High school football report
Posted on Sunday, July 6, 2008
URL: http://www.nwanews.com/adg/Sports/230581/
Campbell highlights Hall class
Don Campbell said he remembers attending the 1968 Arkansas High School Coaches Association coaching clinic in Little Rock and wondering what it would be like to coach in the AHSCA’s annual All-Star football game.
“Those guys out there coaching were just unbelievable names,” Campbell said. “I would have bet my house, if I’d had one, that I would have never have done that.”
Campbell would have lost the bet since he coached in nine All-Star games, including five as head coach.
Campbell’s resume also includes 257 victories, 16 conference championships, 2 state champions and now a spot in the AHSCA Hall of Fame.
Campbell will be among 13 inductees in the annual Arkansas High School Coaches Association-Arkansas Officials Association Hall of Fame banquet Friday night at Hot Springs Convention Center.
“I’m surprised,” said Campbell, 67. “Nice honor. I never dreamed that I would get to do all this stuff. Miracles.”
A Forrest City native and Henderson State graduate, Campbell coached for 39 years before retiring from Wynne following the 2006 season.
He was 80-28-2 from 1976-1985 at Corning, 30-24-1 from 1986-1990 at Sheridan and 147-45-3 from 1991-2006 at Wynne.
Campbell’s signature trap play helped the Yellowjackets win state championships in 2001 and 2004.
Campbell will be inducted along with his good friend Frank Vines, who led Alma to 270 victories, 15 conference championships and 3 state championships from 1976-2006 before retiring.
Wynne beat Alma 14-7 in the 2004 playoff semifinals, the final meeting between the coaching icons.
Only Frank McClellan of Barton (367 ) and Bernie Cox of Little Rock Central (271 ) have more coaching victories in Arkansas high school history.
Former Hot Springs Coach Bobby Hannon will be the other football coach inducted Friday.
The late Billy Bock of Pine Bluff (baseball ), Byron Bryant of Genoa Central (track and field ), Fred Grim of Green Forest (basketball ) and Mary Frances Kretschmar of Fayetteville (basketball ) also will be inducted.
The AOA will induct six — Richard “Dick” Adams of Fort Smith (football ), Jimmy Cain of Jonesboro (basketball ), Jeff Caudle of Fayetteville (basketball ), Jim Jordan of Camden (football ), Lisa Pitts of Rogers (basketball ) and Herman Scott of Kensett (basketball ). Steve Sullivan, sports director of KATV, Channel 7, will receive the Arkansas Activities Association’s annual Distinguished Service Award for coverage of high school sports.
Danger zone The fifth annual Top Gun Challenge, which tests quarterbacks in several mental and physical events, is Wednesday-Thursday at Shiloh Christian High School in Springdale. Among the 23 players scheduled to compete is Bryant senior Ethan Powell, who likely will miss the 2008 season because of a knee injury. Powell is scheduled to undergo surgery next month to repair a torn anterior cruciate ligament suffered during Bryant’s spring game, Coach Paul Calley said. Calley said Powell plans to compete wearing a brace on his knee.
“He can still throw and sprint out and do everything but have contact,” Calley said.
Also scheduled to compete are Lake Hamilton senior Phillip Butterfield, who has orally committed to Tulsa; Springdale senior Ashton Glaser, a Missouri oral commitment; Pulaski Academy senior Spencer Keith, who threw for 4, 768 yards and 51 touchdowns last fall, and juniors Hayden Smith of Warren and Claude Johnson of Pine Bluff, both members of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette Super Sophomore Team.
Keith had ACL surgery earlier in the year, but played in last month’s Shootout of the South 7-on-7 tournament.
The skills competition, which is open to the public, is 7 p. m. Thursday.
Legendary living Mike Bush played for a small-school legend. Now, the challenge is to fill the coaching shoes of another. Bush, 41, landed his first head coaching job earlier this year at Barton, the Phillips County school that gained national notoriety because of Frank McClellan, who led the Bears to 346 victories and eight state championships before retiring in November 2005. As a high school player at Haynesville, La., Bush was coached by Alton “Red” Franklin, who led the Golden Tornado to 366 victories and 11 state championships before announcing his retirement after the 2000 season. Bush, a center / defensive tackle on Haynesville’s 1984 state championship team, inherits a program that had a turbulent ride last fall.
After a 2-2 start, the Bears forfeited their final five games because they had only 11 healthy players, Coach Jim Sain said.
The following week, Barton’s school board voted unanimously (7-0 ) to resume competition, but opponents already had accepted the forfeits.
Sain, who succeeded McClellan, left Barton in the off-season to coach offensive linemen at West Memphis.
Bush said numbers should not be a problem this fall with 47 players in the program, including at least “20 or 21” sophomores. “I think we’re going to be competitive,” Bush said. “Probably my biggest focus right now is getting us all on the same page and our intensity level picking up.” Bush was previously an assistant at Haynesville (1995-1999 ), Magnolia (2000 ) and Rogers (2001-2005 ). Haynesville is 26 miles south of Magnolia.
Fast strike Two major 7-on-7 tournaments will be held this week, including the inaugural VYPE Select on Friday-Saturday at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville.
Among the teams entered in the VYPE Select is Lake Hamilton, which has won the past three major statewide 7-on-7 tournaments in Arkansas — the 2007 FCA state championship and last month’s Air Raid and Shootout of the South.
