Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Charleston has new QB, same expectations
Ty Storey may be gone, but Charleston doesn’t plan on going anywhere.
The Tigers won their second consecutive Class 3A state championship last season behind Storey, the record-setting quarterback who passed for 13,000 yards and more than 150 touchdowns during his high school career and is now a freshman on the Arkansas Razorbacks football team.
“I hate to sound arrogant, but the last couple of years we’ve been the standard bearer for 3A football,” said Coach Greg Kendrick, whose team will go into this season riding a 29-game winning streak. “That’s a compliment to our kids and everyone in this program. As far as the streak, the only game I am worried about is winning the first one.”
Charleston knows it’s in for a fight this season in the 4-3A Conference. The Tigers will have to contend with traditional powerhouse Booneville, which dropped from Class 4A to Class 3A last season. But there is also Lamar, which finished third in the conference last season, and Danville, a team some view as a sleeper heading into the season.
Still, it’s easy to understand why others in the league expect more of the same from Charleston, even without Storey.
“I can’t see how anyone can say Charleston is down,” Lamar Coach Josh Jones said. “I’m not buying into that.”
Charleston returns four starters on offense and three on defense from a team that outscored opponents 618-234 in 2014. The Tigers will have to replace Storey’s near 4,900 yards of total offense and 70 touchdowns (50 passing, 20 rushing) as well as his favorite receiving targets, Dylan Jones and Taylor King.
Junior Jackson Rowland threw 20 passes last year in limited action while serving as Storey’s backup. Kendrick said he is counting on Rowland, senior running backs Wade Gerlick and Braxton Ketter and sophomore receiver Mason Wisdom to help make up for the loss of Storey.
“It will be very hard for anyone to come close to what he has done here,” Kendrick said. “But we know we’re going to be fine moving ahead and making this a successful season.”
Gerlick ran for more than 500 yards and scored eight touchdowns last season. Ketter sat out the season but got reps as a scout-team running back. They’ll provide plenty for the Tigers’ rushing attack, while Wisdom, Josh Zimmer and Sean Flanagan will try to pick up where King and Jones left off.
All-conference linemen Harrison Newhart, Harley Gattis and Drew Young anchor the offensive line.
Senior Josh Binz and junior Garrett Loughridge lead the way up front for a defense that lost eight starters from last season, and Gerlick will anchor the unit from his linebacker position.
“We’re extremely young, but I love our speed,” Kendrick said. “I think this is the fastest team we’ve had in a long time. We’ve got a lot of strengths, and that’s up front on the offensive and defensive lines.
Lamar went 9-3 a year ago and lost in the second round of the playoffs to Smackover, which eventually lost to Charleston in the state championship game. The Warriors’ other setbacks were regular-season losses to Charleston and Booneville, which advanced to the semifinals of the playoffs.
“I hope we can get over the next hurdle this year,” Jones said. “It’s such a big deal to play very well in the conference and get a high seed going into the playoffs. That’s our goal this year, as it is every year.”
Junior Hunter Davenport steps into the quarterback role vacated by the loss of Braxton Sampley, who passed for more than 4,900 yards and 61 touchdowns in two seasons. Davenport rushed for 350 yards last season but was a bigger cog on defense, where he had 105 tackles and forced four fumbles from his middle linebacker spot.
Senior all-conference running back Dusty Wilkins and junior Brennan Gilbert will help support Davenport in an offense that is expected to be geared more toward the run behind a line anchored by all-conference player Jamico Chenault.
Booneville finished second in the 4-3A last year and will have to find a way to offset the loss of fullback Bryson May, who had more than 4,000 yards and 71 touchdowns in his career, and all-conference receivers Matt Berry, Justin Shackleford and Josh Smith, who combined for an additional 2,700 yards and 33 touchdowns.
“You don’t replace kids like that,” Booneville Coach Scott Hyatt said. “They were a unique group of kids. They worked hard and played hard.”
The Bearcats will count on junior fullback Caleb Draper as well as senior Sam Cooney, juniors Noah Gregory and Max Phonlasouk and sophomore Grant Radatz.
Booneville’s defense will count on its lone returning stater, Devin Davis, as well as Raymond Chumley, Ethan O’Barr and senior Jeff Dobbs to be a physical presence up front. Cooney and Draper are steady at linebacker.
Danville went 5-6 in 2014, winning four of its last five games to reach the playoffs for the first time since joining Class 3A in 2012.
The Little Johns return all-conference quarterback Jake Madding, who will be joined in the backfield by junior tailback Chris Thurman and senior fullback Juan Gomez. Senior Jamey Holbrook leads the receivers along with senior Parker Reece.