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SUNDAY, AUGUST 26, 2018 | THREE RIVERS EDITION OF THE ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE FOOTBALL PREVIEW
MOUNTAIN VIEW YELLOWJACKETS
Numbers down, but expectations still high
RITA WARD/CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER
Mountain View assistant coach Curtis Sims, left, talks with junior Shane Gilbert during a practice.
BY DONNA LAMPKIN STEPHENS
CONTRIBUTING WRITER
From 2010-13, Mountain View won just 14 games, but over the next three sea- sons, the Yellowjackets won a school-re- cord 24.
Michael Gray, formerly the Mountain View junior high coach, led his first varsity squad to a 10-2 mark in 2014. Seasons of 6-5 and 8-3, respectively, followed in 2015 and ’16.
And even during a rebuilding season in 2017, the high expectations remained.
“Our kids’ demeanor and attitudes — they expect to win,” Gray said heading into last sea- son. “That’s a very promising sign as a coach. You can see it in the kids that that’s what they expect.”
With just one starter back in 2017 — and having graduated 17 seniors — the Yellowjackets struggled early, starting 0-5 before winning three of their next four games to finish fifth in the 3A-1 and make the Class 3A state playoffs for the fourth consecutive year.
Gray is 4-for-4 in leading the Yellowjackets to the postseason.
In 2017, Mountain View lost its opener to Salem, 40-18, then lost to Conway Christian, 42-14; Earle, 66-0; Melbourne, 31-14; and Elkins, 38-6, before knocking off Greenland, 34-28. The Yellowjackets then won at Green Forest, 28-20, to put together their only winning
streak. They lost to Yellville-Summit, 32-24; beat Marshall, 42-8; and lost their regular- season finale at Clinton, 42-22.
In the playoffs, they lost their opening game at Charleston, top seed from the 3A-4, 38-14, to finish the season 4-7.
“I was very proud of them,” Gray said. “They could’ve folded up and said they were done, but they kept fighting. We had some injuries throughout the year and were inexperienced, but we still found a way to make the playoffs.”
Charleston went on to beat Barton in the second round, 39-34, before falling to Osceola in the quarterfinals, 37-14.
Six seniors will lead the Yellowjackets this fall.
“We’re down in numbers,” Gray said. “It’s one of the smallest senior classes we’ve had at Mountain View in a while. We’re going to have 20 to 25 kids, and we’re going to have starters and finishers. Everybody’s going to have to play.”
Seven starters return to run the Yellowjackets’ Power I offense, with six back for the 5-2 defensive scheme.
Gray said the junior Yellowjackets had almost 50 players this fall, up from last year.
“We’re pleased with that,” he said.
Despite the lower numbers for the varsity, the expectations remain high for the Yellowjackets.
MOUNTAIN VIEW continued on 45SS
2350 N. St. Louis Hwy 167 N • Batesville • 870-793-3852
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