Lakeside quarterback Garrett Carson's senior season didn't quite go as he had planned, but he can't argue with the finish.
He capped his career by torching cross-town rival Hot Springs for 393 yards and four touchdowns on 20-of-25 passing, leading a 47-14 romp. Now he gets to be a part of one of the top Division II programs in the country.
Carson signed his national letter of intent for Henderson State on Wednesday, joining a team coming off back-to-back undefeated regular seasons.
"It such a great thing to be signing with an outstanding organization," Carson said. "Henderson is the top-notch team in Arkansas for D2, and they just dominate their whole conference. I'm just blessed to be a part of that organization now."
Carson also joins a stable of quarterbacks headed by senior-to-be Kevin Rodgers, a finalist for the Harlon Hill Trophy the last two years who was invited to award's banquet this past season. Rodgers is by far the school's all-time leading passer with 708 completions for 9,718 yards and 87 touchdowns.
Carson compares his situation to a different Rodgers.
"Kind of like Aaron Rodgers did from Brett Favre, I'm just going to learn from him," said Carson of Kevin Rodgers. "They've got some great coaches, so I'm going to just use that first year as a great learning experience and try to do my absolute best in the offseason."
Carson will then have to beat out Bentonville product Dallas Hardison, the current backup who completed 80 percent of his passes in mop-up duty. Lakeside coach Jared McBride coached Hardison as a West assistant to Fayetteville's Daryl Patton during the 2012 Arkansas High School Coaches Association all-star game.
"The hardest thing for anybody is to have to step in there right away," McBride said. "It's a good opportunity for him because he doesn't have to do that. They have a good quarterback right now and some other good quarterbacks, and it is definitely a good opportunity for Garrett to grow and learn."
Carson's career at Lakeside was characterized as up-and-down, even by his coaches. Starting as a sophomore, he led the Rams to one of their best seasons in school history -- 10-2 with a second-place finish in the 5A-Southwest and their first playoff win since 1975, but he finished with seven interceptions to only five touchdown passes.
Even though the wins weren't as high his junior campaign (6-5), Carson experienced his best personal season in 2012. He led Garland County by completing 158 of 280 for 2,067 yards and 22 touchdowns, earning all-state.
That year also launched Carson into an active offseason, where he was invited to attend the prestigious Manning Passing Academy in Thibodeaux, La. The 6-2, 220-pound Carson is rated as a two-star prospect on Rivals.com.
But he didn't have a breakthrough year as a senior. At 3-7, the Rams missed the playoffs for the first time in McBride's four seasons, and Carson completed only 47 percent of his passes for 1,895 yards and 16 touchdowns and had to miss a game for getting ejected from the previous contest, though he did throw a career-low six interceptions.
"I'm very proud of Garrett. He's worked really hard," said McBride, Nashville High's single-season passing record holder witnessing his first quarterback signing. "He's been through some ups and downs here, as a sophomore, a junior and a senior, but he's taken coaching well. He's got a lot of potential to go do a good job for them at Henderson. I'm glad that he'll be close so we can all watch him, and I think he'll be a good fit into their program."
Carson also marks the fourth signing in as many years for McBride, always a welcome sign for his program. Former offensive lineman Sam Subbiah signed with Arkansas-Monticello in 2011, wide receiver Ajalen Holley with Division I Louisiana-Monroe in 2012 and receiver Teveon Perkins with UAM in 2013.
"It means a lot to our kids and it means a lot to our school just to know that hard work pays off and that there's a chance that they can play if they want to play," McBride said. "We'll help to find you a home. Everybody sees the hard work that the four kids that we've signed over the last four years have put in, and that gives our younger kids motivation."
Sports on 02/06/2014