BENTONVILLE ROUTS CONWAY 47-21, SPOILS SENIOR NIGHT FOR WAMPUS CATS

By Mark Rico
Sports Editor
Conway – It was supposed to be all about the Conway senior class but apparently a very good Bentonville team didn’t get the memo.

After surviving a dogfight at home in the same matchup a year ago, the Tigers would leave no doubt in their season opener as they harassed Conway into five turnovers in their convincing 47-21 win at McConnell Stadium.

For Conway, the senior tribute game was moved up two months amid coronavirus pandemic concerns and the Wampus Cats were certainly not at their best yet managed to take a short-lived 14-7 lead on a 29-yard run by Jamaal Bethune with less than two minutes left in the first half.

But it only took Bentonville less than a minute to respond as the Tigers drew even on the final possession of the half as junior receiver Cooper Smith got behind the Conway defense and hauled in a 70-yard bomb from senior quarterback Andrew Edwards to knot the score at 14-14.

From there, Bentonville dominated the second half of play by scoring 33 unanswered points – cashing in three Conway fumbles and an interception – in sending the Wampus Cats to their worst home loss in two years.

“We didn’t execute and we made way too many mistakes to beat a good team like Bentonville.” Conway head coach Keith Fimple said. “We gave them way too much field position and there are so many things we did in the third quarter that gave them momentum.”

Bentonville wide receiver Chas Nimrod’s 46-yard touchdown catch from Edwards opened the second half scoring and then the Tigers would cash in a Weese interception a few minutes later with Ficklin scoring on a 38-yard TD run for a commanding 30-14 lead.

The Tigers would score again soon after as Conway’s Tyler Garlington fumbled away the ensuing kickoff and Bentonville kicker Luke Adams booted a 37-yard field goal to increase the advantage to 33-14.

But even in the blowout victory, the Tigers learned a few things about themselves, said head coach Jody Grant.

“We were certainly a little bit rusty to start and we made some mistakes, but we challenged the kids at the half and they responded in that third quarter.” Grant said. “This is a win we feel really good about because we know what a great team Conway is.”

Edwards would finish the night 11-18 for 218 yards and a pair of passing touchdowns as well as rushing for 77 yards on 16 attempts.

Sophomore tailback Josh Ficklin paced the Tigers with a game-high 107 yards and had two touchdowns.

Boogie Carr scored on a 2-yard run late in the third quarter for the Wampus Cats.

Weese went 14-for-26 for 133 yards and a touchdown for Conway (1-1) who will travel to Jonesboro on Friday night.

CENTRAL BAPTIST VOLLEYBALL PICKED FOURTH IN AMC PRESEASON COACHES POLL

STAFF REPORTS

St. Louis, Mo. – The American Midwest Conference released their final preseason coaches volleyball poll on Wednesday and Central Baptist College was selected to finish fourth out of eight teams competing for the AMC Championship this fall.

Central Baptist is coming off a record setting season in which they shattered the single-season record of wins in a season with 16.

Coach Stephanie Irwin returns seven players from last year’s team and looks to improve from last season and make the postseason for the first time in program history, after barely missing the playoffs in 2019.

HIGH SCHOOL VOLLEYBALL ROUNDUP – TUESDAY’S SCORES

VARSITY

Fayetteville defeated Conway (25-13, 25-18. 25-19)

KILLS: Kennedi Wyrick 8 ASSISTS: Olivia Wiedower 11

ACES: Darci Burris 3 DIGS: Karis Scott, Wyrick 9 each

BLOCKS: Kaylon Neal 3

RECORDS: Fayetteville (2-0), Conway (1-1)

JUNIOR VARSITY

Conway JV A def Fayetteville JV A (10-25, 28-26, 16-14)

KILLS: Peyton Sedlacek, Saniyah Rippond 8 each

ASSISTS: Kenley Jordan, Emma Frazier 12 each

ACES: Emma Frazier 3 DIGS: Audrey Kendrick 16

BLOCKS: Laney Kellybrew 1

Conway JV B def Fayetteville JV B (25-14, 25-19)

