MORRILTON DEVIL DOGS:

Offensive skill, optimism strong for 2011 Devil Dogs

BY DONNA LAMPKIN STEPHENS CONTRIBUTING WRITER
August 28, 2011

LITTLE ROCK — Under first-year coach Cody McNabb, Morrilton’s Devil Dogs tripled their 2009 win total in 2010.

And although they finished 3-7, they closed

on a two-game

winning streak

to head into

the offseasonon a high. Morrilton ended a six-game losing streak to knock off Huntsville, 32-25, and Siloam Springs, 55-28.

“We finished strong,” McNabb said.

The optimism for 2011 is strong as well.

McNabb, formerly the defensive coordinator at Russellville, said a year ago he was building from the ground up. And with six startersreturning on each side of the football, 2011 should yield more improvement, he said.

The marquee returner is junior running back Jamar Criswell (5-11, 170), who rushed for more than 1,000 yards as a sophomore and notched nearly 700 yards receiving on 47 catches. He scored 19 touchdowns in 2010.

Criswell’s breakout games came against Siloam Springs (215 yards) and Huntsville (269 yards), giving McNabb and Devil Dog fans enthusiasm for this fall.

The Devil Dogs will run multiple offensive sets and a 3-4 defense.

McNabb said in late summer that besides Criswell, the starting lineup would includeBREAKING DOWN THE DEVIL DOGS 3-7 RECORD FOR 2010 6 RETURNING STARTERS ON OFFENSE 6 RETURNING STARTERS ON DEFENSE

15-13 PLAYOFF RECORD

2006 LAST PLAYOFF APPEARANCE

2006 LAST SEASON TO WIN A CONFERENCE TITLE 29 TOTAL WINS IN LAST SEVEN SEASONSsenior quarterback David Ford (6-0, 170), senior wide receiver Warren Leapheart (6-4, 205), junior wide receiver Montrell Hood (6-0, 200), senior offensive lineman Ryan Wright (5-10, 270), senior offensive lineman/linebacker Josh Bartlett (5-10, 200), senior defensive lineman Tom Wilson (6-1, 235) and senior linebacker Jake Wilson (6-0, 175).

“Our strength will be offensive skill,” McNabb said. “Our weakness will be an inexperienced secondary.”

But McNabb’s building project is ongoing in a difficult conference. The 5A-West has long been considered one of the best in the state, with Greenwood, the defending state champion, having won the last three conference titles (five of the last six) and state titles in 2005, ’06, ’07 and ’10. Greenbrier has been a team on the move under Randy Tribble the last two years; Alma appears to be on its way back after peaking with 12 wins and a conference championship in 2004.

“It’s a great league,” McNabb said. “Every game is tough.”

Greenbrier, Greenwood, Vilonia and Alma are the teams expected to advance to the Class 5A playoffs, so the Devil Dogs have nothing to lose. Greenbrier and Greenwood are listed among the preseason top five in all of Class 5A.

The key game on Morrilton’s schedule, McNabb said, would be Russellville on Sept.

1. Besides the Interstate 40 rivalry, the series is also personal for McNabb, as it’s against his previous employer.

“It’s the first one on the schedule, and [a win] would give us confidence,” he said.

Russellville prevailed to spoil his Devil Dog debut last year, but only by 28-20.

MORRILTON DEVIL DOGS

SEPT. 2 ......................RUSSELLVILLE

SEPT. 9 ...................... DARDANELLE

SEPT. 16 ........................ @ SEARCY

SEPT. 23 ......................... @ ALMA*

SEPT. 30 ...................GREENWOOD*

OCT. 7 ...................@ GREENBRIER*

OCT. 14 ............................ VILONIA*

OCT. 21 .....................@ HARRISON*

OCT. 28 ...................... HUNTSVILLE*

NOV. 4 ............ @ SILOAM SPRINGS*

River Valley Ozark, Pages 99 on 08/28/2011

River Valley & Ozark 99