Jackrabbits make big plays in scrimmages

Lonoke's Casey Martin battles a Maumelle defender for a pass before securing the ball and racing for a touchdown against the Hornets. (Photos by Mark Buffalo)

By Mark Buffalo

Staff Writer

LONOKE — The Lonoke Jackrabbits split two scrimmages Monday night at James B. Abraham Stadium.

Lonoke played both Maumelle and Carlisle for a half game each. Maumelle outscored Lonoke 22-21 then Lonoke outscored Carlisle 15-7 in the final game of the evening. 

In the game with Maumelle, Lonoke jumped out to a 13-0 lead. Justin Meadows returned an interception 40 yards for touchdown with 10:19 left in the first quarter. Casey Martin kicked the extra point.

Meadows then scored on a 69-yard run with 5:35 left. The PAT was no good. 

Maumelle rallied to lead 14-13. Lonoke reclaimed the at 21-14 when Savonte Rountree threw a pass to Martin, who caught it between three defenders then raced for a 63-yard touchdown with 4:09 left in the scrimmage. Rountree scored the two-point conversion. 

Maumelle scored with 2:51 left to take the lead for good.

In the scrimmage with Carlisle, Lonoke's second-team offense, led by quarterback Will Miller, took an 8-0 lead. Miller scored on a quarterback sneak. Xavier Hodge scored the two-point conversion.

Lonoke's other score came on a 12-yard pass from Rountree to Martin. Martin also kicked the extra point.

"I thought this was very good competition," Lonoke coach Doug Bost said of the scrimmage games. "That is what we needed heading into Star City week."

The Jackrabbits open the season Sept. 4 at Star City.

"Offensive-wise, we put the ball on the ground five times," Bost said. "We had some penalties and it put is behind the chains. It's some things we've got to clean up."

Lonoke had two long touchdown passes called back by penalties against the Bison. 

Bost said he feels like he has six or seven players that can make big plays. 

"We've got one football and we'll spread it around the best we can," he said. "Be a team player and when you're number is called, make a play.

"I'm very proud of those guys. They did have some big plays."

Lonoke's Justin Meadows is congratulated by teammates after scoring a touchdown against Maumelle. 

Bison coach says team must work on tackling following scrimmage

Carlisle's Ty Golleher scores the Bison's lone touchdown in their scrimmage with Lonoke on Monday night. (Photos by Mark Buffalo)

By Mark Buffalo

Staff Writer

LONOKE — The Carlisle Bison football team scrimmaged both Maumelle and Lonoke on Monday night at James B. Abraham Stadium.

They played the Hornets and Jackrabbits for a half game each. Score was kept in both contests with Class 5A Maumelle leading 41-0 and Class 4A Lonoke leading 15-7.

Carlisle's only touchdown of the scrimmage came on a 2-yard plunge by junior quarterback Ty Golleher with 8.7 seconds left in the half. Exchange student kicker Nicolas Duhoux kicked the extra point.

Carlisle second-year coach Jack Keith said his has got to work on tackling. 

"The big red eye on this was tackling," he said after the scrimmage games. "Offensively, we were able to move the ball. We put the ball on the ground way too many times. If we take care of that and keep moving the ball, we'll be all right."

Keith was upbeat after the scrimmage with Lonoke as both first teams had long scoring drives. Lonoke's second team also scored a touchdown in the first of two quarters. 

"That was a big confidence boost," Keith said of the late touchdown. "Lonoke has got a heck of a ball club . They've got a lot of athletes and are big up front. For us to be able to drive it down and punch it was big."

Keith said his team got a lot out of playing Maumelle and Lonoke. 

"There's not many teams that we will see as athletic as Maumelle," he said. "We can't recreate that in practice. We're able to get our legs under us before the season starts."

The Bison will travel to England for the season opener Sept. 4 at Gaylon Gibbs Stadium. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.

Nicolas Duhoux kicks the extra point for the Bison. 

Bison gear up for season with younger squad

The Bison go through a drill during the first week of football practice. 

By Mark Buffalo

Staff Writer

CARLISLE — The Carlisle Bison are busy with practice under second-year coach Jake Keith.

Keith said the Bison have had between 25 and 29 at practice during the first week and a half. 

"It's gone pretty well," Keith said of the start of practice. "The first week, you don't have a whole lot of contact. Our kids did a great job of coming out and learning and taking care of fundamentals — the things you can do without having to be real physical."

Keith said his team has been "focused on getting better."

There are also a lot of new faces on this year's squad. 

"The younger group is pretty athletic … I like having the younger team," Keith said. "They are hungry. You can see that there are good things coming."

The Bison have three new coaches this year. Joining Keith and Lonnie Roberson are Danny Mallett, Jeff Liggin and Shawn Woods.

Mallett is a longtime football coach in Arkansas, most notably at Searcy High School. 

"He brings knowledge and experience and that is great to have," Keith said of Mallett. "I can look to him and ask him 'what would you do here?' Having that knowledge to bounce ideas off of is great."

The Bison are picked to finish fifth in the 2A-6 conference behind Hazen, McCrory, Brinkley and Des Arc.

Carlisle will scrimmage against Lonoke and Maumelle on Aug. 24 at James B. Abraham Stadium in Lonoke. The Bison will open the 2015 season on Sept. 4 at England. 

Lonoke Jackrabbits open fall camp

The Lonoke Jackrabbits run a play during the first day of practice on Monday. (Photo by Mark Buffalo)

By Mark Buffalo

Staff Writer

LONOKE — The Lonoke Jackrabbits football team opened fall drills Monday morning under seventh-year coach Doug Bost. 

The Jackrabbits are coming off a 5-6 season in 2014. They are ranked 10th in Class 4A by Hooten's Arkansas Football Magazine and picked to finish third in the 4A-2 conference behind favorite Newport and Heber Springs. 

