FOUNTAIN LAKE -- Fountain Lake coach Tommy Gilleran expects a challenge right off the bat.
The Cobras begin their Class 4A season of promise against 5A-West favorite Little Rock Christian at 7 p.m. today at Warrior Field in the western edge of the state capital. The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette has the Warriors ranked fourth in 5A, and some organizations have them even higher.
"It's going to be tough," Gilleran said. "I think I saw them ranked as high as No. 2 in 5A. ... And they should. They have the running back back, they've got the good receiver back, both going (NCAA Division I), and they have a defensive tackle who is getting D1 interest. And they have a quarterback who moved in from Magnolia, and he's pretty good, too."
Senior running back Damarea Crockett, a Boise State summer commitment and formerly at Camden Fairview, overcame a slow start for 1,178 yards and 17 touchdowns at Christian last year.
Senior receiver Joe Hampton was limited last year by a broken finger but ran a 4.45-second 40-yard dash during a University of Arkansas summer camp. He has a scholarship offer from Army and a two-star rating on Rivals.com.
The Warriors' third college prospect is senior defensive tackle Dylan Hays (6-4, 275 pounds), also athletic enough to pitch and play first base for the school's baseball team. Leading all their weapons is senior quarterback Kyron Sanders, a two-year starter at Magnolia before transferring north a la Crockett.
The stockpiling doesn't stop with players.. A year removed from adding state-championship coach Buck James from Fairview to instruct the offensive line, coach Jeff Weaver added Glenn Eskola as a volunteer assistant, Eskola leading Little Rock Fair to its lone state title in 1998.
"Overall, it's going to be a tough opener for us with how experienced they are and how good they are," Gilleran said.
Fountain Lake counters with a savvy group of seniors that saw Christian running on all cylinders in last year's opener and won 40-30. The Cobras start 11 seniors on defense and 10 on offense, the ideal recipe for road tests.
"This is kind of how you would script it, to have this many seniors starting every year," Gilleran said. "That's a big advantage we have because most of these kids have started for three years or at least two. So we have experience, and they know how to handle themselves in big games like this."
Senior fullback Parker Ross had 25 carries for 321 yards and five touchdowns against Christian last year, setting the tone for his breakout campaign that led to being named Garland County offensive player of the year.
"They're not going to overlook him this year," Gilleran said. "Last year, I think they took us for granted, and I don't think that's going to happen. We're going to need J.T. (McCoy) to step up, we need Adrias (Turner) stepping up and throwing the ball to (Ethan) Simpson and J.T. McCoy and Sean McNeely at split end. We need those guys to step up to help Parker, and we need Chance (Wilson) and J.T. to run well. Because they're definitely going to take Parker away; they're not going to let Parker run for 320 yards again."
Gilleran expects something like the 6-6 slugfest the Cobras had last year at defending 5A-West champion Maumelle. Under a new Arkansas Activities Association rule, Arkansas nonconference games ending a tie this season go to overtime.
"We were the only game Maumelle didn't win in the regular season," Gilleran said. "We had a chance to beat them. We missed an extra point and a field goal. They missed an extra point, too, but we need to make those things. Our kids did a great job (that night), and hopefully it'll be a similar thing Friday."
Sports on 09/04/2015