Bison rally past Dragons for first non-conference win in three seasons

The Carlisle Bison offensive line head to the line of scrimmage during its game with Lonoke in Week 1. The Bison beat DeWitt 30-26 on Friday night. (Photo by Mark Buffalo)

By Mark Buffalo

Staff Writer

@markbuffalo

CARLISLE — The Carlisle Bison won their first non-conference game in three years as they rallied to beat the Class 4A DeWitt Dragons 30-26 on Friday night at Fred C. Hardke Field.

The Bison (1-1) trailed 20-18 heading into the fourth quarter.

Carlisle took a 24-18 lead with 8:09 left in the game on a 9-yard run by Devon Kendrick. The two-point conversion was no good.

DeWitt responded with another go-ahead score with 4:54 left when Dee Dee Bradford scored on a 15-yard run. The two-point conversion was no good, leaving the score at 26-24.

The Bison got the ball at their own 42. Brent Bowlan then ran 17 yards on two carries to move the ball to the DeWitt 42. 

Kendrick then ran 15 yards. Bowlan set up the winning touchdown with a 12-yard run to the DeWitt 17. From there, Kendrick finished off the drive with a 17-yard touchdown run with 2:20 left. The two-point conversion was no good, leaving the Bison ahead 30-26.

DeWitt got the ball at its own 38. They gained two first downs before turning the ball over on downs at the Carlisle 48 with 13 seconds left. The Bison then kneeled out the clock to get the victory.

Kendrick led the Bison with 191 yards rushing on 30 carries. Bowman had 38 yards on 10 carries. Tristan Seidenschwarz had 21 yards on six carries. 

DeWitt got on the board first as quarterback Jamari Gamble scored on a 19-yard run with 3:27 left in the first quarter. Layne Ballew scored the two-point conversion. 

Carlisle got to within two at 8-6 when Kendrick scored on a 2-yard run on the first play of the second quarter.

The Bison then took a 12-9 lead on a 4-yard run by Bowlan with 4:23 left in the first half.

That lead didn’t last long as Ballew returned the ensuing kickoff 78 yards for a touchdown to give the Dragons a 14-12 lead.

Carlisle led 18-12 at halftime when Jasean Harper returned an interception 45 yards for a touchdown with 1:56 left in the second quarter.

The Bison open 2A-6 conference play this Friday at Augusta. The Red Devils are 1-1 after beating Marvell 44-14 in their conference opener Friday night. 

4A Jackrabbits rally, pull away from 2A Bison

Lonoke Public School athletic director Marc Sherrell presents the Central Lonoke County Showdown trophy, sponsored by the Lonoke County Co-op to Jackrabbits coach Doug Bost. (Photos by Mark Buffalo)

By Mark Buffalo

Staff Writer

@markbuffalo

LONOKE — For a half, the Central Lonoke County Showdown was a dogfight.

The Lonoke Jackrabbits rallied from a 12-7 deficit to beat the Carlisle Bison 41-28 in the first meeting between the two teams since 1990. 

“I didn’t like the three turnovers in the first half,” Lonoke coach Doug Bost said. “You can’t put points on the board if you don’t have it.”

Bost said the Bison played well in the first half.

“In the first half, they came out and they executed,” he said. “They hit us in the mouth. They are a very physical team. 

“At halftime, I thought coach [Taggart] Moore did a great job with his defense, making some adjustments. They were going overload on us. That was something we didn’t see in their scrimmage. We got that ironed out. That group [starting defense] didn’t give up any points in the second half.”

Lonoke got the ball to start the game. The Jackrabbits drove 52 yards in seven plays. Michael Hodges scored on an 8-yard run with 8:23 left in the first quarter. Mario Reyes kicked the extra point to give the Jackrabbits a 7-0 lead.

From there, the Bison responded with an 84-yard, 16-play scoring drive, which took more than 8 minutes off the clock. Ty Golleher scored on a 1-yard run with 14 seconds left in the first quarter. The extra point was no good, leaving the score at 7-6. Carlisle overcame three false start penalties on the drive. 

The Bison took a 12-7 lead following Lonoke’s second turnover of the half. Devon Kendrick scored on a 4-yard run with 2:47 left in the first half. 

Lonoke reclaimed the lead on the final play of the half. Braidon Bryant scored on a quarterback sneak. Reyes kicked the extra point to give the Jackrabbits a 14-12 lead.