Bost said the first day of practice went well for his squad. 

"We did a little defense first for an hour and we worked on some special teams," Bost said. "We worked on punt team and we worked on some offense. We were out there for about three hours.

"The pace of practice went real good. We came out and executed real well first thing this morning."

Bost said there were 48 players there for the first day of fall camp. During summer drills, Bost said he averaged about 40 players. 

"We've got a lot of baseball players that have been playing that and people going on vacation," he said. "A pretty consistent number has been around 40."

Lonoke has two new assistant coaches. They are Kenneth Riedinger, who was the head coach for Kelly High School in Benton, Missouri, before coming to Lonoke. He previously coached with current Lonoke High School principal Marc Sherrell. 

The other new assistant is Ronald Young, who taught math at Lonoke High School last year. Bost said he was previously a head coach in Tennessee. 

Taggart Moore is the only holdover from last year's staff. He was promoted to defensive coordinator when Drake Widener left to become head coach at Des Arc. 

"I'm excited with what we've got," Bost said. 

The Jackrabbits can practice in shoulder pads and helmets starting Wednesday but cannot go full contact until after the fifth day of practice. Lonoke will do that this coming Monday.

Lonoke will scrimmage Maumelle and Carlisle on Monday, Aug. 24, at James B. Abraham Stadium. It will be the first time that the Jackrabbits and Bison have played since September 1990. 

The scrimmage will start at 6 p.m.

Lonoke opens the season Sept. 4 at  Star City. 

Lonoke Jackrabbits football camp

The Lonoke Jackrabbits football team is hosting a football camp July 29 and 30. This is the official registration form. Print it out and contact Coach Doug Bost at 501-676-6749 or email doug.bost@lonokeschools.org or Taggart Moore at taggart.moore@lonokeschools.org.

Lady Rabbits do well in state track meet in May

Lonoke's Keiunna Walker, playing basketball during the district tournament, scored in two events during the Class 4A state track meet. (Photo by Mark Buffalo)

(Editor's note: We apologize for taking so long to get this story on the website. Thanks for reading.)

Three athletes from the Lonoke Lady Jackrabbits track team qualified for the Class 4A state track meet, which was held in May.

Those athletes were Brandy DiGiacomo, Janis Chapman and Keiunna Walker.

Walker competed in the 100 meters, 200 meters, high jump and long jump. She did not make it out of the prelims in the dashes but she played fourth in the high jump, equaling her personal high of 5 feet. She placed third in the long jump with a personal best of 17 feet, 1.5 inches. 

"She is a ninth-grader who is doing good things for Lonoke sports," coach Angela Watson said. 

DiGiacomo was new to the Lonoke team this year. A senior, she ran the 1,600 meters and 3,200 meters. She qualified for the state meet in the 3,200 after finished second in the 4A-2 conference meet. At the state meet, she ran a personal best 14 minutes, 1 second. 

Chapman places first and second in the 400 meters and 200 meters at the conference meet. 

At the state meet, Chapman did not qualify for the finals in the 200 meters but finished eighth in the 400-meter dash, equaling her best time at 1:04. This was the second consecutive year that she qualified for the state meet in the 400-meter dash. 

SharkRockets swimmers win multiple events

Tristan Bennnett

The Lonoke SharkRockets swim team scored 130 points in a meet against Maumelle and Lakewood on June 27 in North Little Rock. 

Competing in the meet were Tristan Bennett, Peyton Blackard, Matthew Boyles, Baileigh Dulaney, Tanner Edwards, James Evans, Kelyn Fagan, Madison Goodman, Presley Perrow, Eden Roedel, Garrett Roedel, Nash Tipton and Kanon Williams. 

Bennett won all four of her races in the girls 15-18 age division. She won the freestyle with a time of 34.19 seconds; backstroke with a time of 41.48 seconds, breaststroke with a time of 44.16 seconds and individual medley with a time of 1 minute, 26.84 seconds. 

Blackard won his four races in the boys 15-18 age division. He won the freestyle with a time of 33.73 seconds; the backstroke with a time of 45.60 seconds; the breaststroke with a time of 44.63 seconds; and the butterfly with a time of 38.81 seconds. 

Boyles did well in three races in the boys 7-8 division. He won the breaststroke with a time of 32.32 seconds and the and the backstroke with a time of 32.74 seconds. He finished second in the freestyle with a time of 27.45 seconds. 

Dulaney won three arches in the girls 15-18 age division. She won the butterfly with a time of 50.59 seconds, the breaststroke with a time of 53.16 seconds and the backstroke with a time of 46.97 seconds. She was second in the freestyle with a time of 39.24 seconds. 

Edwards won two races in the boys 15-18 division. He was first in the individual medley with a time of 1:24.88 and the butterfly with a time of 36.60 seconds. He was second in the breaststroke with a time of 47.56 seconds and third in the freestyle with a time of 30.88 seconds. 

Evans won one race in the boys 15-18 age division. He won the backstroke with a time of 38.75 seconds. He was second in three races: freestyle at 30.72, butterfly at 37.21 and individual medley at 1:25.90.

Fagan was third in two races in the boys 9-10 group: freestyle at 46.85 and breaststroke at 1:22.17.

Tipton was two races in the boys 13-14 age group: freestyle at 34.57 and backstroke at 40.75. He was second in the butterfly with a time of 40.84 seconds and third in the breaststroke with a time of 56.11 seconds. 

Williams finished second in three races in the boys 7-8 division: backstroke at 31.16 seconds, breaststroke at 36.18 seconds and individual medley at 2:31.81. He was third in the freestyle with a time of 27.57 seconds. 

Nash Tipton
(Photos by Tara Bennett)

Tanner Edwards