Arkansas Sports 360 - ArkansasSports360.com

8/23/2010 at 2:46pm

No coaches were going to trash-talk each other on this day, nor would they overly promote their squads one week out from opening the season in the Arkansas High School Kickoff Classic, presented by First Security Bank. (Click here to view the digital edition of this month's ArkansasSports360.com issue, dedicated to the Kickoff Classic.)

The event, co-sponsored by ArkansasSports360.com and KABZ, 103.7 The Buzz,  features four games, a couple of them traditional rivalry matchups, over Monday and Tuesday, Aug. 30-31 at Little Rock's War Memorial Stadium.

The eight coaches in the event convened at the newly renovated Lettermen's Club and Recruit Room at the stadium, just a few feet away from where workers were putting the finishing touches on the new $7.3 million pressbox. The coaches joined Justin Acri of the "The Zone" crew on The Buzz, and also spoke before the gathered media at lunch to announce the event.

They mostly took the press conference as a chance for some levity before the pressure of the season-opener kicks in. Sylvan Hills coach Jim Withrow, noting his squad having seven new starters on offense and 10 on defense, said he "hoped we could find our way to the bus to get over here."

Sylvan Hills and Vilonia open the Kickoff Classic at 5 p.m. Monday, Aug. 30, followed by a renewal of the annual grudge match between Pulaski Academy and Central Arkansas Christian at 7:30 p.m. On Tuesday, Little Rock Parkview and Little Rock Mills bring their burgeoning rivalry to the stadium at 5 p.m. followed by the Backyard Brawl showdown between Cabot and Jackonville at 7:30 p.m.

The Kickoff Classic is in its second year.

"All of the teams come from Central Arkansas this time and we're delighted with that," Arkansas Business Publishing Group Publisher Jeff Hankins said. "We're delighted that it will be the first game for the new ... press box."

Vilonia coach Jim Stanley's thoughts were echoed by the other coaches when he said his staff was using playing in War Memorial Stadium "as a great motivating factor for our players."

CAC Coach Tommy Shoemaker brings his Mustangs back to the Kickoff Classic after being one of the debut teams last season, holding off Dollarway for an opening game win. He said the experience has helped his veterans after playing last year on the artificial turf and the spacious stands. "What we noticed is, as big as [the stadium] was [with a smaller crowd], it was still really loud."

Pulaski Academy Coach Kevin Kelley said, "The CAC rivalry is one of the more bitter rivalries on the field ... During the game it's a hard-fought battle, but after the game we shake hands ... It's always a close game, usually it's won in the last minute or two."

Mike Malham of Cabot, who started his coaching career as an assistant coach in 1978 at Jacksonville, noted that before the era of state payoffs,the Cabot-Jacksonville rivalry was a traditional Thanksgiving day game like Little Rock Hall-LR Central and North Little Rock-LR Catholic. For a period in the early 1990s the teams met in the regular-season finale. The past four years the teams have been in different classifications: Cabot in 7A and Jackonsville in 6A.

New Jacksonville Coach Rick Russell said the transition from spending a year at North Pulaski to come back to Jacksonville earlier this summer has not been a problem. He said that spending 14 years as an assistant with the Red Devils and with just one year away meant there was continuity among the staff and he knew the personnel from having coached at Jacksonville up until last season. Russell was hired after Mark Whatley left in June to take an assistant's job at Springdale.

"I promise you we're going to show up," Russell said.

Mills and Parkview have played the last five seasons, with Mills holding a 3-2 edge over that time. Many of the players on both teams attended middle school at Horace Mann in Little Rock.

While Parkview coach William Hardiman lamented his team's 2-3 mark in the recent five games against Mills, Comets Coach Patrick Russell said, "What he doesn't tell you is, Parkview has won the last two."

Tickets are available through all the home teams through this week by calling the schools: Jacksonville, Parkview, Sylvan Hills and CAC. Those schools keep 100 percent of the money made through advanced ticket sales. General admission tickets are $7 for both games each day, and will be on sale at the gate Monday and Tuesday.

Click here to see Fox 16 coverage of Monday's news conference announcing the games

Tagged: Jacksonville Red Devils, Cabot Panthers, Little Rock Parkview Patriots, Little Rock Mills Comets, Pulaski Academy Bruins, CAC Mustangs, Sylvan Hills Bears, Vilonia Eagles, KABZ 103.7 The Buzz, War Memorial Stadium, 2010 Arkansas High School Kickoff Classic