Carlisle got the ball to start the second half and drove from the 50 to the Lonoke 17 but turned the ball over on downs. On the next play from scrimmage, Lonoke’s Steven Barrett ran 83 yards for a touchdown with 7:45 left in the third quarter. Reyes’ PAT made the score 21-12.

“Steven Barrett really kickstarted the offense with his long touchdown run,” Bost said. “It seemed like, after that, we had the momentum. That was a big run for us.”

The Jackrabbits defense came up big on the next Bison possession as Xavier Hodge intercepted a Bison pass and returned it for a touchdown with 5:45 left in the third quarter. 

Another Bison turnover led to a 20-yard scoring run by Bryant with 4:13 left, making the score 34-12.

Lonoke’s final score came on a 1-yard run by Bryant with 15 seconds left in the third quarter.

Carlisle scored two late TDs in the fourth quarter. Kendrick scored on a  23-yard run with 2:13 left. Jasean Harper added the two-point conversion. 

Carlisle coach Mark Uhiren said depth issues caused his team problems. 

“We had 22 available tonight,” he said. “I’m not going to make excuses but it’s a reason. They’ve got a fresh bunch coming in. They rotate some people around. They don’t have to milk them dry.”

Uhiren said he told his team after the game that he couldn’t fault them for their first-half effort.

“It was fantastic, I though,” he said. “We had too many mental breakdowns, and we’re going to work on that. They are still not into the rhythm yet of what we’re doing. But they’ve accepted it and are pretty successful at doing it at times.”

Uhiren was proud of his team’s effort.

“That’s a 4A football team [Lonoke] out there and they are no slouch,” he said. “My little 2A bunch went out there and gave them all they wanted for the first half. And if they hadn’t made some mistakes in the first part of the second half, we would have been even closer.”

Harper scored on a 1-yard run with 52.9 seconds left. Braiden Jenkins passed to Kendrick for the two-point conversion. 

Bryant completed all five of his pass attempts for 93 yards. 

Barrett had 83 yards rushing on one carry. Hodge had 81 yards on 5 carries. Bryant had 47 yards on 11 carries. Hodges had 25 yards on 5 carries. 

Kameron Cole, Isaac Toney, Daniel Seigrist, E’Shaun Brown and Hodge each caught one pass. 

Kendrick led the Bison with 97 yards rushing on 17 carries. Brent Bowlan had 83 yards on 9 carries. Golleher had 62 yards on 14 carries. Carson Cunningham completed 4 of 16 passes for 75 yards. Harper had 20 yards rushing and 37 yards receiving. 

The Bison host DeWitt in the final non-conference game this Friday at Fred C. Hardke Field. Lonoke plays at Beebe. 

Carlisle running back Devon Kendrick follows his blocking during the Bison's game with Lonoke. Also pictured for Carlisle are Gray Amaden (51) and Carson Cunningham (7)

Lonoke DB Kameron Cole looks for daylight after intercepting at Carlisle pass. 

Former Bison, former Jackrabbit coach gives unique perspective on rivalry

Former Lonoke Jackrabbits assistant football coach Danny Hazelwood during the 1986 season. Hazelwood is a 1969 graduate of Carlisle High School. (Courtesy of Danny Hazelwood)

By Mark Buffalo

Staff Writer

@markbuffalo

LONOKE — With the impending game between the Lonoke Jackrabbits and the Carlisle Bison next week in Lonoke, there are all kinds of associations between the two schools that exist. 

They include:

• New Bison coach Mark Uhiren coached at Lonoke for five years, including four years as head coach. He had an undefeated regular season in 2000. 

• Former Bison coach Jack Keith is now an assistant at Lonoke. 

• Junior Jackrabbits assistant Chris Bailey played on two state finalist teams at Carlisle in 89 and 91. 

• Lonoke superintendent Suzanne Bailey was Carlisle Elementary principal. 

• Carlisle assistant coach Mike King is the husband of new LHS principal Sandi King. 

• Lonoke assistant coach Taggart Moore was a junior high assistant under Uhiren at Marion. 

• Lonoke head coach Doug Bost was a junior high assistant under Uhiren at Lonoke. 

• Lonoke High School assistant principal David Landers played for the Bison in the early part of the 21st century. 