KILLS: Audrey Kendrick 5 ASSISTS: Emma Frazier 16

ACES: Kenley Jordan 3

DIGS: Peyton Sedlacek

BLOCKS: Anna Kate Saxton 2

NEXT MATCH: Conway travels to Little Rock Southwest to open conference play on Thursday, September 3

Central Baptist Men’s Soccer picked 5th, Women 6th in Pre-Season Coaches Poll for 2020 campaign

STAFF REPORTS

MEN PICKED FIFTH IN AMC
St. Louis, Mo. – The American Midwest Conference released their men’s soccer coaches poll earlier this afternoon, marking the second poll to be released prior to the fall season and the Central Baptist College men’s team was picked to finish in a tie for fifth out of the seven teams competing during the fall season.

CBC missed the AMC tournament for the second season in a row last year after going 5-11-1 overall and 2-8-1 in the AMC in Lance Gordon’s first season in charge of the program.

The Mustangs did win their final two games of the season, however, beating St. Louis College of Pharmacy 1-0 before dispatching the now departed Freed-Hardeman 3-2 in the final game of the season.

Men’s soccer kicks off their season at noon next Tuesday at Centennial Soccer Park against Central Christian College.

WOMEN PICKED SIXTH IN AMC

The Central Baptist College women were picked to finish sixth out of the eight teams competing during the fall season.

CBC is coming off a 2-15-1 season in Lance Gordon’s first year in charge of the program.

The Mustangs were able to make history last season in conference play, defeating Hannibal-LaGrange for the first time in the program’s history and also upended Williams Baptist on the road last fall as well.

The Lady Mustangs were in contention for an AMC tournament berth until the final game of last season, but lost in the final seconds on an unfortunate golden goal to Stephens.

Women’s soccer kicks off their season on Tuesday, Sept. 8 at 2 p.m., against Central Christian College at Centennial Soccer Park.

GREAT EXPECTATIONS: Lady Panthers look to build on successful 2019 season

By Mark Rico
Focus Sports Editor
A season ago as Greenbrier began summer workouts, enthusiasm was high but oftentimes Lady Panthers players had no idea how to react to a brand new coach after thriving in three years under veteran coach Wes Davis.

Katie Huff had just been hired a few months before and without the benefit of a full coaching staff or spring practice, summer 2019 was almost like a training camp as she installed her offensive and defensive philosophies heading into her first season.

The adjustment didn’t take as long as expected and as a result, the Lady Panthers finished as co-champions in their conference with a talented senior laden cast that lost in a five set thriller to Paragould in the opening round of the state tournament.

Four current seniors (Zoie Lee, Marlee Vanover, Madison Fett and Sydney Dunlap) who saw significant time last season will be counted on to lead the charge in a season that will be played under the cloud of a pandemic.

But after Covid-19 shut the country down for four solid months (especially sports) back in Mid-March, it was a completely different atmosphere when summer workouts officially began in mid-July for the Lady Panthers.

“We have been in the gym since restrictions were lifted by the AAA.” Huff said. “In the first phase we did a lot of ball handling and conditioning along with position specific work. The past few weeks of being able to scrimmage have been a lot of fun for us coaches as well as the players. We had been waiting so long for them to come out and give us the go ahead for normal practice. So when they did we were excited to play.”

In reality, Greenbrier had only weeks of preseason practice leading up to its August 24 opener against Conway as the teams battled in a charity game in Conway.

Not only will the Lady Panthers be competing in one of the toughest conferences in the state, but Huff has added several notable non-conferences games that will test her prepare her squad for post-season play.

Clashes with Benton, Little Rock Christian, Bryant, Fort Smith Southside and Har-Bar are on the schedule.

“Our schedule is going to be really tough so I am looking forward to seeing how we come out.” Huff said. “We are going to be very young this year but we are looking forward to seeing what we can accomplish. We have a great group of kids that have worked so hard this summer in preparation for the season.”

