Jackrabbits finish first week of football practice

The 2016 Lonoke Jackrabbits football team (Photo by Mark Buffalo)

By Mark Buffalo

Staff Writer

@markbuffalo

LONOKE — The Lonoke Jackrabbits football team completed its first week of practice Friday.

“I thought it went real good,” said eighth-year Doug Bost. “We went from 7:30 to 10:30 this week. That is three hours in which we got a lot of teaching in. 

“We started off back at the basics, going over everything and we gotten a lot of good drill work and technique in this week.”

Bost said he is expecting around 35 players for this year’s squad. 

“We’ve had some gone to church camp, which we knew about,” he said. “We’ve got a couple banged up right now that had not been practicing.

“We’ve usually been around 40.”

The Jackrabbits will adjust their practice times next week with the start of teacher inservice in the district. 

“We’re going to go from 3-6 p.m.; the kids are going to have to get adjusted to that,” Bost said. “When school starts, that’s about the time we’re out there. Going at 7:30, it’s been a little bit cooler, which is good. At the same time, we do have to go in the afternoons. We expect it to be hot at 3 o’clock Monday. But we’ll get through it.”

The Jackrabbits, which finished 5-6 a year ago, qualified for the playoffs with a late-season run. During Bost’s tenure, Lonoke has made the playoffs six of seven seasons. 

Bost’s assistants this year are Taggart Moore, Tyler Tarrant and Jack Keith. The junior high coaches will also be helping again this year. They include head coach Nick Smith, Tyler Shaw, Chris Foor and Chris Bailey. 

The Jackrabbits will play Maumelle in benefit scrimmage game Aug. 22 at Maumelle. They will host the Carlisle Bison in the regular-season opener Sept. 2 at James B. Abraham Stadium. This will mark the first time the two teams have met on the gridiron since 1990 — a 16-6 win by the Bison at Fred C. Hardke Field.