Pioneers tackling tough schedule
Posted on Thursday, May 8, 2008
URL: http://www.nwanews.com/brog/Sports/60122/
GENTRY — Second-year Gentry coach Brian Little will welcome back a record-setting quarterback in the fall and says his football team has gotten stronger during the offseason.
He’ll find out just how strong right off the bat.
The Pioneers’ 2008 football schedule begins with three nonconference games against playoff teams from a year ago who combined for a 26-10 record.
The Pioneers, 3-7 last season, host Colcord (Okla. ) and Charleston the first two weeks before making the trip down Highway 59 to face neighboring Siloam Springs.
Little put together the difficult schedule because his philosophy has always been playing the best will make a team better.
“ Maybe I’ll find that this tough of a schedule is premature for us right now, ” Little says. “ But I was brought up to believe that to be the best you’ve got to play the best. To get where we want to go and where our community wants our team to go we’ve got to play quality opponents to prepare ourselves. It’s the kind of team we want to be. ”
Colcord went 6-5 after a firstround loss in Oklahoma’s Class 2 A state playoffs, Charleston was 12-0 before losing to eventual Arkansas Class 3 A champion Glen Rose in the state semifinals and Siloam Springs finished 8-4 with a quarterfinal loss to Camden Fairview.
The teams replace Pea Ridge, Elkins and Decatur, who combined to win eight games last year.
Pea Ridge, incidentally, likely would have remained a nonconference opponent but had to be replaced. The Blackhawks, who won at Gentry 29-6 in last year’s season opener, are one of two newcomers to the 1-4 A Conference along with Shiloh Christian. Both are moving up from Class 3 A. Gentry’s homecoming game is Oct. 10 against Pea Ridge.
“ Not to take away from last year’s schedule or who we played, but we need to face teams that are going to prepare us for a tough conference and Pea Ridge is very capable of that, ” Little says. “ If we come out in good shape health-wise we’ll be better off in the long run. ”
All-Conference quarterback Caleb Ramsey (6-1, 170 ) is back for Gentry after earning Daily Record Sophomore of the Year honors. Ramsey threw for 2, 044 yards and 17 touchdowns and rushed for 839 yards and 14 touchdowns.
“ When you play 10 games as a sophomore, that experience is usually a good teacher for you and it shows the following year, ” Little says. “ I know he’ll feel more comfortable on the field and more comfortable making decisions. ”
Ramsey helped send the Pioneers into the offseason on a positive note, passing for 317 yards and accounting for all four touchdowns in a 25-20 win at Huntsville in the regular season finale.
Ramsey played basketball and also ran track for the Pioneers during the offseason.
“ He, as well as the majority of our kids, have gotten bigger and stronger, ” Little says. “ That was our No. 1 priority after the season. The kids have seen the results and their confidence is high. They know they’ve gotten stronger. ”
Spring football practices will be held for two weeks starting Monday and ending Friday, May 23. Teams are allowed to practice in pads five times during any of the 10 days.
Little says Gentry’s plan is to work in full pads three times next week and twice the following week, capped off by the team’s spring game Thursday night, May 22.