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SUNDAY, AUGUST 26, 2018 | THREE RIVERS EDITION OF THE ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE FOOTBALL PREVIEW
ROSE BUD RAMBLERS
Ramblers fighting numbers game this season
PHOTOS BY MARK BUFFALO/THREE RIVERS EDITION
Rose Bud sophomore wide receiver Tristen Lewis, left, is tackled by senior Austin Jackson.
Rose Bud sophomore Jakob Parks, left, tries to tackle senior running back Scott Baker, and assistant coach Derek Wofford watches.
Interim head coach Scotty Starkey, left, meets with members of the Ramblers football team.
BY MARK BUFFALO
STAFF WRITER
It’s been a year of change for the Rose Bud football program.
Rose Bud, which tied a school record for victories with four in 2017 after forfeiting the
final six games in 2016 because of a rash of injuries, will not play a full varsity schedule this season.
Chris Norton, who was head coach of the Ramblers in 2017, left this summer to become head coach at Perryville. He is replaced on an interim basis by Scotty Starkey, who was an assistant coach and head softball coach.
Starkey said the Ramblers will play their first three nonconference games against Quitman, Cutter Morning Star and Western Yell County. Then they will have a schedule against junior varsity teams the remainder of the season, either on Mondays or Tuesdays.
“This year, our superintendent, [Luke Lovins], knew we were hurting in numbers,” Starkey said. “He called the [Arkansas Activities Association], and we were allowed to forgo the conference season. That way, every team in the conference can find another opponent to play so they can still get in their 10 games.
“That’s the route we went.”
Rose Bud was set to be in the 3A-2 Confer- ence with Clinton, Melbourne, Harding Acad- emy, Mountain View, Yellville-Summit, Cedar Ridge and Marshall.
Starkey said the team hopes to have 20 players when the season starts but has been practicing with around 15.
“Linemen are our problem area right now,” he said. “We’ve got to find a couple of more linemen to do what we want to do.”
Starkey said the staff is trying to keep the program “afloat.”
“We’re trying to build it,” he said. “Our junior high numbers are pretty good. We’ve got 28 eighth- and ninth-graders. If we can get those up there to high school, we’ll be all right. It’s just that our junior and senior classes are tiny. We have only four seniors and four juniors. We’re struggling right there.
“We’re trying to get the interest back and build the program back up. That’s the goal for this year.”
Key returning players for the Ramblers are senior Jeremiah Watson (5-8, 285), senior Scott Baker (5-11, 200), senior Austin Herring (5-9, 180), sophomore Canton Moody (5-9, 215)
We’re trying
to get the
interest back
and build
the program.”
SCOTTY STARKEY
ROSE BUD INTERIM HEAD COACH
ROSE BUD RAMBLERS
AUG. 31 ......................................... QUITMAN SEPT. 7 .................. @CUTTER MORNING STAR SEPT. 14 .................. WESTERN YELL COUNTY SEPT. 17 ........................ @BAPTIST PREP (JV) SEPT. 25 ........................ MOUNTAIN VIEW (JV) OCT. 15 ...@CENTRAL ARKANSAS CHRISTIAN (JV) OCT. 22 ................GREENE COUNTY TECH (JV)
and sophomore Jakob Parks (5-7, 158). A year ago, Watson had 45 tackles, 3 sacks and 2 forced fumbles. Baker had 37 tackles and 2 sacks. Parks finished with 450 all-purpose yards. Sophomore Steven Cox will start at quar-
terback, Starkey said.
“He’s going to be a good one,” the
coach said.
Parks will start at running back.
“Our two best receivers are sophomore
Dawson Roberson and senior Austin Jackson (5-10, 156),” Starkey said.
The coach said he will be playing every sophomore on the team.
“They are having to get out there on the field immediately,” he said. “You hate to play that many sophomores, but in the future, it’s probably going to help you.”
Starkey said the Quitman game Friday will be the biggest one on the limited schedule this season.
“It’s a good rivalry between schools that are are a few miles apart from one another,” he said. Rose Bud beat Quitman 42-26 in last year’s season opener.
Go Ramblers!
5898 Hwy 36 West • Rose Bud, AR 501-556-5808