Glen Rose starts 2016 No. 1 team
Prescott favorite to three-peat as champs of 5-3A
Prescott repeated as conference champion—its fourth in five seasons—and is the favorite to win three in a row this fall, but the Curley Wolves will face stiff competition from Glen Rose, which starts the season ranked No. 1 in Class 3A.
Centerpoint, Benton Harmony Grove, Horatio, Jessieville and Bismarck are all back, with Gurdon the newcomer, replacing Episcopal.
Counterpoint is expected to finished third, with Harmony Grove fourth and Gurdon fifth.
PRESCOTT
The Curley Wolves beat Gurdon to start the season before dropping their next two nonconference games. Prescott won 11 in a row before falling to Harding Academy in the state semifinals.
The Wolves have five offensive starters returning and seven on defense. Carlos Vanhook is expected to be the big threat out of the backfield after piling up 1,507 yards and 26 scores on 145 carries last fall. Prescott will have a new signal caller, but plenty of skill players around him to help out.
Nikkel Davis, who had 143 tackles in 2015, will lead the defense from his linebacker
spot and has plenty of experience around him. Derrick Flynn moves from linebacker to safety, Jay Marks is back at end, and Ja’Mozyia Williamson is back in the secondary. HORATIO
After a 3-0 nonconference start, the Lions went 2-5 and finished one spot out of the playoffs. New head coach David Bennett will be working on getting Horatio into the postseason for the first time since 2012.
All-conference QB Zach Izzo will figure into the success of the Lions, and Theo Ramsey and Alex Martin should get plenty of touches in the new power I/spread formations. Horatio had seven offensive starters back.
The defense brought back five starters but graduated five of its top seven tacklers. GLEN ROSE
After a 10-3 season and three rounds deep in the playoffs, the Beavers return nine starters on each side of the ball for 2016.
Aaron Weatherford returns at quarterback for Glen Rose, which was throttled by Prescott, 56-20, last fall. The Beavers have plenty of running backs battling for time, and four offensive linemen return.
Defensively, linebacker Jacob Lowry and safety Garett Reed each had over 70 stops last season.
CENTERPOINT
The Knights started 3-0 before running the gauntlet of the 5-3A schedule, finishing fourth and losing to Harding Academy in the second round.
The 2015 campaign’s 8-4 season was the most wins for Centerpoint in some time, and it returns eight on offense and nine on defense.
Keenan Owens threw for over 3,000 yards and 41 TDs while only eight interceptions. Lance Chambers had 51 catches for 1,068 yards and 15 scores, and Logan Taylor caught 43 balls for 534 and nine TDs.
Cameron Clower collected 102 tackles for the Knights last season and is joined by Trace Jackson (45 tackles) at inside linebacker. Taylor is back at safety, where he had 85 tackles. BENTON HARMONY GROVE
Paul Calley, who led Bryant to a 10341-4 record from 2003-15, including five conference titles and seven playoff wins, takes over the Cardinal program for the late Jimmy “Red” Parker. It is the seventh year Harmony Grove has played football.
BHG returns six starters on offense and eight on defense, and the Cardinals switch offenses to a multiple wing-T.
Blake Gwatney had 64 tackles at linebacker last season and could transition to safety this fall as the top returning tackler.
GURDON
The Go-Devils make the jump from 2A after notching 51 wins and three conference titles in six seasons.
Gurdon brings back three starters on offense—with receiver Thomas Muldrow moving to QB this fall—and six on defense. Cam Guley is also back at receiver, and the defense will build behind its experienced line.
B.J. Brewer and Kyle Kuhn are the ends, and Kagon Morrison and Daniel Moreno are returning starters at outside linebacker. JESSIEVILLE
T. J. Burk becomes the third head coach in Jessieville history, taking over the retired Don Phillips, who went 168142-1 in 29 seasons and coached 32 years at the school.
The Lions bring back seven offensive starters and eight on defense for Burk to work with, but Jessieville went just 3-7 last fall.
Move-in Adam Saveall takes over at QB, with former signal-caller Steven Benson moving to H-back in the spread system Burk installed. Ruben de Haas plays running back, slot receiver, placekicker and punter, and he is a member of the USA Junior All-American Rugby team BISMARCK
The Lions went 1-9 in 2015 and have not won more than four games in five years.
Bismarck has four starters on each side returning.