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12VV
CENTRAL ARKANSAS CHRISTIAN MUSTANGS
SUNDAY, AUGUST 26, 2018
| RIVER VALLEY & OZARK EDITION OF THE ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE FOOTBALL PREVIEW
We’ve got
eight starters
back on both
sides of the
ball; we’re not
so young and
inexperienced.”
TOMMY SHOEMAKER
CAC HEAD COACH
CAC continued from 11VV
team. We feel like we’re fairly athletic, so we have really good depth at wide receiver and then the secondary; of course, a lot of our guys are playing both sides. We’re better upfront, we’re bigger, but we’re not quite as deep upfront as we are on the back end,” Shoemaker said.
Looking at the schedule, “I would say conferencewise, it always seems like Heber Springs is a big game for us,” he said.
In the nonconference matchups, the Mustangs face the Clinton Yellowjackets on Sept. 14.
“I know they’re going to have a really good ball club,” Shoemaker said.
“We had several teams [in the conference] that won playoff games last year. I think we’ll be competitive again at that level — teams that haven’t been playoff teams that have risen up, like Southside,” he said, “and Mills University has come down from the 5A.”
The coach said he expects a big turnaround in the CAC season.
“Obviously, we expect to make the playoffs, and we’re shooting for the last third of the season to be in the hunt for the conference championship,” he said. “We feel real good about this group, considering what we went through last year. It’s going to be a matter of us building confidence as we go through the year.”
He said the fans stuck with the team last season.
“It helped that we had won 20 games over
PHOTOS BY CODY GRAVES/RIVER VALLEY & OZARK EDITION
CAC assistant coach Blake Hendrix gives instructions to his players during practice.
CAC junior starting quarterback Eli Garrison fires a pass during practice.
the previous two years,” Shoemaker said. “I don’t think you have to do anything but look out there; we were basically playing with a JV team. We only had about five seniors, and only three started.
“Our fans were great; our kids were great. They came ready to play; it just didn’t happen for us on Friday nights.”
This year, Shoemaker fully expects that to change.
CAC senior Blake Smith, from left, senior Garrett Overstreet and sophomore Alex Knod run a drill.