVE SEED
Carlisle’s game against McCrory this Thursday will probably not affect the 2A-6 playoff picture. McCrory is the No. 1 seed win or lose. The only way the Bison can jump from the five seed they already have locked up to a four seed is for two upsets to occur. Carlisle must beat the undefeated Jaguars, and the winless Marvell Mustangs must defeat Brinkley. Most likely, the Bison are headed for Hackett, the 2A-4 runner-up, in the first round of the playoffs.
5A-CENTRAL SET
In an unusual turn of events, the 5A-Central Conference playoffs slots are completely set with a game left to play. Pulaski Academy is the one seed; McClellan, Beebe and Sylvan Hills follow in that order, no matter what happens Friday.
Beebe is off this week due to its scheduled game against North Pulaski. Even if Sylvan Hills beats PA and/or Jacksonville beats McClellan, every tiebreaker scenario still comes out to the same order of placement. The only thing that could change is that McClellan could share the conference championship if it wins and PA loses.
The 5A-Central is matched up with the West in the first round of the playoffs, and almost nothing is set there. Little Rock Christian Academy is the one seed and will host Sylvan Hills in the first round of the playoffs.
Morrilton is in as the two or the three seed. Everything else will be settled this week. If Greenbrier beats Vilonia, the Panthers are the two seed, Morrilton is the three and Harrison is the four.
If Vilonia wins, Greenbrier is most likely out. Morrilton is the two seed, Vilonia the three and Harrison four.
If Farmington upsets Harrison or Clarksville upsets Morrilton, then deep tiebreaker scenarios come into play.
Leader sports editor
A lot of football playoff positions are still yet to be settled around the state, but most of the local teams already know where they will be when the postseason begins Friday, Nov. 13. Only Lonoke’s fate hasn’t been settled, and the Jackrabbits play a win-and-your-in game this Thursday at Riverview.
The winner of that game will get the five seed from the 4A-2 Conference and will travel to Gosnell in the first round of the playoffs. The loser’s season is over.
CABOT
Jacksonville and Cabot will be sitting at home when the playoffs begin, but not for the same reason. The Red Devils can’t make the playoffs even with a win over McClellan on Friday, while the undefeated Panthers have already clinched a one seed and a first-round bye in the Class 7A playoffs.
Cabot travels to Searcy on Friday to play another meaningless conference game against a 6A opponent, but it will be important for the Panthers to shore up a defense that was torched for 540 yards and 53 points at Jonesboro last week.
The Panthers’ offense continued to produce, piling up 512 total yards, and the team continued to find other ways to score. Cabot looked good on special teams when Jonesboro kicked deep, but was poor at covering onside kicks.
Jonesboro scored three quick touchdowns early in the fourth quarter, aided by two successful onside kicks. That’s how the Hurricanes turned a game on the verge of a blowout into a nail-biter. Cabot led 55-31 at the end of the third, but that lead was down to two points with seven minutes remaining.
Cabot senior Holdyn Barnes got his third kickoff return for a touchdown at Jonesboro, and also returned a recovered fumble for a score. He has scored six non-offensive touchdowns this season.
Searcy has also shown a knack for scoring points this year, though not at the same rate as Jonesboro. The Lions’ lowest point total of the year was 14 against Little Rock Central in the conference opener. They have scored at least four touchdowns in every other game. Last week, Searcy (6-3, 3-3) plowed through Mountain Home 61-26 and has scored 49 points or more two other times this year.
Regardless of Friday’s outcome, Cabot will wait for Friday’s outcomes to see whom it might play in the second round of the playoffs in two weeks. The Panthers are set to play the winner between the West four seed and the Central three seed.
Both of those spots will be determined in head-to-head matchups this Friday. Catholic faces Van Buren for the Central three seed, while Fort Smith Northside’s rivalry game with Fort Smith Southside is for the West four seed.
CARLISLE IS FIVE SEED
Carlisle’s game against McCrory this Thursday will probably not affect the 2A-6 playoff picture. McCrory is the No. 1 seed win or lose. The only way the Bison can jump from the five seed they already have locked up to a four seed is for two upsets to occur. Carlisle must beat the undefeated Jaguars, and the winless Marvell Mustangs must defeat Brinkley. Most likely, the Bison are headed for Hackett, the 2A-4 runner-up, in the first round of the playoffs.
