Ashcraft assembling solid team in Siloam Springs
Posted on Saturday, August 30, 2008
SILOAM SPRINGS - As a kid growing up, Clint Ashcraft never much cared for puzzles. Skip ahead to today and Ashcraft is putting together a huge puzzle - the 2008 Siloam Springs football team.
"We have all the pieces to the puzzle," said Ashcraft, who is starting his fourth year as the Panthers' head coach. "It's been a long process, but we've got most of the pieces in place."
After the 2007 season ended, Ashcraft was without more than a few pieces of his puzzle.
Gone were 28 seniors, players who had led the Panthers into the playoffs as sophomores, juniors and seniors. Last year, the Panthers went 8-4 and made it to the second round of the Class 5 A playoffs.
So Ashcraft started the outer edges of his puzzle in June. There were 7-on-7 events for the skill players to attend and linemen - both offense and defense - came into the fieldhouse to lift weights at least twice a week.
"The summer was really big for us," Ashcraft said. "We got to see who wanted to be here."
What Ashcraft has now is a puzzle that will field a new quarterback, a running back brimming with talent and offensive and defensive lines that should be the strength for the Panthers.
"The holes we are filling we are filling with a lot of senior kids," Ashcraft said.
Bryan Adair, a junior, will get the nod as starting quarterback. He punted for the varsity a year ago and quarterbacked the junior varsity team.
"[Adair ] is a competitor," Ashcraft said. "He wants to do well. Nathan [Nall ] was a great example for him last year."
Adair will be handing the ball off to senior Jake Cifuentes, who started a few games last year, seems to be over some nagging hips problems and appears to a home-run threat each time he touches the ball.
"He's started before," Ashcraft said. "He won't be wideeyed."
If Cifuentes needs a break, he can be spelled by senior Anthony Autry.
Adair won't have Roger Jackson to throw to this year, but a dependable group of receivers of shaping up, led by Tyler Littlejohn and Chris Evans out wide and tight end Corey Jenison.
Adair and Cifuentes and the other skill players will be protected up front by a massive line led by senior tackle Blake Crouse. Nick Brill is a two-way starter on both fronts and Wrangler Gottsponer is another key player on the offensive line.
Along the defensive line, Deric England and Matt Reed are back. Both were 12-game starters a year ago. Luke Hulse will play defensive end.
Ashcraft said the line play could well determine how the Panthers do in 2008.
"If you don't have those, you can't be successful," he said.
Even with an influx of new players into new positions, Ashcraft said the Panthers'goals for 2008 remain the same as 2007 - to put themselves in a position to win the 5 A-West Conference and make the playoffs.
"You never scale back your goals or ambitions," Ashcraft said. "The wouldn't be fair to the kids. Our expectation is to get past the second round of the playoffs and make some noise in the playoffs."
In the 5 A-West race, Ashcraft sees a wide-open affair since many teams are like the Panthers - working on assembling a puzzle.
"So many of us have new guys in key positions," Ashcraft said.
FEEDBACK:
Something to say about this topic? Submit a Letter to the Editor online