The Wolves also won last year’s Fountain Lake tournament, which is Saturday at Larry Beckham Field.
Fountain Lake, Hot Springs, Ashdown and Gosnell are among the 14 teams entered. Class of 2008
A list of the 2008 Arkansas High School Coaches Association Hall of Fame inductees, with their schools and sports: Billy Bock Pine Bluff (baseball ) Byron Bryant Genoa Central (track and field ) Don Campbell Wynne (football ) Fred Grim Green Forest (basketball ) Bobby Hannon Hot Springs (football ) Mary Frances Kretschmar Fayetteville (basketball ) Frank Vines Alma (football ) Top Gun Challenge WHEN Wednesday-Thursday WHERE Shiloh Christian High School, Springdale WHAT An invitational competition for 23 quarterbacks who will be tested in seven mental and physical events. The final five events test the quarterbacks’ speed, mobility, accuracy and arm strength and will be held at 7 p. m. Thursday. WHO’S COMPETING ? Kip Kelly, Pea Ridge; Spencer Keith, Pulaski Academy; Griffin Kuhn, Little Rock Christian; Kiehl Frazier, Shiloh Christian; Ashton Glaser, Springdale; Brandon Allen, Fayetteville; Phillip Butterfield, Lake Hamilton; Kendall Pinkney, Dardanelle; Zac Faust, Springdale Har-Ber; Rollins Elam, Lonoke; Daniel Holiday, West Fork; Logan Quinn, Arkansas Baptist; Hayden Smith, Warren; Caleb Ramsey, Gentry; Zac Cole, Central Arkansas Christian; Ethan Powell, Bryant; Ethan McKinzie, Gravette; Matt Jones, Lamar; Claude Johnson, Pine Bluff; John Richardson, Johnson County Westside; Michael Thomas, Mountainburg; Will Coleman, DeSoto Academy; Pierre Vaughn, Nashville PAST WINNERS 2004 Clark Irwin, Little Rock Central; 2005; Matt Simpson, Shiloh Christian; 2006 Jeremy Paxton, Springdale; 2007 Zac McCauley, Benton 7-on-7 tournaments VYPE SELECT WHEN Friday-Saturday WHERE University of Arkansas, Fayetteville TEAMS ENTERED Arkansas Baptist, Bentonville, Blue Valley, Kan., Bryant, Central Arkansas Christian, Des Arc, Fayetteville, Fort Smith Northside, Gentry, Gravette, Greene County Tech, Harrison, Hot Springs Lakeside, Lake Hamilton, Lonoke, Little Rock Christian, Marshfield, Mo. (2 teams ), Nashville, Pulaski Academy, Rogers, Rogers Heritage, Russellville, Shiloh Christian, Siloam Springs, Springdale, Springdale Har-Ber, Warren, West Fork FOUNTAIN LAKE WHEN Saturday WHERE Fountain Lake High School TEAMS ENTERED (Pool A ) Hoxie, De Queen, Hot Springs, Fountain Lake JV, Dierks, Ashdown, Perryville; (Pool B ) Fountain Lake, Centerpoint, Hot Springs Lakeside, Jessieville, DeWitt, Magnet Cove, Gosnell
POOL SCHEDULE 9 a. m. Centerpoint vs. Magnet Cove, Hot Springs vs. Fountain Lake JV 9: 25 a. m. HS Lakeside vs. Jessieville, Dierks vs. Perryville 9: 50 a. m. Fountain Lake vs. DeWitt, De Queen vs. Ashdown 10: 15 a. m. Gosnell vs. Jessieville, Hoxie vs. Perryville 10: 40 a. m. Centerpoint vs. DeWitt, Hot Springs vs. Ashdown 11: 05 a. m. HS Lakeside vs. Fountain Lake, Dierks vs. De Queen 11: 30 a. m. Magnet Cove vs. DeWitt, Ashdown vs. Fountain Lake JV 11: 55 a. m. Gosnell vs. Fountain Lake, Hoxie vs. De Queen 12: 20 p. m. Centerpoint vs. HS Lakeside, Hot Springs vs. Dierks 12: 45 p. m. Jessieville vs. Fountain Lake, Perryville vs. De Queen 1: 10 p. m. Magnet Cove vs. HS Lakeside, Dierks vs. Fountain Lake JV 1: 35 p. m. Gosnell vs. Centerpoint, Hot Springs vs. Hoxie 2 p. m. HS Lakeside vs. DeWitt, Ashdown vs. Dierks 2: 25 p. m. Jessieville vs. Centerpoint, Perryville vs. Hot Springs 2: 50 p. m. Magnet Cove vs. Gosnell, Fountain Lake JV vs. Hoxie 3: 15 p. m. Fountain Lake vs. Centerpoint, Hot Springs vs. De Queen 3: 40 p. m. DeWitt vs. Gosnell, Ashdown vs. Hoxie 4: 05 p. m. Jessieville vs. Magnet Cove, Perryville vs. Fountain Lake JV 4: 30 p. m. HS Lakeside vs. Gosnell, De Queen vs. Hoxie 4: 55 p. m. Fountain Lake vs. Magnet Cove, De Queen vs. Fountain Lake JV 5: 20 p. m. DeWitt vs. Jessieville, Ashdown vs. Perryville 5: 45 p. m. Semifinals 6: 15 p. m. Final