• This is the first matchup between the two teams since 1990 — a 16-6 win by the Bison.

However, one former Bison player and Jackrabbits assistant coach has a unique perspective on the rivalry.

Danny Hazelwood, a 1969 graduate of Carlisle High School, played against the Jackrabbits during his high school years. He was an assistant coach at Lonoke for 16 years during two stints in the 1970s and 1980s after a stellar playing career in both football and track at the University of Central Arkansas. 

During Hazelwood’s senior year at Carlisle — the 1968 season — the Bison tied the Jackrabbits 10-10. Lonoke had an outstanding athletic year as the Jackrabbits won state titles in both baseball and basketball.

“We tied 10-10 that year,” Hazelwood said. “Tom Ed Gooden was an 11th grader that year. I was a senior. We had a good team.” Gooden is one of three former Bison players to have their jersey numbers retired at the school. 

Hazelwood said when he was in high school, it was a different situation than it is now with the size of surrounding schools. 

“Lonoke, Carlisle, Cabot, Hazen, Des Arc and Clarendon were all about the same size schools,” he said. “We were all pretty competitive against each other. Brinkley was in our conference at that time. They had a good team. Lonoke had a good team. Hazen had played some good ball. 

“When you’re playing someone nine miles down the road, it was easy to get fired up for because you saw those people all the time. You competed against them in every sport, whether it be football, basketball or track. Everybody competed and everybody played. Everybody wanted the bragging rights.”

Hazelwood said when he became a coach at Lonoke, he was loyal to the Jackrabbits. 

“You’re loyal to the people who pay you, obviously,” he said with a laugh. “But it was always a tough challenge for me when we played Carlisle. I knew a lot of the people. I knew a lot of their sons that played. I wanted to win, obviously. But I liked to see Carlisle be successful too when I coached here.”

During his coaching tenure at Lonoke, Hazelwood worked for head coaches Bob Mathis and Ronnie Carter. His last year to coach before entering administration was the 1989-90 season. The Jackrabbits beat the Bison at James B. Abraham Stadium. 

As stated earlier, this year’s matchup between the Bison and the Jackrabbits is 26 years in the making. The series was stopped after the 1990 season. A year ago, the seeds were planted for a revival of sorts when Carlisle participated in a benefit scrimmage with Lonoke and Maumelle at James B. Abraham Stadium. 

Hazelwood said he thinks the atmosphere will be great next week. 

“It will be exciting for both communities,” he said. “When a 4A school plays a 2A school, it really shouldn’t be a battle or be close. But because it’s two close communities and the challenge to be successful against a bigger school, Carlisle will play its very best. And Lonoke can’t make mistakes because it will lose if they do.”

Kickoff at James B. Abraham Stadium is set for 7 p.m. The Lonoke Scholarship Foundation is hosting a King Kat fish fry from 5-7 p.m. at the LHS cafeteria, located adjacent to the Gina Cox Center. Tickets are $10 for kids ages 6-11 and $15 for adults. For more information or to purchase tickets, call Alps Laminating at (501) 676-0130. 

Danny Hazelwood as a junior football player at UCA in 1972 (Courtesy of Danny Hazelwood)

Bison getting ready for upcoming season under new coach, alumnus of CHS

Bison senior running back Devon Kendrick carries the ball during a drill Wednesday. (Photos by Mark Buffalo)

By Mark Buffalo

Staff Writer

@markbuffalo

CARLISLE — The Carlisle Bison have been working hard during the first week and a half of football practice, according to first-year coach Mark Uhiren. 

Uhiren, a 1977 graduate of Carlisle High School, comes to Carlisle after a long stint as head coach at Marion. He got out of coaching for a few years and was a Dean of Students in Marion. 

“Right now, we’re trying to be like everybody else … we’re just trying to make sure they survive the heat,” Uhiren said. “We’re trying to do it the best way we can but still get work out of them. It’s hard. Nobody has shut it down yet.”

The Bison currently has 22 players on their roster.

Uhiren previously coached as an assistant under Don Campbell at Wynne. He was head coach at Hoxie and Lonoke, where he was promoted from assistant under Billy Dawson to head coach. 

Uhiren said coming to Carlisle was something “you always dream about in the back of your mind.”

