Arkansas Sports 360 - ArkansasSports360.com

8/23/2010 at 12:00am

Image by Jim Harris

Tight end Rod Quinn (from left), guard Nathan Cash, safety Logan Spry and linebacker Riley Hawkins will try to bring the rest of the young Cabot Panthers along in 2010.

No opponent has to look hard for a scouting report on the Cabot Panthers. They’ve been lining up and powering right at folks with smash-mouth football for 29 seasons under Mike Malham, and that’s the plan again this year.

And, despite knowing that Cabot will line up in a full-house backfield and run the ball right at them, defenses never seem to slow them down. Not often, anyway. The Panthers made it all the way to the 7A state semifinals last year, just a half-minute away from winning against eventual state champ Springdale Har-Ber, and they’ve won their league two years running. Malham and Cabot won the state’s top classification in 2000 and are a regular in the state’s Top 10.

Cabot stumbled once in the regular season last year, in the muck at Bryant, but won most weeks — which is what Panthers fans have come to expect for 30 years when the team tees it up.

“Other defenses aren’t really used to a running game every single play,” senior offensive guard Nathan Cash said, explaining the program’s continued success with such simplicity on offense. “And we’re hard-nosed and just like to knock people up side of the head and drive them crazy, and people aren’t used to it.”

Malham has his Panthers run every play in practice to perfection. On Friday nights, execution becomes rote.

“Since we’re in such good condition, we just run constantly and defenses coming up against us, they can’t stop it,” says senior tight end Rod Quinn. “Last year we drove the ball for, like, 95 yards against Russellville — run play after run play after run play. We get it done.”

The big regular-season finale win at Russellville capped another championship season as Cabot took the 7A-Central. With several solid seniors gone from that team, however, a new group of Panthers will have to step up to lead.

Among those will be Logan Spry, one of the most versatile athletes on the team. He’ll play safety, handle place-kicking and, when Cabot actually has to pass the ball or employs a 2-minute offense, Spry will line up at wideout, as will starting linebacker Riley Hawkins.

Spry and Hawkins, last year’s second-leading tackler behind graduated star Spencer Neuman (now at UCA), note that early in Cabot’s 2010 schedule awaits Springdale Har-Ber again, the team that ruined their dream season. Spry hit 7 of 10 field goals last year (he was 40 of 41 on PATs) with a long of 40 yards, and a pressure-packed one that clinched a win against North Little Rock. Another clutch 3-pointer looked like it might provide the winning margin against Har-Ber until Cabot surrendered a last-minute drive.

“The seniors, especially, we’ve been working extra hard trying to prepare because we have that same team [Har-Ber] the third game, so we want to beat them,” Spry said. “We don’t want to look past Jacksonville, though. That’s the first step.”

Hawkins says Cabot players learn quickly how to handle the bull’s-eye that’s always on a Panther’s chest.

“There’s always a lot of pressure to be good and do good, and we’re just trying to work our hardest and win as many games as we can,” he said. “Hopefully we’ll make it to state and win. We just want to win.”

Quinn was the team’s leading receiver last year with 11 catches. Yes, Cabot will throw. Quinn, however, has agonized during the off-season about one costly drop in the playoff game he deemed “heartbreaking,” but his head coach says Quinn had a real good 2009. Built like a guard, he’s also prized for his blocking. “He’s only 5-10, but if he was 6-2 or 6-3 people would be drooling over him,” Malham said.

“I got a few thrown to me,” Quinn said. “When [Malham] needs it, he’ll put me out there and I’ll catch a few … If we’re pounding them with the running game, we only throw the ball when we need it. If it’s like third-and-12 and we actually need a first down, he’ll call out the receivers.”

Spencer Smith, a 5-9, 200-pounder who proved an able replacement when star runner Michael James was hurt last year, will get many of the totes this season along with former Jacksonville athlete Jeremy Berry. The yards will all come behind a line that has some holes to fill in talent and leadership.

“We had a pretty good senior class last year with the offensive line. Cole Lockwood stepped it up pretty good. He was a good leader,” Cash said. “This year I’m going to try to be like him and try to lead our offensive line, to do pretty good, score touchdowns and lead us to victories.”

Malham is looking at three quarterbacks to fill the void left by the graduated Seth Blumberg, who accounting for 26 wins in his three years as a starter. Monticello transfer Zach Craig, the coach says, has the better arm of the three, while Zach Brown and Bryson Morris will figure as well.

The defensive line will lean on returning starters Jared Dumois and Ethan Covington. Inexperience and depth issues concern Malham, though.

To ease some of the depth problem, Malham will use offensive guard Cash in the defensive line, while tight end Quinn’s pass rush speed will be used up front as well in long third-down situations.

“A lot of people look down on us this season, but we know we’re going to be good,” Quinn said. “We got faith in ourselves.”

Tagged: Springdale Har-Ber, Mike Malham, Cabot Panthers, Ethan Covington, Jared Dumoi, Bryson Morris, Zach Brown, Zach Craig, Seth Blumberg, Cole Lockwood, Jeremy Berry, Michael James, Riley Hawkins, Logan Spry, Russellville, Rod Quinn, Nathan Cash