 |
| Lonoke defensive coordinator Drake Widener talks to the junior varsity squad during a game last fall. Widener was hired as the new head coach at Des Arc on Thursday night. (Photo by Mark Buffalo) |
By Mark Buffalo
Staff Writer
lonokecountysports@gmail.com
LONOKE — Drake Wider, the defensive coordinator for the Lonoke Jackrabbits football team, was hired as the new Des Arc head coach by the Des Arc School Board during a special meeting Thursday night.
Widener, 26, replaces Dustin Prescott, who resigned to become coach at Class 4A Bauxite.
Widener is a 2007 graduate of Beebe High School and a 2011 graduate of Arkansas Tech University, where he played football for the Wonder Boys.
For Widener, this is a dream come true.
"It's a tradition-rich job," Widener said Friday afternoon. "It's a great opportunity for me to improve in my career and to be a head football coach, which is my dream. I'm excited about it. I've been drawing plays up since I was probably in the seventh grade. I remember being in high school and making out practice plans on how I was going to do stuff. It's always been what I wanted to do. I finally got the chance to do it.
"I'm going to take some of the stuff I've learned here in my years at Lonoke and some of my own ideas. And hopefully, we'll go over there and be a championship contender."
The Eagles are coming off two consecutive successful seasons. They were the Class 2A state runners-up in 2013 and a quarterfinalist in 2014.
Widener said the Eagles will be Wing-T based on offense.
"We're basically going to do the same things they've been doing," he said. "We're going to run the option some and the buck sweep and the trap. We're going to be under center. Power football. We're going to be running right at you."
Defensively, the Eagles will run the 4-3 or 4-2-5.
"It's the same thing we did here at Lonoke," Widener said. "We had a lot of success here and we had the No. 1 defense in the conference this year. So, we will be taking that over there."
Widener said he thinks Des Arc has the personnel to run the schemes he wants to do.
"I think it will be a perfect fit for what I'm trying to accomplish," he said.
Widener was very appreciative of his time in Lonoke.
"I appreciate all of my players, both current and past, and their parents," he said. "I've had a great experience here at Lonoke and it will always be a very special place to me. I want to thank coach Doug Bost for the opportunity he gave me here at Lonoke and he will always be a good friend of mine."
Staff Writer
lonokecountysports@gmail.com
Widener, 26, replaces Dustin Prescott, who resigned to become coach at Class 4A Bauxite.
Widener is a 2007 graduate of Beebe High School and a 2011 graduate of Arkansas Tech University, where he played football for the Wonder Boys.
For Widener, this is a dream come true.
"It's a tradition-rich job," Widener said Friday afternoon. "It's a great opportunity for me to improve in my career and to be a head football coach, which is my dream. I'm excited about it. I've been drawing plays up since I was probably in the seventh grade. I remember being in high school and making out practice plans on how I was going to do stuff. It's always been what I wanted to do. I finally got the chance to do it.
"I'm going to take some of the stuff I've learned here in my years at Lonoke and some of my own ideas. And hopefully, we'll go over there and be a championship contender."
The Eagles are coming off two consecutive successful seasons. They were the Class 2A state runners-up in 2013 and a quarterfinalist in 2014.
Widener said the Eagles will be Wing-T based on offense.
"We're basically going to do the same things they've been doing," he said. "We're going to run the option some and the buck sweep and the trap. We're going to be under center. Power football. We're going to be running right at you."
Defensively, the Eagles will run the 4-3 or 4-2-5.
"It's the same thing we did here at Lonoke," Widener said. "We had a lot of success here and we had the No. 1 defense in the conference this year. So, we will be taking that over there."
Widener said he thinks Des Arc has the personnel to run the schemes he wants to do.
"I think it will be a perfect fit for what I'm trying to accomplish," he said.
Widener was very appreciative of his time in Lonoke.
"I appreciate all of my players, both current and past, and their parents," he said. "I've had a great experience here at Lonoke and it will always be a very special place to me. I want to thank coach Doug Bost for the opportunity he gave me here at Lonoke and he will always be a good friend of mine."
No comments:
Post a Comment