Dusting off a golden oldie, Lake Hamilton and Lakeside school districts are bringing their football series into the 21st Century.
Administrators and coaches from both schools announced the series' resumption Monday at a news conference at Greater Hot Springs Chamber of Commerce headquarters. Lakeside will be host to the 2018 game at Austin Field and Lake Hamilton to the 2019 rematch at Wolf Stadium.
The football matchup between former conference rivals was discontinued after the 1999 season after student-related pranks became intolerable. For a time, Lake Hamilton and Lakeside did not play each other in any sport after moving to separate classifications (Lake Hamilton to what is now 6A and Lakeside to 5A). With the 2003 dedication of Summit (now Bank of the Ozarks) Arena, varsity boys and girls basketball teams from the schools met at the neutral site in what was billed "The Game."
"We'll come up with some ground rules and guidelines to make sure (the vandalism) doesn't happen again," said Lake Hamilton Superintendent Steve Anderson. "In fact, the teams haven't played each other in so long that students on both sides might need some education about the series. We want to be very positive about this."
Anderson and Lakeside Superintendent Shawn Cook said many on both sides are friends from various youth leagues and have grown up together, reducing the possibility of hijinks off the field.
"We think our kids are past that," Cook said, "and this will be a very positive thing for our community."
"All the schools in Garland County get along well, and this will be good for Garland County," Anderson said. "We're going to make it about the Rams and the Wolves."
Cook worked in the Magnet Cove school district and Anderson at Lakeside, as an assistant principal, when the Rams and Wolves last met in football.
Whereas first-year Lake Hamilton coach Tommy Gilleran, returning to his alma mater from Fountain Lake, played in the series, it will be a new experience for Lakeside coach Jared McBride, a Nashville High graduate starting his eighth season with the Rams.
Gilleran said Lake Hamilton would continue to play 5A Hot Springs, a former conference rival of the Wolves, as a nonconference opponent when the new Arkansas Activities Association cycle begins in 2018.
Both teams made the state playoffs last season, Lakeside as conference co-champion for the second-straight year. Malvern was a common nonconference opponent of both teams last year, Lake Hamilton also playing Bryant in addition to Hot Springs while Lakeside faced Joe T. Robinson and Sylvan Hills.
Sports on 06/06/2017