5A-CENTRAL SET
In an unusual turn of events, the 5A-Central Conference playoffs slots are completely set with a game left to play. Pulaski Academy is the one seed; McClellan, Beebe and Sylvan Hills follow in that order, no matter what happens Friday.
Beebe is off this week due to its scheduled game against North Pulaski. Even if Sylvan Hills beats PA and/or Jacksonville beats McClellan, every tiebreaker scenario still comes out to the same order of placement. The only thing that could change is that McClellan could share the conference championship if it wins and PA loses.
The 5A-Central is matched up with the West in the first round of the playoffs, and almost nothing is set there. Little Rock Christian Academy is the one seed and will host Sylvan Hills in the first round of the playoffs.
Morrilton is in as the two or the three seed. Everything else will be settled this week. If Greenbrier beats Vilonia, the Panthers are the two seed, Morrilton is the three and Harrison is the four.
If Vilonia wins, Greenbrier is most likely out. Morrilton is the two seed, Vilonia the three and Harrison four.
If Farmington upsets Harrison or Clarksville upsets Morrilton, then deep tiebreaker scenarios come into play.
SPORTS STORY >> Beebe’s historic season
By RAY BENTON
Leader sports editor
The Beebe volleyball team’s historic season came to an end last week with a quarterfinal round loss to Batesville in the Class 5A state tournament, but it was still a historic season for the Lady Badgers and the seven seniors that led the way.
Beebe was still a fledgling program when those players started playing in the seventh grade, and is now one of the best programs in central Arkansas. That fact was evidenced by the team’s opening win of the season when it beat Little Rock Christian Academy. The Warriors had played in two state championship games in recent years and had never lost to Beebe until this year.
“To go five and beat them in one of our first matches, I think that helped set the tone for the whole season,” said Beebe coach Ashley Camp.
In addition to beating LRCA for the first time in school history, the Lady Badgers also won the team’s first-ever outright conference championship, completed the team’s first undefeated league record and earned the first volleyball playoff win in school history.
Beebe did not lose a non-tournament match all season, and didn’t lose to anyone in Class 5A or below until falling to Batesville last week. All but one of the losses in those tournaments were to 7A teams, but even those losses were good for the team, according to the head coach.
“It just showed us that even though we might not win 7A, even taking a set off them and staying with them gave the girls some encouragement that they were good enough to play with the best the state has to offer.”
The Lady Badgers rolled through the 5A-Central Con-ference undefeated, sweeping perennial contender Pulaski Academy twice, and not losing a set in league play until the finale against North Pulaski.
The match against NP came on the heels of the team’s lowest point. Beebe went to a late-season tournament in Conway and performed badly, but took that tournament as a wake-up call and responded well.
“Every team hits that burnout stage,” Camp said. “I don’t know if we were burned out or just tired. We had been going twice a week and sometimes three. Of course, I tell them there’s no excuses, but I think that was part of it. It was a learning experience. We had a team meeting about it and the experienced ones stepped up. They worked through it and we were able to bounce back from it.”
After losing game two to North Pulaski, Beebe routed Harding Academy in the regular-season finale and performed as well as it has all season in the state tournament.
“I think the Harding Academy game and the first two matches of state was our peaking point,” Camp said. “I’ve never seen them play so hard. They were loud. Communication was great. They were so focused on everything that was going on.”
Beebe lost 3-1 to the Pioneers, but it was nothing like its first-round loss to the same team in the first round of state the year before. In that game, Beebe was routed 3-0 and was not very competitive after the midway point of game one.
“When you take into consideration the year before when we were like deer in headlights, we were a totally different team this time around,” Camp said. “There was no loss of focus, no poor me going on. Even when they had 24 in game four, the girls were still fighting. You can’t ask for much more than that.”
Five of the seven seniors started and all seven played considerable minutes and were key clogs in the team’s success. Camp is confident in the talent that’s returning, but says leadership will be a question mark entering next season.
“Sarah Clark and Paige Smith were big vocal leaders for us on the floor,” Camp said of her senior setter and libero. “Jerra Malone was a valuable quiet leader. She led by example on the floor. Shayla Devore gave a lot of encouragement, always up and always positive. We’ll definitely be looking for people to fill those roles.”