TEAM AT A GLANCE:
Greenbrier Lady Panthers
Head Coach: Katie Huff (2nd season)
Last Year’s Record: (22-7-2, 13-1 5-A Central)
Last Year’s Finish: Lost to Paragould 3-2 in state quarterfinals)
Key Departures: Haleigh Moss, Kenley Mobley, Grace House, Brae Denton, Cassidy Lear, Presley Cullum, Lillee Mahan, Kyndal Johnson, Faith Hill
Key Returners: Zoie Lee (Setter, Senior), Marlee Vanover (OH, Junior), Madison Fett (DS, Senior) Sydney Dunlap (L/DS, Junior), Bayli Burrow (OH/OP, Senior)

Bryant’s second quarter TD barrage buries Benton in annual Salt Bowl 48-7

By Mark Rico
Focus Sports Editor

Little Rock – If anybody thought Bryant was going to come back to the pack after losing key contributors off of last year’s juggernaut that captured the school’s first-ever championship win in 2019 – there’s no doubt that Saturday night’s performance will go a long way in dispelling those myths.

The reigning champs throttled Benton 48-7 in the annual season opener for both teams.

Bryant (1-0) remained unbeaten in the Salt Bowl match-up, which was played in front of one of the most subdued crowds in the game’s history.

It may have taken a little bit longer than expected, but once the reloaded Hornets got going, they proved to be too much for Benton to handle.

After coming up empty on their first three drives on offense, Bryant’s senior quarterback Austin Ledbetter found Joseph Young for an 18-yard touchdown, but the extra point was blocked giving the Hornets an early 6-0 advantage with less than three minutes left in the first quarter.

On their next possession, the Hornets increased the lead to 13-0 on Jamerian Bracey’s 63-yard touchdown run with only 37 seconds remaining in the first quarter.

From there, Bryant extended its lead to 20-0 with 11:53 remaining in the half on Anderson’s 23-yard touchdown run and the rout was on.

Another touchdown run from Anderson a few possessions later – this time from 18 yards out – afforded Bryant a commanding 27-0 lead and sent many of the Benton supporters in attendance to the exits earlier than expected.

“This is something we definitely build off of because we didn’t run the ball very well in our scrimmage.” James said. “We didn’t really have the ball a lot in the first half because they kept the ball from us. I don’t know the official stats but I will bet they had the ball 17 or 18 minutes (of first half). For us to be that explosive no more than we had the ball speaks volumes for our offense.”

Benton certainly had their chances early on as they charged downfield on their opening possession to the Hornets 1-yard line.

The Panthers were turned away on a fourth-and-1 as Bryant’s Koby Melton pushed forward and stopped tailback Casey Johnson behind the line of scrimmage for a 1-yard loss.

A few possessions later, another positive drive for Benton inside Bryant territory came up empty when quarterback Garrett Brown was sacked for a three-yard loss on fourth down by junior defensive lineman Brandon Jones.

Those two key defensive plays seemed to take the fight out of Benton (0-1) who only managed to cross midfield twice from then on.

Anderson paced the Bryant offense with 79 yards on eight carries for the Hornets while Bracey rushed for 71 and six carries.

“I have said it all along that I think we have three or maybe four of the best backs I have ever coached and those guys responded tonight.” said James. “When we can run the ball like that it’s going to open up our passing game for sure.”

And that it did.

Ledbetter threw four touchdown passes, with three coming in the first half, for the Hornets. He completed 8 of 14 passes for 232 yards.

Brown led Benton, completing 18 of 35 passes for 193 yards and a touchdown.

Bryant poured it on with 2:32 left in the second quarter as Ledbetter’s found Young on a 74-yard pass play on a fade pattern and Ledbetter’s ensuing two-point conversion pass to senior wide receiver Hayden Schrader that stretched the lead to 35-0.

Early in the second half, Ledbetter and Young connected once more for a 62-yard scoring play and a 48-0 lead with 11:19 left in the quarter.

Benton would finally get into the scoring column early in the fourth quarter as Brown tossed a 15-yard scoring strike to Cameron Harris.

