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SUNDAY, AUGUST 26, 2018 | THREE RIVERS EDITION OF THE ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE FOOTBALL PREVIEW
MOUNTAIN VIEW YELLOWJACKETS
Mountain View assistant coach Curtis Sims, center, watches as members of the football team run drills.
PHOTOS BY RITA WARD/CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER
Mountain View backup quarterback Sawyer Robinson, a sophomore, looks to pass during a practice while head coach Michael Gray watches.
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MOUNTAIN VIEW continued from 45SS
Wilson (6-0, 172) and Brenden McDonald (6-4, 262) earned playing time last year and are expected to be big contributors in 2018.
Lack of numbers will be the Yellowjackets’ major weakness.
Strengths?
“We have experience now,” Gray said. “We didn’t have that last year. We’ve got only six seniors, but they are very skilled, strong, talent- ed, hardworking — you name it. Any positive things you can say, they have it.
“There’s only six of them, but it seems like we have 12. They were the group who had a share of the conference title as sophomores (in 2016). Two or three of them had a lot of playing time that season, and the rest had to take their lumps last year and get some experience, but they did that.”
With the Arkansas Activities Association’s reclassification and realignment, Mountain View will play in the 3A-2 the next two seasons. According to a statewide publication’s preseason poll of league coaches, the Yellowjackets are picked fourth in the 3A-2, behind Clinton, Melbourne and Harding Academy. Yellville- Summit is fifth, followed by Cedar Ridge, Rose Bud and Marshall.
The top five teams will advance to the playoffs.
“We’ve got three new teams, so we’ve got some unknowns,” Gray said. “We know Harding is good. Cedar Ridge has a very good coach in Gary Moody. I know they’ll be just fine with him. Clinton and Melbourne are good; Yellville will be good. The conference will be all right.”
The Yellowjackets will play host to Magnet Cove during Week 0, travel to Salem on Aug. 31, then have their bye week before their final nonconference game at Harrisburg on Sept. 14.
“I didn’t know if I liked the bye week, but with our numbers, it may be the best thing that can happen for us,” Gray said.
The conference schedule will include Cedar Ridge at home on Sept. 21, at Rose Bud on Sept. 28, Harding Academy on Oct. 5, Marshall on Oct. 12, at Melbourne on Oct. 19, at Yellville-Summit on Oct. 26 and Clinton at home on Nov. 2.
Key games for the Yellowjackets?
“It’s what I say every year,” Gray said. “Every one of them. The nonconference games are important because they get you ready for conference, and every conference game is as important as the last one.”
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