Leader sports editor
The Beebe volleyball team’s historic season came to an end last week with a quarterfinal round loss to Batesville in the Class 5A state tournament, but it was still a historic season for the Lady Badgers and the seven seniors that led the way.
Beebe was still a fledgling program when those players started playing in the seventh grade, and is now one of the best programs in central Arkansas. That fact was evidenced by the team’s opening win of the season when it beat Little Rock Christian Academy. The Warriors had played in two state championship games in recent years and had never lost to Beebe until this year.
“To go five and beat them in one of our first matches, I think that helped set the tone for the whole season,” said Beebe coach Ashley Camp.
In addition to beating LRCA for the first time in school history, the Lady Badgers also won the team’s first-ever outright conference championship, completed the team’s first undefeated league record and earned the first volleyball playoff win in school history.
Beebe did not lose a non-tournament match all season, and didn’t lose to anyone in Class 5A or below until falling to Batesville last week. All but one of the losses in those tournaments were to 7A teams, but even those losses were good for the team, according to the head coach.
“It just showed us that even though we might not win 7A, even taking a set off them and staying with them gave the girls some encouragement that they were good enough to play with the best the state has to offer.”
The Lady Badgers rolled through the 5A-Central Con-ference undefeated, sweeping perennial contender Pulaski Academy twice, and not losing a set in league play until the finale against North Pulaski.
The match against NP came on the heels of the team’s lowest point. Beebe went to a late-season tournament in Conway and performed badly, but took that tournament as a wake-up call and responded well.
“Every team hits that burnout stage,” Camp said. “I don’t know if we were burned out or just tired. We had been going twice a week and sometimes three. Of course, I tell them there’s no excuses, but I think that was part of it. It was a learning experience. We had a team meeting about it and the experienced ones stepped up. They worked through it and we were able to bounce back from it.”
After losing game two to North Pulaski, Beebe routed Harding Academy in the regular-season finale and performed as well as it has all season in the state tournament.
“I think the Harding Academy game and the first two matches of state was our peaking point,” Camp said. “I’ve never seen them play so hard. They were loud. Communication was great. They were so focused on everything that was going on.”
Beebe lost 3-1 to the Pioneers, but it was nothing like its first-round loss to the same team in the first round of state the year before. In that game, Beebe was routed 3-0 and was not very competitive after the midway point of game one.
“When you take into consideration the year before when we were like deer in headlights, we were a totally different team this time around,” Camp said. “There was no loss of focus, no poor me going on. Even when they had 24 in game four, the girls were still fighting. You can’t ask for much more than that.”
Five of the seven seniors started and all seven played considerable minutes and were key clogs in the team’s success. Camp is confident in the talent that’s returning, but says leadership will be a question mark entering next season.
“Sarah Clark and Paige Smith were big vocal leaders for us on the floor,” Camp said of her senior setter and libero. “Jerra Malone was a valuable quiet leader. She led by example on the floor. Shayla Devore gave a lot of encouragement, always up and always positive. We’ll definitely be looking for people to fill those roles.”
SPORTS STORY >> Pressure off when SH Bears meet PA
By RAY BENTON
Leader sports editor
Sylvan Hills is mired in a two-game losing streak and nothing gets easier for the Bears in the regular-season finale. Sylvan Hills hosts Pulaski Academy for a 7 p.m. kickoff. The Bruins are the undefeated, No. 1 ranked defending state champions. They are currently riding a 22-game win streak and have not lost since week one of the 2014 season.
Sylvan Hills won its first six games of the year, but have lost its last two to McClellan and Beebe.
Sylvan Hills experienced a similar drought last season when it lost the last three games of the year after starting 8-0. There is one difference to this year’s drought. The Bears have nothing on the line in this week’s game. No matter the outcome, Sylvan Hills is the four seed from the 5A-Central in the playoffs. So there should be no pressure, unlike last year’s game when the Bears took a new quarterback into a road game with a conference championship on the line.
Sylvan Hills coach Jim Withrow likes the way his team has responded in practices since last week’s loss to Beebe. There are no signs that the team has lost any motivation after two disappointing weeks.
“They were mad,” said Withrow of his team’s attitude at the first practice after the Beebe game. “They were upset and they were wanting to fix it and move on. You’d rather have that than a bunch of guys that act like they don’t care.”
