Arkansas Sports 360 - ArkansasSports360.com

Football

< A Quick Guide to ArkansasSports360.com's... | Blog Main | Felix Jones Issues Cease-and-Desist Demand... >

Share |

Pulaski Academy Drops Down To 4A to Challenge Shiloh Christian

by Mark Friedman

7/12/2010 at 12:00am

Image by Amy Glover Bryant

Shiloh Christian offensive lineman Travis Bodenstein is among the returning pieces expected to help the Saints win another 4A state championship.

Image by Jackie Wilson

Darion Griswold of Dumas will be the star quarterback to watch for in the 4A-8.

In 2010, the Shiloh Christian Saints should win their third consecutive 4A state championship. But it won’t be easy.

Returning to the 4A Conference is Pulaski Academy. The west Little Rock private school won the 4A state championship in 2003 and then moved to the 5A classification, where PA won the title in 2008. Last season, the Bruins went 9-4 but lost in the third round of the 5A playoffs. The Bruins have won at least nine games a year since 1999.

“Our team is jumping into this classification with the goal of competing for a state championship,” said Bruins Coach Kevin Kelley. “We are looking forward to playing new teams.”

(Click here to read ArkansasSports360.com's top teams, players and games to watch of the Class 4A.)

Other new faces to the 48-team 4A will be in De Queen, where the Panthers will introduce Coach Sam Goodwin.

Goodwin comes to the Panthers who finished 7-5 in ’09 and averaged 33 points a game. But now Goodwin will inject his coaching experience into the team. He had coached Little Rock Parkview in the in 1970s and early ’80s to a handful of state championships before first joining Lou Holtz’s Arkansas staff, then becoming the head coach of Northwestern State University in Louisiana. After 17 years as coach, Goodwin became the athletic director of Henderson State University.

Goodwin is a member of the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame.

“It’s going to be different coaching again,” Goodwin said. “I’ve been out of it for 10 years. But I’ve been in football my whole life. What I forgot, I’m gradually remembering.”

Here’s a look at the rest of the classification:

4A-1
Favorite: Shiloh Christian
The only question about the 4A-1 conference is which team will finish second behind Shiloh Christian. The Saints bring back seven starters from an offense that averaged 45 points a game, the most in the 4A Conference. Leading the way is Auburn commitment Kiehl Frazier at quarterback, but the defense is also stout behind defensive lineman Sammy Harvill, who is planning to play college football at Kansas State.

Hot on Their Heels: Farmington
The Farmington Cardinals and Prairie Grove will be on Shiloh Christian’s heels. Both teams are deep with talent.

The Cardinals finished 6-4-1 and Prairie Grove ended the season 5-7.

Sleeper: The surprise team this year could be the Gravette Lions. Although the Lions only averaged 21 points last season — that’s not bad, but it pales in comparison to Shiloh — they finished 9-3. The Lions could be ready to roar this season with the experience of the 11 returning starters combined with the leadership of Coach Bill Harrelson, who has a 32-15 record at the school.

4A-2
Favorite: Cave City
The 4A-2 was the only division to have three teams with 10 or more wins in 2009.

The division lost the 13-1 Bald Knob Bulldogs and the 1-9 DeWitt Dragons in the reshuffling and realignments for the 2010-2012 cycle. The Bulldogs dropped to 3A-3 and the Dragons shifted to 4A-8. The 4A-2 conference, though, has been restocked with two strong teams loaded with talent: Newport and Cave City. Cave City finished ’09 in the 3A-3 at 9-2 and set a string of school records, including the most wins in a season and the most points scored. Cave City should be able to handle the move up in class with 12 starters returning and should build on last year’s success that included limiting opponents to an average of 11 points per game.

Hot on Their Heels: Newport
Newport finished 5-6 in the 4A-3 division, but showed some spark late in the season and has some big-time players drawing college interest.

Sleeper: This year’s surprise team could be the Clinton Yellowjackets. Clinton started last season 6-0, but lost its last five games. The Yellowjackets have 13 starters returning and won’t let another meltdown occur.

4A-3
Favorite: Osceola
Osceola will continue to dominate the division. The Seminoles under veteran coach Clinton Gore return 11 starters on a team that won 11 games and averaged 32 points a game while allowing an average of 21 points every Friday night.

Hot on Their Heels: Gosnell
The Gosnell Pirates should return to the type of season they had in 2008 when they went 9-3. Last year, the Pirates finished 7-4. They should be a contender for second place in the division.

The rest of the teams expect to be improved, and they should. Last year, the conference had five teams with losing records.

Sleeper: Pocahontas has shown improvement even if the 1-9 record last year didn’t indicate it. Coach Dave Williams, who is in his third decade of calling plays, has 16 starters returning. The Redskins are guaranteed to score more than the 15 points per game average they posted last year.

4A-4
Favorite: Booneville
The favorite to win the division is no surprise: Booneville. The Bearcats’ punishing defense returns with the sting of last year’s stunning overtime second-round playoff loss to Malvern on its mind. The defense allowed an average of 11 points a game, the lowest in the conference.

New to the division are Mena and Waldron and both will be strong.

Several teams have a legitimate shot at finishing No. 2 in the conference. The parity in the league makes it a tossup as to how the order will shake out and who moves on to the postseason.

The Subiaco Academy Trojans won’t be a sleeper team this season. The Trojans came out of nowhere last year and made the playoffs for the first time in school history. With 11 returning starters, the Trojans could have another magical year.

Sleeper: Although they finished 3-7 in 2009, the Pottsville Apaches have a special group of players that could surprise some teams and be this year’s Subiaco.

4A-7
Favorite: Nashville
While the focus in 4A may be on Shiloh Christian and Pulaski Academy, the tradition-rich Nashville Scrappers shouldn’t be overlooked. Last year, the Scrappers blew through the regular season 10-0 and in their first two playoff games won by a combined total of 101-18. Then the Scrappers ran out of steam after leading Shiloh 35-0 and had their hearts ripped apart by the Saints, 51-49. This year, with the addition of Pulaski Academy and Pulaski Robinson from 5A, the talent in the conference became that much deeper. Every week will be a battle.

Hot on Their Heels: Ashdown
The Ashdown Panthers, 10-2 last year, can’t be excluded from the conversation as to which team is the top in the division. And Sam Goodwin’s past coaching history says that De Queen will be dangerous. The Leopards had their moments last year.

Sleeper: The Pulaski Oak Grove Hornets could be ones to watch. Last year, the Hornets went 3-6-1, but with a tiny squad in numbers they were still in most Friday night battles and scored an average of 22 points a game. Unfortunately they surrendered 28 points a night.

4A-8
Favorite: Warren
This league saw a sea change at the top in 2009, and it could continue, though we never want to discount what Coach Bo Hembree can get out of his Warren Lumberjacks in terms of offense. The best quarterback is in Dumas in the extraordinarily talented Darren Griswold, and the Bobcats tasted some success last season. Star City surged back up last season to 9-3 and won a playoff game. Warren, which exited in the second round of the playoffs to Lonoke last year, lost much of its skill talent and some outstanding defenders, but does have more young receivers coming up, such as Jalen Cobb. They just need somebody to get them the ball.

Sleeper: McGehee only averaged 18 points a game last season, but that fact shouldn’t worry Owls fans this year. The Owls have had a good off-season, according to observers, and have a legitimate shot at winning the conference.