High School Football Schedule – Week 1

(All Games Start at 7pm unless otherwise noted)

FRIDAY’S GAMES:
CLASS 7A
Searcy at Cabot
Fayetteville at Conway
LR Christian at LR Central

CLASS 6A
Sylvan Hills at Maumelle
Russellville at Morrillton

CLASS 5A
Beebe at Greenbrier
Hope at LR Hall
Joe T. Robinson at Pulaski Academy

CLASS 4A
Central Arkansas Christian at Mayflower

Saturday’s Game
Benton vs. Bryant 7:30 pm (War Memorial Stadium)

HSVB: THURSDAY’S VOLLEYBALL ROUNDUP

VARSITY SCORES
Episcopal defeats St. Joseph’s 3-0 (12-25, 9-25, 10-25)
KILLS – Presli Webb 2, ACES – Olivia Williams 2, DIGS – Savannah Mooney 1, BLOCKS – Williams – 1
Records: Episcopal (2-0) St. Joseph’s (1-1)
Next Match: St. Joseph @ Abundant Life – Thursday, August 27

HSVB: MONDAY’S VOLLEYBALL ROUNDUP

VARSITY
Conway (1-0) defeated Russellville 25-10, 25-20, 25-16
CONWAY: KILLS – Kennedi Wyrick 13, ASSISTS – Abby Masters 22, ACES – Olivia Wiedower 5, DIGS – Karis Scott 18, BLOCKS – Madison Holloway 3
NEXT MATCH: Thursday, August 27 @ Benton

St. Joseph’s (1-0) defeated Marshall 25-10, 25-15, 25-15
ST. JOSEPH’S: KILLS – Olivia Williams 10, ASSISTS – Chloe Skinner 12, ACES – Williams 12, DIGS – Savannah Mooney/Sydney Pham – 1 each, BLOCKS – Williams – 1
NEXT MATCH: Wednesday, August 26 @ Episcopal

JUNIOR VARSITY
Conway (1-0) defeated Russellville 25-7, 25-14
CONWAY: KILLS – Peyton Sedlacek 5, ASSISTS – Kenley Jordan/Emma Frazier 12 each, ACES – Olivia Harris 3, DIGS – Audrey Kendrick 6

Mayflower VB looks to fulfill state title hopes in new conference

By Mark Rico

Focus Sports Editor

Months of uncertainly has led to this — the start of the 2020 high school volleyball season in Arkansas.

It began on Monday with all five Faulkner County schools in action, marking the official restart to high school athletics in the area.

The high school state basketball tournament was halted in Mid-March after only one day of play and all spring season thereafter were eventually cancelled altogether as the COVID-19 pandemic took hold in the state.

Weeks later, Governor Asa Hutchison shut down school campuses for in-person learning in April.

Until Governor Hutchinson and the Arkansas Activities Association announced return-to-play plans last month, it was not known when high school sports would return in Arkansas.

The Mayflower Lady Eagles were especially eager to return after finishing 19-10-2 last season – including an impressive 10-2 clip in conference play – but then were upset in the opening round of the state tournament by Piggott High School.

“We lost two important players (outside hitter) Jaci Braswell and (middle hitter) Haylee McGuire to graduation but we have six players returning who all played a significant role on last year’s team.” said Mayflower third year head coach Candice Lawless. “The restrictions kept us from being able to really practice or scrimmage so we did a lot of conditioning and skill work. Also, I had Stephanie Irwin (from Central Baptist College) come in July and run a two-day clinic to break up the monotony.”

Though defending champion Harding Academy has departed the 3-A Central Conference – the league has added state powerhouse Episcopal, along with Ashdown, Baptist Prep, Harmony Grove, Jessieville, Lisa Academy and Perryville – expanding from a six-team conference to ten.


After a long off-season away from the court, Mayflower can now begin preparations in working towards fullfilling a bold prediction made by current senior setter Autumn Fuller, who was then in her first season under Lawless.

Winning a state championship.

“Our off-season was interesting this year for sure.” Lawless said. “In the spring, my assistant coach and I posted workouts to Google Classroom trying to keep the girls active. We would also post individual drills they could do at home and challenges occasionally. But once June rolled around and we were able to get back in the gym things were still a bit weird.”