Sylvan Hills’ offense is still as potent as ever. After five games, the Bears led the state in scoring offense. They suffered a six-turnover, 17-penalty game and still beat Jacksonville 29-14 on Oct. 9. After that was an open date, and Sylvan Hills has not won since.
PA presents a completely different challenge than McClellan and Beebe, and even though the Bruins beat both of those teams, the Bears believe it could be a better matchup for them.
“I can tell you this, there’s no sign of fear in them,” Withrow said of his players. “They believe they can win this game. I believe we can score on anybody. We just have to cut out the mistakes. You hate to put yourself in bad situations, but I feel like both games (the two losses) came down to one drive.”
Sylvan Hills fell behind by three scores to McClellan and Beebe. Both times, the Bears got back to their explosive playmaking. They pulled to within one score in both games, and both times got a turnover to take possession with a chance to take the lead. And both times penalties bogged down the progress and the Bears were forced to punt.
“You really think that if we just keep it clicking, keep executing, they can’t stop us,” Withrow said. “We shot ourselves in the foot in both games. It’s frustrating.”
Beebe and McClellan are both big teams that run the ball 90 percent of the time. Pulaski Academy passes on almost every play, which also sets up big runs when they call the draw to super-quick tailback Jaren Watkins.
Tre Bruce is another big-time threat that will line up at quarterback, running back and receiver.
“You pretty much have to outscore PA,” Withrow said. “Again, I think we can score on anybody, but we have to eliminate the mistakes. You can’t afford to give them too many opportunities because you’ll be down in a hurry. But the pressure is off. We know where we stand, so hopefully we’ll have some fun and get us a win.”
Leader sports editor
Sylvan Hills is mired in a two-game losing streak and nothing gets easier for the Bears in the regular-season finale. Sylvan Hills hosts Pulaski Academy for a 7 p.m. kickoff. The Bruins are the undefeated, No. 1 ranked defending state champions. They are currently riding a 22-game win streak and have not lost since week one of the 2014 season.
Sylvan Hills won its first six games of the year, but have lost its last two to McClellan and Beebe.
Sylvan Hills experienced a similar drought last season when it lost the last three games of the year after starting 8-0. There is one difference to this year’s drought. The Bears have nothing on the line in this week’s game. No matter the outcome, Sylvan Hills is the four seed from the 5A-Central in the playoffs. So there should be no pressure, unlike last year’s game when the Bears took a new quarterback into a road game with a conference championship on the line.
Sylvan Hills coach Jim Withrow likes the way his team has responded in practices since last week’s loss to Beebe. There are no signs that the team has lost any motivation after two disappointing weeks.
“They were mad,” said Withrow of his team’s attitude at the first practice after the Beebe game. “They were upset and they were wanting to fix it and move on. You’d rather have that than a bunch of guys that act like they don’t care.”
Sylvan Hills’ offense is still as potent as ever. After five games, the Bears led the state in scoring offense. They suffered a six-turnover, 17-penalty game and still beat Jacksonville 29-14 on Oct. 9. After that was an open date, and Sylvan Hills has not won since.
PA presents a completely different challenge than McClellan and Beebe, and even though the Bruins beat both of those teams, the Bears believe it could be a better matchup for them.
“I can tell you this, there’s no sign of fear in them,” Withrow said of his players. “They believe they can win this game. I believe we can score on anybody. We just have to cut out the mistakes. You hate to put yourself in bad situations, but I feel like both games (the two losses) came down to one drive.”
Sylvan Hills fell behind by three scores to McClellan and Beebe. Both times, the Bears got back to their explosive playmaking. They pulled to within one score in both games, and both times got a turnover to take possession with a chance to take the lead. And both times penalties bogged down the progress and the Bears were forced to punt.
“You really think that if we just keep it clicking, keep executing, they can’t stop us,” Withrow said. “We shot ourselves in the foot in both games. It’s frustrating.”
Beebe and McClellan are both big teams that run the ball 90 percent of the time. Pulaski Academy passes on almost every play, which also sets up big runs when they call the draw to super-quick tailback Jaren Watkins.
Tre Bruce is another big-time threat that will line up at quarterback, running back and receiver.
