MOUNTAIN PINE -- Mountain Pine head football coach Sam Counce was recently announced among seven members of the 2018 University of Central Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame, following in the footsteps of the college coach who has guided him throughout his career.
"I try not to act like it is that exciting, but it really is," Counce said. "It is a big deal for me. You've got your kids and your life, but it is in the top five, I promise, of things that have happened to me."
Counce started at center on UCA's back-to-back National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics national championship teams in 1984-85, earning honorable mention as an NAIA All-American after his senior season in 1985. He played one year in Conway under coach Ken Stephens in 1981 before returning home to DeWitt.
Harold Horton, a DeWitt native, succeeded Stephens in 1982 and recruited Counce back to the Bears.
"That was a blessing, too, because he really took care of me, as far as caring about if I went to school and got an education," Counce said. "A lot of times, we were all there just to play football and, at the end of our careers, just go home or whatever. That was before everybody had to have certain classes toward their majors. Coach Horton did a good job making sure we were working in a good direction."
The Bears went 31-5-2 in Counce's final three years with the program in 1983-85. They won the former Arkansas Intercollegiate Conference and made the NAIA playoffs all four years he played. He was an All-AIC honorable mention in 1984 before making the First Team in 1985, when he was also named All-NAIA District 17.
"They gave me an opportunity," Counce said. "That's my school. I'm not a Razorback fan. I like good football and I do go to Razorback games, but I don't buy Razorback shirts.
"I'm a UCA Bear. That's where I went to school and that is where they gave me an opportunity to get an education. That's my school."
The 2018 class includes Laura Abbott, an All-AIC cross country and track athlete; Cory Cangelosi, All-American football player; Ken Collums, who started as a freshman quarterback for another UCA national championship team in 1991 and is the Bears' current offensive coordinator; J.W. Fullerton, a multi-sport star for the Bears in the 1940s and a member of the Arkansas Officials Hall of Fame in football, basketball, and track and field; Bobby Joe McDaniels, an All-American linebacker in football and an All-American track and field athlete; and John Outlaw, a championship high school football coach in Arkansas and Texas. Outlaw passed away in 2011 and was later inducted into the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame in 2013.
An induction ceremony for this year's class will be held at the UCA Student Center Ballroom on Oct. 20, prior to UCA's scheduled home game against Northwestern State at First Security Field at Estes Stadium. It is the 18th class inducted into the Hall.
Counce said he was excited to receive the call from UCA Athletic Director Brad Teague informing him of his induction. He said he hopes he deserves the place among the other inductees and the recognition aside his former teammates.
"It is humbling, because I played with a lot of talented guys," Counce said. "A lot of good people that had a lot to do with that."
Coach Horton sent Counce a message shortly after to congratulate him. Counce said he borrowed a lot of aspects of his coaching practices from Horton.
"I say, 'A lot,' but basically all of it I get from coach Horton," Counce said. "I get some from the coaches I have coached with, but what coach Horton did and how he handled the kids has really influenced my day-to-day activities, as far as coaching."
Horton was 74-12-5 in eight seasons as the Bears' head coach. His .841 winning percentage is the best in program history. Horton is a member of the 2002 class inducted into the UCA Sports Hall of Fame.
"We felt like we were going to win every game," Counce said. "We never felt like we were going to lose. I did not realize at the time what we were going through and what a special situation we had."
Counce developed a close relationship with the Horton family. Horton lettered for Frank Broyles with the Arkansas Razorbacks in 1959-61.
Horton was an assistant coach for Broyles and Lou Holtz for 13 seasons before moving to Conway. He returned to Fayetteville in 1990 and later worked with the Razorback Foundation for 15 years until he retired in 2012. He was the foundation's executive director from 2008-12.
Tim Horton, now the running backs coach and recruiting coordinator for fellow Arkansas native Gus Malzahn at Auburn, was a star football player at DeWitt while Counce played in Conway. Counce got to know Tim and other members of the Horton family growing up and playing for UCA.
"That was a joke that that was the reason I got to play, because (coach Horton) was from DeWitt," Counce said. "I also roomed with his nephew, Mark Horton. Mark always laughed and said (coach Horton) liked me more than he liked him."
Counce said Harding, Henderson State, Ouachita Baptist and other opponents always played their best against UCA.
"At the time, we were just going through it," Counce said. "We prepared and we got out there and we won games. We had a chip on our shoulders that you weren't going to beat us."
"That kind of stuff just doesn't happen," Counce added. "It was really phenomenal. Looking back, it means more and it was a special time. Everybody says, 'Yeah, as times goes on, you got better.' Really, thankfully, we were pretty good. We don't have to embellish and pad the stats, because we had a pretty good run."
Counce still remembers the 27-19 score of his only AIC loss. The 9-3 Reddies were able to claim a share of the conference title with a 6-1 record in the AIC in 1985.
"I probably played my best game and we got beat," Counce said. "We came home and we were ticked. Then, we played them again later in the playoffs and we beat them, 21-9. That was a really big deal for us."
Counce said he maintains contact with many of his teammates, as they all take pride in their accomplishments and help give back to the university and the athletic program.
"It is a lifelong reward," Counce said. "Every year, I go back and I get to see where we were when I played, as far as facilities and other concerns, and the guys I played with laugh and say, 'See what we started.' We feel like we were part of that."
Horton added Counce to his coaching staff for two years before Counce coached at Greenbrier, DeWitt and Benton. He retired for 17 years and farmed in DeWitt before getting back into coaching with a two-year stint at Little Rock Hall.
"You get attached to those kids," Counce said. "They've got a rough life. It really made me fall back into the coaching business with a lot of passion."
Counce took over as head coach at Mountain Pine in 2016. The Red Devils had to forfeit their first two games due to low numbers and lost their next three games by a combined score of 79-15 before forfeiting the last five games that season.
The Sentinel-Record selected Counce as the as the 2017 All-Garland County Fall Sports Coach of the Year after the Red Devils went 7-4 last season, making the playoffs for the first time since 2010.
Mountain Pine lost its first game of the season, 35-0, to rival Jessieville and eked out an 8-7 win over Cutter Morning Star. The Red Devils then went on a six-game tear, outscoring their 2A-7 conference opponents 303-166. They lost to state runner-up Mount Ida, state champion Foreman and Palestine-Wheatley, 36-35, in consecutive weeks to end the season.
"Coming out here, this has just been a great place for me," Counce said. "It is a great community and they were looking for something to get going again. I had a lot of intensity in coming back, getting fired up, getting excited about my first head coaching job and proving myself. It has been fun."
Sports on 06/10/2018