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SUNDAY, AUGUST 26, 2018
| RIVER VALLEY & OZARK EDITION OF THE ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE FOOTBALL PREVIEW
RUSSELLVILLE CYCLONES
AMBER QUAID/CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER
Russellville senior quarterback Rhett Adkins looks to pass during preseason drills.
Cyclones looking for improvement this season
BY DONNA LAMPKIN STEPHENS
CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Jeff Weaver’s first season at Russellville in 2017 was a learning one, a year after Billy Dawson took the Cyclones to the Class 6A state championship before
leaving for Fayetteville.
Weaver, 55-49 entering his 10th season
as a head coach after previous stops at Mena and Little Rock Christian, led Russellville to a 6-6 mark and a Class 6A quarterfinal finish in 2017.
But in 2018, the Cyclones are looking for more.
“Last year, we spent most of our time teaching scheme and dealing with first- year issues,” said Weaver, an assistant at Greenwood from 1998-2008 before spending four years atop the program at Mena and four as head coach at Little Rock Christian. “Our ‘buy-in’ from the kids has been very good, and we look for that to be a big boost for us.
RUSSELLVILLE CYCLONES
AUG. 31 ......................................MORRILTON SEPT. 7 ....................... SPRINGDALE HAR-BER SEPT. 14 ........................................... @ALMA SEPT. 21 ........................................ BENTON* SEPT.28 ..................................@SHERIDAN* OCT. 5 ................................ LAKE HAMILTON* OCT. 12 ................................ @GREENWOOD* OCT. 19 ..........................................LR HALL* OCT. 26 .................................. @EL DORADO* NOV. 2 ............................@SILOAM SPRINGS*
*DENOTES CONFERENCE GAMES
learned the systems and each other. We also learned we are much more effective when we play at a fast pace. We have worked hard this offseason to identify players and our needs on each side of the ball. We will play kids either on offense or defense but not both, allowing us
“Last year we grew into a solid team as we
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