“You pretty much have to outscore PA,” Withrow said. “Again, I think we can score on anybody, but we have to eliminate the mistakes. You can’t afford to give them too many opportunities because you’ll be down in a hurry. But the pressure is off. We know where we stand, so hopefully we’ll have some fun and get us a win.”
Tuesday, November 03, 2015
SPORTS STORY >> Playoffs hang in balance for Rabs, Raiders
By RAY BENTON
Leader sports editor
The Lonoke Jackrabbits are on the cusp of turning around a season that at one point looked like it was turning into a disaster. After losing their first three conference games, the Jackrabbits have won two of their last three, and can make the playoffs with a win this Thursday at Riverview. Lonoke coach Doug Bost is expecting a tough game from the Raiders, who are also one win away from making the playoffs for the first time as a member of the 4A classification.
“The winner plays Gosnell in the first round of the state tournament,” said Bost. “The loser is finished for the year. Both teams have a lot to play for, so it’s going to be a tough one.”
An already small team suffered six significant injuries that started piling up in week three. Lonoke started the season with a bang, beating Class 4A’s third-ranked team Star City on the road, then beating Class 5A’s third-ranked Beebe Badgers at home.
Next up was McClellan, and the first and perhaps most damaging injury of the season took place in the first quarter when senior Justin Meadows suffered a shoulder injury on defense.
Since then, two-way starter Logan Dozier has missed five games and starting quarterback Savonte Rountree’s season ended with an injury against CAC in week seven. Lonoke has also lost a starting linebacker and two starting linemen.
After a 32-16 loss to McClellan, Lonoke opened conference play with losses to Heber Springs, Newport and Southside-Batesville.
“It’s been up and down,” Bost said. “We feel like with Meadows in there we beat Heber Springs, but we lost by one. Then we turn it over four times against Southside and lose that one. Then we protect the ball and get a win at Helena, and the defense just played lights out against Stuttgart and we got us a win there. Hopefully we can continue to piece it together and play well.”
Meadows played his first complete game since week two in last Friday’s win over Stuttgart. Dozier will be back for the first time in six weeks on Thursday. Will Miller played quarterback in last week’s win, and he and Dozier have taken snaps in preparation for the regular-season finale.
Senior Josh Coleman started the year at fullback but has moved to the slot, and sophomore Xavier Hodge has had four-straight 100-yard rushing games since taking over for Coleman at fullback. Casey Martin moved from receiver to slot when Meadows was hurt, and has since moved back to his original position.
“We’ve had running backs moving to slot, slots moving to receiver and receivers moving to slot,” Bost said. “We’ve just had to piece things together and the kids have done a great job of doing whatever we ask of them.
“Xavier Hodge has been a great spark plug for us. He was nowhere on the radar at the start of the season. We felt like we had a bunch of good skill guys and that’s why we went to this offense, to get all those guys out there. But you lose a guy here, you move your back to slot, then his backup gets hurt; you just have to keep going down the list. And he’s stepped in and done a great job.”
Riverview moved up from Class 3A last year and was not very competitive. It’s a tradition-rich basketball school, but many of those athletes that had before specialized in basketball, came out for football this season, and the Raiders have improved dramatically.
“Riverview is not the same team as last year,” Bost said. “They have a lot of speed. Their offense is about 70 percent pass and they really sling it around out there. Our defense played great last week and it’s going to take another great effort this week.”
Leader sports editor
The Lonoke Jackrabbits are on the cusp of turning around a season that at one point looked like it was turning into a disaster. After losing their first three conference games, the Jackrabbits have won two of their last three, and can make the playoffs with a win this Thursday at Riverview. Lonoke coach Doug Bost is expecting a tough game from the Raiders, who are also one win away from making the playoffs for the first time as a member of the 4A classification.
“The winner plays Gosnell in the first round of the state tournament,” said Bost. “The loser is finished for the year. Both teams have a lot to play for, so it’s going to be a tough one.”
An already small team suffered six significant injuries that started piling up in week three. Lonoke started the season with a bang, beating Class 4A’s third-ranked team Star City on the road, then beating Class 5A’s third-ranked Beebe Badgers at home.
Next up was McClellan, and the first and perhaps most damaging injury of the season took place in the first quarter when senior Justin Meadows suffered a shoulder injury on defense.
Since then, two-way starter Logan Dozier has missed five games and starting quarterback Savonte Rountree’s season ended with an injury against CAC in week seven. Lonoke has also lost a starting linebacker and two starting linemen.
