ELKINS HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL : Elkins faces revenge-seeking Blackhawks on the road
Posted on Friday, September 5, 2008
PEA RIDGE - They've gone their separate ways but when Elkins comes here Friday night to face the Pea Ridge Blackhawks in both teams' high school football opener, it will be nothing short of a domestic dispute.
The Blackhawks, bounced from the playoff contention by the Elks last year, have moved up the classification ladder while the Elks were left behind.
It's the first in a series of brutal nonconference 7 p.m. games.
"It's always a tough game and we know they are going to be ready for us," Clark said. "It will be a challenge but should be another good game.
"We're not a big team, but we have enough size and enough strength to establish a running game this season."
Though Blackhawks coach Mark Laster laments his squad playing a rival in the season-opener, he is glad the game is on his home turf.
"We've lost some very, ver y key games down there," Laster said. "Since I've been here I know we've lost two on the last play of the game down there. It's been a good rivalry for the two cities."
The Blackhawks had trouble tuning their passing game in a scrimmage with Cedarville last week. Laster won't shoehorn a passing game, either, he said.
"You're probably going to see us run the ball more Friday night than what we plan on doing in the normal realm of the season," he said. "I'm going to do what I've always done in coaching - I'm going to do what my team dictates me to do. I'm not going to be stubborn and tell them we need to throw the ball 80 percent of the time if we don't have the personnel to do that."
Running backs senior Denver Bell and junior Tyler Ramsey ran hard in the scrimmage. They were productive.
Weather hasn't helped the Blackhawks' passing game, either, this week, he said Wednesday.
"[Quarterback ] Kip Kelly was tossing around a five-pound football today," Laster said. "But no, Kip's getting more accurate in practice. We are running better routes. We have trouble catching the ball every now and then."
While the Elks will line up in the Spread offense after watching his team give up too many sacks last season, Clark has reinstalled a fullback and a tight end into the Elks'play package.
"We wanted to take some pressure off our passing game," Clark said. "The diversity is going to help us be more balanced and effective."
Dakota Parsley, one of the Elks' best athletes, moves from offensive guard to fullback, a position more befitting his size and ability.
"Dakota did a really good job for us at guard playing at 190 last year, but he's going to be a better fullback this year playing at 205," Clark said. "We have some bigger kids this year and we aren't forced to play him up front."
Parsley will have plays where he carries the football but Clark wants him to be a linebacker-seeking missile to clear the way for halfback Zach Wood.
Weston Curry (6-1, 240 ) will also see playing time at fullback, and tight ends Bailey Parish (6-0, 185 ) and Kyle Turner (6-3, 185 ) are both physical enough to engage defenders in the rushing game and have the size and hands to be targets in the passing game.
Drew Clark retur ns for his senior year and is playing quarterback, as he did in the final six games of last season.
"Drew's improved like you would expect a senior to do," Clark said. "With more beef up front, we are going to be able to mix our offense up better, which will help him be more effective as a passer."
Clark got a bit of bad news earlier in the week when he learned that his kicker Blake Bailey, who suffered a shoulder injury during baseball, will not be cleared to play until Week 5. The news left Clark scrambling for a replacement.
"We will probably go for 2 when we score a touchdown," Clark said. "We just learned about Blake and have not been able to adjust."
Northwest Arkansas Times sports editor Terry J. Wood contributed to this story.
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