LITTLE ROCK — Pirates’ Froud on track
Greenland will keep looking to junior quarterback Darian Froud for leadership as the Pirates try to continue their Class 3A playoff run.
Froud accounted for all six Greenland touchdowns in last week’s 42-21 firstround victory over Riverview.
Besides passing for 248 yards and 4 touchdowns, Froud also ran for 71 yards and 2 scores.
The Pirates (9-2) use a Spread offense and face another Spread team when they visit Harding Academy on Friday. Greenland Coach Lee Larkan said Froud is progressing well but still has room for improvement.
“Our quarterback should have good stats,” Larkan said.
“He made some good throws, but he made some plays he wishes he could have back.
He’s got to get up there, get the offense going and just take charge. Sometimes he just kind of floats around.”
Froud connected with Brett Vaughn twice, Slayd Harney once and Joe Bramall once on touchdown passes last week. Bramall, a senior, scored on a 40-yard pass that put Greenland ahead 14 points in the third quarter.
Larkan’s primary concerns going into last week’s game were the Pirates’ pass defense and overall effort. He said both areas are still being addressed at practice this week, but there is little margin for error against Harding Academy.
“If they don’t play well this week, Harding Academy will hang 50 on you,” Larkan said.
“Our defense is going to have to play well.”
Harding Academy (10-1) won its third consecutive conference title this year and blew out Mountain View 48-6 in the first round last week. The Wildcats lost to Rivercrest in last year’s Class 3A state championship game.
“You’ve got to be disciplined on defense, because they’re so wellcoached,” Larkan said.
“They’re going to take advantage of everything you give them. You’re never going to trick them.” - Lane Kramer WEST FORK Passing not needed
Quarterback Dylan Harrison’s throwing arm should be well-rested should he need to use it during West Fork’s Class 3A second-round playoff game against Bartonon Friday.
Harrison completed just 1 of 6 passes in the Tigers’ 46-21 victory over Mayflower last week.
West Fork (8-3) stuck to its ground game in the Wing-T offense. The Tigers scored all seven of their touchdownson running plays - three by Harrison, two each by Wil Jarnagan and Brett Nay.
“We’re a run-oriented team,” West Fork Coach Rodney Selph said. “Getting yards on the run is what we do, so why throw it?”
Jarnagan led the way with 175 yards rushing.
“Wil got the tough yards,” Selph said. “We were running between the tackles, and his runs were 8, 9, 10 yards a pop.
He did break one for about 45 yards, too.”
Linemen Chris Worley and Wyatt Montgomery led the Tigers defensively last week, recording two sacks each, and Eli Priest was active from the linebacker spot.
Selph said Barton (8-3) will provide a challenging test for the Tigers’ defense.
“They’re a good football team with a lot of speed,” Selph said. “They run a double-slot and a lot of Veer.
Their quarterback can really run. They have a big fullback, and both their slot-backs have a lot of speed.” - Lane Kramer YELLVILLE-SUMMIT Passing Panthers
Don’t look now, but the Yellville-Summit has found a passing game.
Actually, the Panthers have had one all along. It’s just sort of been hidden behind a massive front line and a strong commitment to running the ball.
Quarterback Caleb Gilley passed for two touchdowns and ran for two more last Friday to lead Yellville-Summit to a 39-7 victory over Mansfield in the opening round of the Class 3A state playoffs at Yellville.
It was the second consecutive week Gilley surprised an opponent with his passing. The sophomore also threw a late touchdown pass against Greenland in a 22-18 victory that earned Yellville (8-3) the No. 2 playoff seed from the 1-3AConference.
Coach Calvin Mallett is the first to admit his offense will never be confused with a high-powered passing attack - the Panthers throw “four or five” times a game, he said - but Mallett said Gilley has been effective.
“He completes about 80 percent of his passes, and a lot of them are for long yardage because we don’t throw a lot of short stuff underneath,” said Mallett, whose team plays host to Fountain Lake (7-4), the No. 2 seed from the 5-3A Conference, Friday in the second round of the playoffs.
“He is more than capable of throwing downfield if that’s what they give us. He’s had a really good year and gotten better every week.
Teams know Yellville wants to run as much as it can behind an offensive line that features a pair of 300-pound linemen, and Gilley’s has made teams pay for overloading the box to defend the run.
“They are going to try play us man-to-man, and when they do that, we’ve got four kids who can really go and get the football,” Mallett said.
One of those is junior Terrence Taylor, who had two touchdown receptions against Mansfield covering 55 and 60 yards. Taylor runs the 40-yard dash in 4.7 seconds, Mallett said, and can dunk a basketball even though he’s only 5-9.
“He doesn’t always play in that 4.7 gear, but when he decides to, he’s that fast,” Mallett said. “He’s been able to either just outrun or outjump defenders, and Caleb puts the ball in a position where Terrence can go get it.” - Steve Goff CARLISLE
Danville tough matchup
It’s a matchup that could easily pass for the Class 2Afinal.
Instead, Danville (9-2) is at Carlisle (10-0) in a marquee second-round game Friday night at Hardke Field.
“It’s by far the toughest one that we’ve gotten into in the six years I’ve been here,” Carlisle Coach Scott Waymire said. “Tough, tough draw.”
Carlisle had a first-round bye after winning the 6-2A Conference championship.
Danville, last year’s state runner-up, advanced with a 56-20 victory over Clarendon.
Carlisle beat Clarendon 60-6 in a Sept. 30 conference game.
Waymire said he was impressed with Danville after scouting the Little Johns against Clarendon.
“That just reaffirmed everything,” Waymire said.
“They didn’t surprise us any. Clarendon’s got some athletes, but that’s kind of what we figured would happen last week. They’re a good ball club. They played for it all last year and have a lot of guys back.”
Danville received numerous offensive contributions against Clarendon.
Senior utility back Blake Noakes led the way, rushing 3 times for 18 yards and 1 touchdown, catching 2 passes for 93 yards and 1 touchdown, completing 2 of 2 passes for 110 yards and 1 touchdown and returning 1 punt 65 yards for a touchdown.
Three other players scored rushing touchdowns.
Two other players caught touchdown passes.
Junior quarterback Dakota Long, a transfer from Ashdown, completed 3 of 5 passes for 71 yards and 1 touchdown.
“They’ve got six or seven guys that you’ve got to know where they are at all times,” Waymire said. “Any one of those six or seven guys can have a breakout game against you.” - Robert YatesCall us
Please call the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette with football game reports before 10:30 p.m. each Friday night this fall.
In Northwest Arkansas, call 1-888-223-9846 or (479) 365-2969. In other parts of the state, call 1-800-272-4650 or (501) 378-3411.
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Sports, Pages 19 on 11/16/2011