Arkansas Sports 360 - ArkansasSports360.com

8/23/2010 at 12:00am

Image by Rhonda Sharp

PA Coach Kevin Kelley likes to take the road less traveled, the kickoff less booted deep, the schedule less filled with cupcakes. His monster schedules help prepare the Bruins for the games that really matter, he says.

Pulaski Academy Coach Kevin Kelley could fly to work each day in a hot-air balloon and those even vaguely familiar with Bruin football likely wouldn’t bat an eye. After all, the PA program makes its living off the unconventional.

Or rather, what most folks would consider unconventional: no huddle, no kicking, no punting (except to keep from running up the score); onside kicks after every touchdown. But for those players who grow up in the Bruin system (from fifth grade on up), unconventional is PA’s orthodoxy.

So, when the Bruins open the 2010 season in the Arkansas High School Kickoff Classic on Aug. 30 at War Memorial Stadium against bitter rival Central Arkansas Christian and come out rotating three quarterbacks, it shouldn’t come as much of a surprise to anyone.

“Unorthodox, I know, but I have a lot of good reasons,” Kelley said.

PA fans have come to trust in seven years that Kelley does indeed have good reasons for his unorthodox approach: 77 wins, two 5A state championships, numerous conference titles. A deep playoff run is annually the expectation.

So, what’s a monster of a schedule to a program that seems to thrive on challenges? After opening with traditional state power CAC, which for the first time finds itself looking down at PA in terms of classification (5A to 4A), the Bruins host 7A power Cabot and 6A giant Lake Hamilton, both former state champs, in back-to-back weeks. And, while the Bruins slid down to 4A for the 2010-12 reclassification cycle, they landed in the prickly 4A-7 that includes perennial state power and always thorny Nashville, winner of four state titles this decade.

“When I schedule for us, I want to play a very difficult nonconference schedule,” Kelley said. “I look for teams that have strong tradition, are expected to have a great year and are extremely well coached. Those types of teams prepare us well for the conference schedule.”

Kelley gets his wish this year, beginning with the annual war with CAC, which in recent years was a league game set for the middle of the year, rotating between the two schools. But adding Cabot to a schedule that already included the Mustangs plus a return game from Lake Hamilton only helps, Kelley believes. Two seasons ago, PA opened as the state’s top 5A team but dropped a tough 46-29 decision at powder keg Helena-West Helena Central. In the 5A state championship game 13 weeks later, the Bruins built a lead and held off the Cougars 35-32 for their second title.

“This philosophy doesn’t always add up to more wins overall, but definitely contributes to more wins in the games that matter and the postseason,” Kelley said. “Our goal each year is a state championship, so we’re looking for wins all the time. But if we have to sacrifice more difficult chances at wins early, we’ll do that. It’s not about career wins, or team wins, or anything else.

Scheduling is simply about giving our team the best chance to win a state championship.”

Tagged: Lake Hamilton, Cabot Panthers, Central Arkansas Christian Mustangs, War Memorial Stadium, 2010 Arkansas High School Kickoff Classic, Kevin Kelley, Pulaski Academy Bruins, Nashville Scrappers