New name for run game : Linebacker Ragsdale joins backfield mix for Bentonville
Posted on Sunday, September 7, 2008
URL: http://www.nwanews.com/bcdr/Sports/65492/
BENTONVILLE — About two weeks ago, the Bentonville coaches took a long look at the running back position and its depth.
Junior running back Shane Boedecker was the heir apparent to recordsetting back Anthony Blackmon but behind Boedecker, the Tigers’ coaches felt they needed more help, especially with junior Ben Nichols moving to linebacker and sophomore Seth Dunn the only other back on the varsity roster.
Enter senior Erik Ragsdale, who’s played many positions for Bentonville over the last two years. You can now add running back to the mix.
It was Ragsdale who got the start at running back for the Tigers on Friday in fourth-ranked Bentonville’s
42-3 win against Conway at John McConnell Stadium.
Also a starting linebacker on defense, Ragsdale (6-foot, 190 pounds ) rushed for a team-high 49 yards on carries and scored three
touchdowns, all in the first half.
“ We made a decision a couple of weeks ago to get (Ragsdale ) involved, ” Tigers coach Barry Lunney said. “ We didn’t have a lot of depth at running back. He’s a good athlete. You’ve got to have your best athletes on the field and Shane Boedecker and he complement each other real well. ”
Boedecker entered the game late in the first quarter and carried the ball 12 times for 46 yards, scoring a pair of touchdowns in the fourth quarter.
Lunney said the Tigers won’t overwork Ragsdale on offense by any means because he’s so valuable on defense. Ragsdale started in the secondary for Bentonville a year ago and switched to the bandit (outside ) linebacker position.
Dunn (5-7, 158 ) got in the ballgame in the fourth quarter and carried five times for 10 yards.
Overall the Tigers rushed for 97 yards, which includes a pair of fumbles recorded as team carries.
The Tigers rushed for no less than 200 yards in 11 of their 12 games a year ago. The only blemish was the 86-yard performance against Fayetteville in the Class 7 A semifinals at Tiger Stadium.
Bentonville’s 320 yards passing were the most since 2006. The Tigers didn’t pass for more than 300 yards in any game a year ago.
• • • The Tigers only committed two penalties for 10 yards, with one of those penalties being intentional to give punter Hayden Boydsten more room. But Lunney said the Tigers have plenty to correct before playing their next game Friday against Fort Zumwalt (Mo. ) West at Tiger Stadium. “ There are plenty of mistakes, ” Lunney said with a smile. “ To the naked eye it looks like a pretty flawless performance but man there were a lot of mistakes that we made tonight. It’s good you can make them, get a good win and go back and correct them. It’s certainly a lot more fun correcting mistakes after a victory than after a loss. ” Something in particular the Tigers will want to clean up are the four fumbles, two of which were lost.
A snap went over the head of senior quarterback J. C. King, while a pair of handoffs were muffed. The Tigers also fumbled while trying to run the option around right end with Ragsdale and sophomore quarterback Pearson Gean. Gean spelled King is several spots and wound up rushing for 11 yards and passing for 43. “ Pearson’s a fine player, ” Lunney said. “ He’s going to be a really good football player. He’s adjusting to the speed of the game a little bit. Those things come. He’s just a puppy right now but he’s going to be a big pup one day. ”
• • • Defensive coordinator Robbie Jones passed around congratulations following the Tigers holding the Wampus Cats to 191 yards of total offense. It would have been worse had Bentonville not given up a pair of big plays. “ Coach (David ) Pollard, coach (Tony ) Cherico, coach (Rob ) Coleman and coach (Jody ) Grant all did a heck of a job getting the kids ready to play, ” Jones said. “ I just kinda sat up there (in the visitor’s side press box ) and watched. ”
Had the Bentonville offense not turned the ball over in the red zone on their own 20 yard line, which led to a Conway field goal, it’s likely the Tigers’ defense would have posted a shutout.
“ We had some great effort, ” Jones said. “ We kept them out of the end zone early in the second half on a short field. There’s still a couple of areas we can improve on. Overall I thought it was a great effort. ”
Jones praised senior linebackers Torery Garrison and Brandon Sleeth, who each had sacks, as well as senior cornerback Zac Barczewski who made an interception while falling to the ground.
“ It’s hard to single anybody out when everybody plays as well as they did tonight, ” Jones said. “ We had some great team defense and individual efforts. When you’ve got a lot of good individual efforts it turns into a great team effort. ”
Said defensive end Rob Ferrell, who along with Austin Taylor and Ivan Gallegos disrupted the Conway offensive line all night: “ Last year the offense carried us and we had to grow up. Defensively we’re trying to do the same for (the offense this year ). ”