After a 32-16 loss to McClellan, Lonoke opened conference play with losses to Heber Springs, Newport and Southside-Batesville.
“It’s been up and down,” Bost said. “We feel like with Meadows in there we beat Heber Springs, but we lost by one. Then we turn it over four times against Southside and lose that one. Then we protect the ball and get a win at Helena, and the defense just played lights out against Stuttgart and we got us a win there. Hopefully we can continue to piece it together and play well.”
Meadows played his first complete game since week two in last Friday’s win over Stuttgart. Dozier will be back for the first time in six weeks on Thursday. Will Miller played quarterback in last week’s win, and he and Dozier have taken snaps in preparation for the regular-season finale.
Senior Josh Coleman started the year at fullback but has moved to the slot, and sophomore Xavier Hodge has had four-straight 100-yard rushing games since taking over for Coleman at fullback. Casey Martin moved from receiver to slot when Meadows was hurt, and has since moved back to his original position.
“We’ve had running backs moving to slot, slots moving to receiver and receivers moving to slot,” Bost said. “We’ve just had to piece things together and the kids have done a great job of doing whatever we ask of them.
“Xavier Hodge has been a great spark plug for us. He was nowhere on the radar at the start of the season. We felt like we had a bunch of good skill guys and that’s why we went to this offense, to get all those guys out there. But you lose a guy here, you move your back to slot, then his backup gets hurt; you just have to keep going down the list. And he’s stepped in and done a great job.”
Riverview moved up from Class 3A last year and was not very competitive. It’s a tradition-rich basketball school, but many of those athletes that had before specialized in basketball, came out for football this season, and the Raiders have improved dramatically.
“Riverview is not the same team as last year,” Bost said. “They have a lot of speed. Their offense is about 70 percent pass and they really sling it around out there. Our defense played great last week and it’s going to take another great effort this week.”
EDITORIAL >> Good choice for school site
The Jacksonville-North Pulaski School board on Monday went along with Mayor Gary Fletcher’s proposal to build a new high school on the site of the old middle schools near Hwy. 67/167, which the mayor endorsed Saturday in The Leader. The board also authorized a 7.6-mill property tax increase to help pay for the new district’s building program, calling for a Feb. 9 special election on that increase, approved the proposed long-range facilities plan and will apply for state financial help through the facilities building partnership program.
The increase would raise the millage to 48.3, about like North Little Rock’s millage, and would raise about $45 million with a 25-year payoff, according to Superintendent Tony Wood. It would cost property owners an additional $152 a year on a $100,000 home.
We appreciate the mayor following our series on reviving downtown Jacksonville and pushing for the new high school on the decrepit old middle school site. It will make a good first impression when motorists drive up on the newly widened Hwy. 67/167.
After attending a three-day workshop in Fayetteville on reviving the state’s languishing downtown, Fletcher told our reporter Rick Kron last weekend that bulldozing the Middle School South and Middle School North Junior High schools and building a new high school there would help energize the new district and also revive the city’s fortunes.
Fletcher said the meeting in Fayetteville included planners from eight areas across the country, and they all said the middle school spot would be the prime area for the new high school. The mayor sees the new high school as “a shining light on the hillside” and “the crown jewel” in his efforts to revive downtown.
School board member Ron McDaniel was among the first to propose the middle school site for a new high school, but the mayor at first didn’t like the idea and supported building the new school near the air base, which had planned to donate land for a new high school and elementary school. It appears now that only the elementary school will be built near the periphery of the base, provided voters approve the millage increase.
“I owe school board member Ron McDaniel an apology,” the mayor told The Leader. Fletcher had first scoffed at him, but Fletcher now says, “I was wrong.”
The high school should only be the district’s and city’s start at bringing Jacksonville up to its full potential.
Next should come a new elementary school on the site of the old Jacksonville Elementary School, and call it that, the Jacksonville Elementary. A new school on that site would serve as the other anchor to downtown and would bring Sunnyside physically and mentally back into the city.
That side of Jacksonville got shortchanged with the overpass to nowhere and the closing of the elementary school. In the process of building a top-notch district, let’s also reconnect those fragmented portions of Jacksonville.
