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SUNDAY, AUGUST 26, 2018 | RIVER VALLEY & OZARK EDITION OF THE ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE FOOTBALL PREVIEW
MORRILTON DEVIL DOGS
Devil Dogs lose starting QB to injury
BY DONNA LAMPKIN STEPHENS
CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Morrilton’s Devil Dogs lost their highly regarded junior quarterback Jacolby Criswell to injury in their benefit game with Conway, but coach Cody
McNabb said the season isn’t lost.
Criswell (6-2, 210) sustained a season-
ending knee injury, which will require surgery. He threw for 1,947 yards and 20 touchdowns and added 969 yards rushing and 14 scores as a sophomore last year. Before the injury, his scholarship offers included multiple Southeastern Conference schools, including Arkansas, Georgia, Mississippi State and Ole Miss, as well as
Oklahoma State of the Big 12.
“I hate it for the kid, and obviously, he’s a
good player,” McNabb said. “[Senior] Dylan White is going to be our quarterback. Dylan White is as good a backup option as I’ve ever had in my career. He’s going to be a really good quarterback this year.
“We still have a good football team. It could take us a couple of games to get acclimated again with a new quarterback, but the Devil Dogs are going to be fine.”
A year after the Devil Dogs had to forfeit five games for using an ineligible player, they reached the Class 5A quarterfinals to finish 8-4 in 2017.
This fall, they look to go further. According to a statewide publication, prior to Criswell’s injury, the Devil Dogs were picked to win the 5A-West and were ranked second in Class 5A.
“We started slow [last year] but really im- proved and finished strong,” said McNabb, who led the Devil Dogs to a state championship in
MORRILTON DEVIL DOGS
AUG. 24 ........................................... SEARCY AUG. 31 ............................... @RUSSELLVILLE SEPT. 7 ............................................. LR FAIR SEPT. 21 .....................................HARRISON* SEPT. 28 .............................. @GREENBRIER* OCT. 5 ................................................ ALMA* OCT. 12 ................................. @HUNTSVILLE* OCT. 19 .......................................... VILONIA* OCT. 26 ................................ @FARMINGTON* NOV. 2 ..................................@CLARKSVILLE*
*DENOTES CONFERENCE GAMES
2012 and is starting his ninth season atop the program. “We were a young team that really grew as the year went.”
Morrilton beat Russellville in the 2017 season opener, 21-20, and hammered Little Rock Fair, 51-13, before losing three straight: at Searcy in the final nonconference game, 51-17; at Harrison in Morrilton’s 5A-West opener, 35-34; and against Greenbrier, 38-31.
“We played Conway in a scrimmage fairly tough, and that probably gave us a false sense of where we were at,” McNabb said. “We played really poorly the last nonconference game and the first two conference games.”
The season looked ominous as the Devil Dogs, heading to Alma, were 2-3 overall and 0-2 in conference play.
“They looked like they were going to be the best team in the league,” McNabb said of the Airedales.”
But the Devil Dogs prevailed over the 5A-West leader, 38-31, to turn their season around.
STACI VANDAGRIFF/RIVER VALLEY & OZARK EDITION
Morrilton junior quarterback Jacolby Criswell runs up the field during preseason drills. Criswell is out for the season after sustaining a knee injury during a scrimmage game with Conway.
“That really jump-started us and got us roll- ing,” McNabb said.
What sparked the turnaround?
“I think just experience,” the coach said. “Those kids needed the reps and needed some game experience, and once they got that and our [sophomore] quarterback kind of took off, that got us going, and we won several games in a row.”
Indeed, the Devil Dogs faced the gauntlet in the first three weeks of the conference season, facing the league’s eventual first, second and third seeds for the playoffs.
The win over the Airedales started a six- game winning streak for the Devil Dogs, who didn’t lose again until the state quarterfinals.
After Alma, Morrilton beat Maumelle, 49-28; won at Vilonia, 38-6; clobbered Farmington, 42-14; and smacked Clarksville, 34-6, to force a four-way tie for the conference title with Harrison, Greenbrier and Alma after all four finished 5-2 in league play.
The Devil Dogs got the West’s fourth seed for the postseason and knocked off Watson Chapel, first from the South, in the opening round, 43-20, before falling to Wynne, third from the East, in the quarterfinals, 17-14.
Morrilton hopes to build on that success in 2018.
Without Criswell, five starters are back on each side of the football, as the Devil Dogs will feature a Multiple offense and a 3-4 defensive scheme.
“We could have an explosive offense and
MORRILTON continued on 31VV
GODEVILDOGS!