Ross, Rams bring experience to offense for 2020 season

Editor's note: This is the fifth story in an ongoing series about area high school football teams preparing for the 2020 season.

Lakeside head football coach Jared McBride knows that he will have to rely on the experience of returning Rams to help redefine the team's place in Class 5A.

Utilizing the Spread, the Rams have been able to customize their attack against opponents each week, working to keep a balance between the aerial and ground games.

"Offensively, in our conference, we have some pretty talented groups that we'll face in different types of offenses," McBride explained. "We'll have to be able to adjust weekly, and just get out there and make some plays. ... We'll be more full on offense. Hopefully we're able to put the ball in the air a little more than we have in the past, but we'll still be pretty balanced."

With the loss of Little Rock McClellan from the conference, the members of the 5A South face just six league opponents, and Lakeside, like some others in the conference, have opted to play four non-conference games and leave a bye week in during the season. The Rams open their season on Aug. 28 against Lake Hamilton at Chick Austin Field.

Behind returning senior quarterback Will Ross and the core of Lakeside's offensive crew, McBride anticipates that the Rams will swing things into motion early amid the program's "tough" non-league schedule.

"We start our conference season off against Camden (Fairview)," he said, recalling the 26-21 Lakeside loss to the Cardinals last year. "It's always a very tough, great game for us, and then we were able to go on a run and win the rest of them. With McClellan moving out of conference, don't really know how that'll affect how many wins you'll need to get in the playoffs, but I think every week will be a competitive ball game. You got a new staff in DeQueen, and they'll be better. Hot Springs is always improving, Camden and Texarkana are so talented, and we'll have to be ready to play each week.

"We've got a really tough non-conference schedule -- four games that will test us and help us to learn to be ready for conference. Excited to see how that plays out for us. We've got a lot to learn, but we've got the time to get it done. We're just excited about the opportunity for the kids to come out and get to play."

Ross, who completed 134 of 221 passes for 1,696 yards and 24 touchdowns, returns for his senior campaign after he "had a fantastic year for us last year," McBride noted.

"It is an honor to help lead this great group of guys," said Ross. "I am looking forward to the opportunity to make new memories with a team that is like a family to me. Many of us have played together since the fourth grade and have worked hard to excel in our senior year. We want to finish strong.

"We've got a really tough conference this year; it's always been pretty tough. Camden, Magnolia, Texarkana, Hot Springs -- all really good football teams and always pose a big challenge for us each and every year, but we're gonna prepare for those games really well, like we prepare for every other game we play."

Returning senior running back Isaac Echols is expected to resume his role after accumulating 570 yards and seven touchdowns on 114 carries as a junior.

McBride said that he and his staff "expect good things from him again this year."

Chance Cross carried the ball 13 times for 100 yards in his sophomore season, and the junior will be another ground thread for Lakeside this fall.

"He has an ability to make people miss and is a tough runner," explained McBride. "We're returning three good receivers: junior Chase Cross, senior Daniel Gaston, senior Logan White -- all kids that scored touchdowns for us last year. Will Perrigo kind of does it all for us as an H-back, hybrid-type blocker/receiver. ... Pretty good in the skill positions.

"Got some offensive linemen that need to grow up and develop, and they will. I've got a couple guys that have returned ... (seniors) Hank Walston, Seth Daniel, Ben Botter played some for us last year. Those guys will have to step up and lead that group."

Ross agreed that the Rams' returning talent and knowledge on offense will make a difference for this year's squad.

"I feel great about our team this year," he said. "We've got a lot of people returning from last year -- had a really small senior class last year. We had a lot of kids step up in the junior and sophomore class last year, so I think we'll definitely be more experienced this year. Got a lot of returners coming back on the offensive side of the ball. I think we're only losing three people that played a lot for us last year, so we're getting back all of our receivers and running backs. Offensive line is always a challenge for us; we're a little bit small in that department, but I believe our skill positions and just depth there kind of makes up for that."

Lakeside reached new heights last season, and while keeping in mind the concerns of COVID-19 going into this year, the Rams look forward to forging their way into the postseason.

"The conference championship our team won last year was Lakeside's first outright conference championship since 1970," Ross explained. "It being my senior season, I definitely want to play this year. Now I think there's some guidelines we can take to make that happen, and we definitely need to see some numbers start to go down, but I obviously want to play the whole 10-game season and in the playoffs afterwards. And I feel like we have a really good team this year. ... I feel like we have a chance (to) make a run at the state playoffs, so I'm hoping we get to do that."