There is other good news that comes from the meeting. Assistant Superintendent Jeremy Owoh is working toward bringing advanced enrichment programs to the district. Many parents have been concerned because their children will have to leave such magnet programs they’ve attended in the Pulaski County Special School District.
The new district won’t be able to replicate those PCSSD magnet programs, but it is working toward solutions it can afford.
Bad, but not terrible, news is that the combined enrollments of both Jacksonville High School and North Pulaski High School are roughly 300 students fewer than they were a year ago.
That means the district will have to build a new high school to accommodate about 5 percent fewer students than the 1,700 it had expected to build for.
We are encouraged by the time, effort and concern the school board seems to be devoting to moving the new district forward in a timely manner and by the knowledge and expertise of the professionals helping it along.
As superintendent, Tony Wood knows exactly what needs to be done. He’s aided by chief of staff Phyllis Stewart, and everyone on board is moving forward in a timely manner.
Former director of the state public school transportation and facilities Fred Stein, Architect Eldon Bock of WER, public-finance consultant Scott Beardsley, attorneys Scott Richardson and Patrick Wilson and others are able and knowing guides.
Now, if we can just get district patrons to turn out and vote for the millage increase on Feb. 9, the Jacksonville area will finally get its own schools.
The increase would raise the millage to 48.3, about like North Little Rock’s millage, and would raise about $45 million with a 25-year payoff, according to Superintendent Tony Wood. It would cost property owners an additional $152 a year on a $100,000 home.
We appreciate the mayor following our series on reviving downtown Jacksonville and pushing for the new high school on the decrepit old middle school site. It will make a good first impression when motorists drive up on the newly widened Hwy. 67/167.
After attending a three-day workshop in Fayetteville on reviving the state’s languishing downtown, Fletcher told our reporter Rick Kron last weekend that bulldozing the Middle School South and Middle School North Junior High schools and building a new high school there would help energize the new district and also revive the city’s fortunes.
Fletcher said the meeting in Fayetteville included planners from eight areas across the country, and they all said the middle school spot would be the prime area for the new high school. The mayor sees the new high school as “a shining light on the hillside” and “the crown jewel” in his efforts to revive downtown.
School board member Ron McDaniel was among the first to propose the middle school site for a new high school, but the mayor at first didn’t like the idea and supported building the new school near the air base, which had planned to donate land for a new high school and elementary school. It appears now that only the elementary school will be built near the periphery of the base, provided voters approve the millage increase.
“I owe school board member Ron McDaniel an apology,” the mayor told The Leader. Fletcher had first scoffed at him, but Fletcher now says, “I was wrong.”
The high school should only be the district’s and city’s start at bringing Jacksonville up to its full potential.
Next should come a new elementary school on the site of the old Jacksonville Elementary School, and call it that, the Jacksonville Elementary. A new school on that site would serve as the other anchor to downtown and would bring Sunnyside physically and mentally back into the city.
That side of Jacksonville got shortchanged with the overpass to nowhere and the closing of the elementary school. In the process of building a top-notch district, let’s also reconnect those fragmented portions of Jacksonville.
There is other good news that comes from the meeting. Assistant Superintendent Jeremy Owoh is working toward bringing advanced enrichment programs to the district. Many parents have been concerned because their children will have to leave such magnet programs they’ve attended in the Pulaski County Special School District.
The new district won’t be able to replicate those PCSSD magnet programs, but it is working toward solutions it can afford.
Bad, but not terrible, news is that the combined enrollments of both Jacksonville High School and North Pulaski High School are roughly 300 students fewer than they were a year ago.
That means the district will have to build a new high school to accommodate about 5 percent fewer students than the 1,700 it had expected to build for.
We are encouraged by the time, effort and concern the school board seems to be devoting to moving the new district forward in a timely manner and by the knowledge and expertise of the professionals helping it along.
As superintendent, Tony Wood knows exactly what needs to be done. He’s aided by chief of staff Phyllis Stewart, and everyone on board is moving forward in a timely manner.
Former director of the state public school transportation and facilities Fred Stein, Architect Eldon Bock of WER, public-finance consultant Scott Beardsley, attorneys Scott Richardson and Patrick Wilson and others are able and knowing guides.
Now, if we can just get district patrons to turn out and vote for the millage increase on Feb. 9, the Jacksonville area will finally get its own schools.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)