LINCOLN -- Class 4A Lincoln typically gets around 40 kids out for varsity football compared to an 80-man roster for 5A Hot Springs Lakeside, their opponent in Hooten's Kickoff Classic Sept. 1 at Reynold's Razorback Stadium on the University of Arkansas campus in Fayetteville. Game time is slated for 5:30 p.m.
Taking on a team twice their size in numbers presents a challenge for the Wolves.
"One of the great things about football is that only 11 get to play at a time," said first-year Lincoln coach Scott Davenport. "They [Lakeside] might have 90-some guys, we might have 30 but we only get to put 11 out on the field."
"We're going to put our best 11 out there, we're going to worry about one play at a time, we're going to try and do our job as best as we can and if we're able to do that, I think we're going to be alright."
Davenport doesn't want the Wolves worrying about how big Lakeside players may be or any other intangible factors.
"We can't control anything about Lakeside. All we can control right now is [since] starting [practice] August fourth is the effort that we put in and get ourselves ready for the game," Davenport said. "That's what we're concentrating on right now."
Scouting Report
Lakeside threw the ball a lot last year with graduated All-Conference quarterback Garrett Carson going over 2,000 yards with 19 touchdowns. In their season finale, a 47-14 blowout of rival Hot Springs, 413 of the Rams' 548 total yards came via passing with 307 yards in the first-half when they built a 34-7 lead.
This season Lakeside has all three of their top receivers from 2013 back, except that Clint Smedley (31 catches, 543 yards) has moved to quarterback.
Smedley is the focal point of Lakeside's offense and the Wolves must be aware he could be used as a receiver on a trick play. Smedley had 60 yards and a touchdown rushing on just 5 carries against Hot Springs.
Marcus Fisher (553 receiving yards) and Ryan Crumpton (240 receiving yards) return along with junior Maurice Bradford, who caught 172 yards worth of passes in 2013 as a sophomore. The Wolves must pay attention to Bradford as a pass receiver when he lines up at tight end.
Smedley (5-11, 170 pounds) was a threat as runner last year gaining 449 yards. Junior Beau Uzick (5-8, 160) picked up 403 yards on the ground last year. Brian McKinney (5-10, 165) also had carries.
Defensively, the Rams surrendered 32.2 points-per-game last season and graduated three of their top four pass rushers. Returning is senior Stephen Parrott (5-8, 175 pounds, 3 sacks), who was converted from linebacker and plays a lot like Lincoln's Charles Rowe (5-9, 175 pounds) did as a junior playing defensive end last season utilizing quickness and agility to try and penetrate the backfield.
Lincoln Leadership
Rowe, who scored a touchdown after batting a pass on a rush and intercepting it, has been switched to linebacker for 2014 and will also see action on offense as a runningback, something he wasn't called to do last year.
Also in Lincoln's offensive backfield this year as a big power back is Dusty Hudson (5-8, 200 pounds), who played nose guard last year. Hudson is faster than he appears with 4.9 speed and bench presses 305 pounds and will play end on defense in 2014. Davenport said the staff looked at the depth-chart over the spring and summer and knew there were going to be some guys that need to play both ways.
Conditioning Factor
"We're going to try and make sure that we're in great condition to ask them to be able to do that," Davenport said. "It's going to be a situation, a case where we need a guy to go in there and spell someone else, we need to have the depth to be able to do that."
Still, the Wolves' staff will try to keep as many guys as fresh as possible but at the same time making sure they put the best people on the field at any particular time.
Davenport was hopeful as the team gets more practices in that playing time will kind of iron itself out.
"If we find some kids that come in and surprise us a little bit, we might be able to play a few less two-way players but right now we've got to do a great job on conditioning these kids," Davenport said.
"The less two-way players we have will be a benefit for us but we can't cut the nose off to be able to swipe the face. We've got to be able to play our best guys out there so that's what we're looking at right now."
Sports on 08/27/2014