Covid restrictions aside – the Lady Eagles are poised for success with Fuller, in addition to athletic libero/defensive specialist Summer Faught, a senior.
Senior middle hitter Avery Muse and junior middle hitter Armani Sims are the other mainstays who will be looked upon to help the Lady Eagles compete for a possible state run.

Mayflower will play a 22-game schedule with in-conference match-ups with Episcopal and Baptist Prep cited by Lawless as important games along with former league foe Central Arkansas Christian.

“I expect us to continue to be competitive this year but the changes in the conferences will make things a little more interesting.” Lawless said.

TEAM AT A GLANCE:
MAYFLOWER LADY EAGLES
Head Coach: Candice Lawless (Third Season)
Last Year’s Record: (19-10-2, 8-2 3-A Central)
Last Year’s Finish: Lost in First Round of State Tournament to Piggott (3-1)
Key Departures: Jaci Braswell, Haylee McGuire
Key Returning Players: Autumn Fuller (S, Sr.), Summer Faught (L/DS, Sr.), Avery Muse (OH, Sr.) Armani Sims (MH, Jr.)

WEDNESDAY: GREENBRIER LADY PANTHERS

Young, talented Bulldogs vying for elusive volleyball state title

By Mark Rico
Focus Sports Editor

Conway – Sports teams in Arkansas will be counting themselves lucky to be suiting up in each of their respective sports in 2020.

Given the uncertainty of the 2020-21 school year due to COVID-19, coaches and players weren’t sure if a volleyball season would even happen this year.

Things were touch-and-go for a while, but on July 31 Governor Asa Hutchison announced a series of new safety protocols and several starting dates for the season.

Now that fall sports are now a go for the time being, it has yielded a different set of circumstances and forced changes in preparation for high school volleyball coaches like St. Joseph’s Athletic Director and Head Volleyball Coach Luke Davis.

“To sum it up in one word I would have to say – different.” Davis said. “We lost our spring training and early summer workouts that are huge for our younger players. We were finally able to start practicing in mid-July but to was very difficult to practice staying twelve feet apart as the guidelines stated. We had modify a lot of our drills and really focus on player safety and spacing.”

For a team that lost three key seniors to graduation including All-State selections Emily Briggler and Abbie Flake along with All-Conference pick Gracie Keathley, each missed day was a missed opportunity to gain experience on what will be a young Bulldog squad.

“This year we are a young team but I feel as though we have lots of potential.” said Davis. “My two seniors have a lot of experience and I am expecting them to lead my sophomores that we will be relying on a lot.”St. Joseph’s finished second in their conference in 2019, finishing 8-2 during the regular season.

After an early loss in the opening round of the district tournament to Conway Christian, the Bulldogs defeated Ridgefield Christian and Cotter in straight sets during state tournament play before bowing out to eventual state champion Hackett in the semi-finals in four sets.

“We made a run in the semi-finals of state for the second year in a row and lost to the team that went on to win it all.” said Davis. “Not knowing if we are going to be able to play the whole season means that every game will be a key game. We have some new conference teams this year so it will be interesting to see how it plays out.”

The Central 2-A conference now features Abundant Life, Cutter Morning-Star, Lisa Academy North, Maumelle Charter and Quest Academy of Little Rock and St. Joseph’s.


“We are just focusing on taking advantage of every day.” Davis said. “We are using the mentality that we might not play tommorrow so every day is like a tournament.”

The Bulldogs open the season Wednesday, August 26 at Episcopal.

TEAM AT A GLANCE:
ST. JOSEPH BULLDOGS
Head Coach: Luke Davis
Last Year’s Record: (22-8-1, 8-2 Conference 2A)
Last Year’s Finish: Lost in State Semi-Finals to Hackett (3-1)
Key Departures: Emily Brigger (All-State), Abbie Flake (All-State), Gracie Keathley (All-Conference):
Key Returning Players: Savannah Mooney (Libero, Sr.), Amy Lambe (Outside Hitter, Sr.), Maggie Mooney (Setter, Jr.), Chloe Skinner (Setter/OH, Soph.), Olivia Williams (Middle Hitter, Soph.)

TUESDAY: MAYFLOWER LADY EAGLES