Page 4 - TL Football Preview Sept 2016

4TT
SUNDAY, AUGUST 28, 2016 | TRI-LAKES EDITION OF THE ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE FOOTBALL PREVIEW
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BAUXITE MINERS
New coach excited about challenge at Bauxite
MATT JOHNSON/CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER
Bauxite senior quarterback Hunter Gautreaux looks for an open receiver during practice.
BY SAM PIERCE
STAFF WRITER
Head football coach Daryl Patton has taken well to his new position at Bauxite High School.
Patton, Bauxite’s fourth head coach in two years, takes over for the Miners after coaching at Fayetteville High School for 12 seasons, guiding the Purple Dogs to 115
victories and four state championships. “People don’t realize when you coach at one of the premier schools in the state, with great tradition and great football, it creates a lot of
stress and pressure,” Patton said.
“It’s always been a goal of mine to coach at a
smaller school,” Patton said. “For coach [Paul] Calley and myself, before we retire, we wanted to go to a smaller school.
“Bauxite has a great tradition and great support, and they have gone above and beyond what I expected. I am excited about the opportunity.”
Calley is the former head coach at Bryant and is now in the same position at Haskell
MALVERN LEOPARDS MALVERN continued from 2TT
“I think we’ll be OK,” Scarbrough said. “Our biggest issue is depth. We’ve got some pretty good skill guys, and we feel good about the linemen. We’re just not as deep as we’d like to be. Twelve or 15 deep, we’re probably as good as most teams, but we just don’t have the depth.”
Offense was the Leopards’ strength in 2015, as Malvern averaged more than 34 points per game. To match that kind of output in 2016, the Leopards will need a big season from junior quarterback Demias Jimerson.
Jimerson missed much of last season with a series of injuries.
“He didn’t get a lot of snaps last year,” Scarbrough said, “but he’s a pretty dynamic player.” Jimerson will be joined in the Leopards’ backfield by senior running back Devin Shaw, who has committed to play college football at the University of Central Arkansas in Conway. “He’s gonna be a guy who’s gonna be kind of the bell cow of the offense,” Scarbrough said. Senior Jaquez Lock will play an inside-
receiver position, as well as starting at safety. “He’s real explosive,” Scarbrough said. “We’re gonna have to get the ball in his hands.”
BAUXITE MINERS
SEPT. 2 .............@HASKELL HARMONY GROVE SEPT. 9 .................................... @GLEN ROSE SEPT. 16 ...........................................DUMAS SEPT. 23 ....................................@MALVERN* SEPT. 30 .....................................ASHDOWN* OCT. 7 .............................................@MENA* OCT. 14 ...............................FOUNTAIN LAKE* OCT. 21 .............................JOE T. ROBINSON* OCT. 28 ............................... @ARKADELPHIA* NOV. 4 ........................................ NASHVILLE*
*DENOTES CONFERENCE GAMES
Harmony Grove. Bauxite will open the season Thursday against the Cardinals.
“Coach Calley and I go way back,” Patton said. “He is my best friend in football. He is a brother, and I know that when the chips are down for me, he is the first guy I’m going to call.
“We have a great relationship.”
BAUXITE continued on 5TT
Another player with the potential to make big plays for the Leopards is senior Teven Smith, who will play wide receiver and cornerback.
“We feel like we are gonna be able to put some points up,” Scarbrough said.
Malvern is just five years removed from a state-championship-game appearance, and the Leopards have a long tradition of producing big-time players. Several former Leopards have gone on to play in the NFL, and Scarbrough said his players are aware of the program’s history.
“The kids know it. We even had those guys come back and do a clinic last summer,” he said of former Leopards such as Keith Traylor, Isaac Davis and others.
“Our kids know the tradition. That’s some- thing we encourage, and we aren’t gonna back down from it.”
Looking forward to the 2016 season, Scarbrough said he doesn’t see any easy victories on the Leopards’ schedule.
“I don’t think there’s a single game that’s not going to be tough,” he said. “We play a really tough nonconference schedule, and I don’t think there’s a better 4A conference in the state.”
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