“It was just something you liked when you were here, and boy, it was something I definitely liked when I was here,” he said. “It was important to me. It was something that directed me in my life’s ambition. I was wanting to be a coach. I was a coach for a lot of reasons. A lot of them started here at Carlisle. A lot of them started out there on that football field [Fred C. Hardke Field] with my coaches and believing in what they did and seeing how they handled things. I think that got me spurred in the right direction.”

Uhiren played for former CHS coach and teacher Joe Gasaway in the 11th and 12th grades.  Uhiren was a junior on the Bison’s playoff team in 1976, the last time they played in the playoffs before James Clayton became head coach in 1989.

After getting out of coaching and going into administration at Marion, Uhiren said the allure of the Bison head job got him back into coaching.

“I told my wife [Cindy] that I wasn’t going to be back into it unless it was the right spot,” he said. “She told me I should have stayed in it. 

“Everything works out for the best anyway. I think it gave me some time to back up and look at it a little bit. As you get older, you see things differently.”

Uhiren said he almost didn’t apply for the Carlisle job this time.

“If my health stays good, I’m looking at six or seven more years of teaching,” said Uhiren, who is starting his 35th year of teaching. “Ideally, I’d like to coach as long as I can like Coach Campbell. 

“Realistically, I know it’s a different game these days. The demands are extreme. And coming home, it’s a different set of demands. You acquire the junior high and the senior high and upkeep of the fields and teach class too.”

The Bison open the 2016 season against the Lonoke Jackrabbits on Sept. 2 at James B. Abraham Stadium in Lonoke. The two teams have not played in 26 years. The last time they met, the Bison beat the Jackrabbits 16-6 in 1990.

Carlisle will scrimmage the Bald Knob Bulldogs on Aug. 22 at Bald Knob.

Uhiren will be assisted this year by Lonnie Roberson, Mike King, Phillip Bernhardt and Logan Prince. King is the husband of new Lonoke High School principal Sandi King. 

New Bison coach Mark Uhiren talks to his offensive linemen. 

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. 

Sandi King is new Lonoke High School principal; brings varied background to Arkansas

By Mark Buffalo

Staff Writer

@markbuffalo

LONOKE — Sandi King is the new Lonoke High School principal as she was hired by the Lonoke School Board during a meeting last month. She replaces Marc Sherrell, who is the new director of support services and athletic director.

King comes to Lonoke from Gladewather High School in east Texas where she was the high school principal.

“My husband Mike and I were wanting to come to Arkansas,” King said of how she became interested in the LHS job. “Lonoke is the size town be both like. It is close enough to Little Rock but still in a rural area, which we like. We love the smaller-town atmosphere where the community has more of a family feel. The school district is the perfect size.”

King said she was impressed with everyone she came in contact with, including secretary Vickie Moore and the interview committee.

“All seemed very sincere, warm and welcoming,” King said. “I knew this was the place I wanted to be. I prayed that God would send me where I was supposed to be and everything just fell into place for me here. So I feel there is at least one someone out there who needs me or perhaps there is someone in Lonoke who God needs placed in my life. Either way, I know something positive will come of my being here.”

During her career, King has done many things in education. She’s been a teacher and coach and her husband has also been a coach. She’s taught health, physical education, gifted and talented, theater, future problem solving, mock United Nations and her last eight years in a classroom, she worked in special education. 

During her coaching tenure, she’s been a head basketball and track coach. She’s assisted in volleyball and softball. For the last six years, King has been in administration, including two years as an assistant principal in San Felipe Del Rio, which is on the Mexico board. 

King received her bachelor’s degree from Stephen F. Austin University and her master’s degree in Educational Leadership at Texas A&M at Texarkana. 

King said she’s excited about coming to Lonoke.

“Every district has its hare of challenges and we all want continuous improvement,” she said. “However, I do not believe in change simply for the same of change. I play on doing a lot of observing and assessing both the strengths and weaknesses of the campus. We must be focused on what is best for our students; not what is best of good test results.

“My main objective is to meet the needs of the students, to guide them, help them, discipline them when necessary and encourage them no matter what the situation.”

King and her husband Mike have two grown sons and daughter “in heart.”

Their oldest son is an officer in the Air Force. He and his wife live in Georgia. Their youngest son is a branch manager for Enterprise in Oklahoma.

“I can’t forget my two girls — Bella, our 7-year-old French bulldog and Taza, our fierce and might 15-year-old three-pound Chihuahua,” King said. 

Smith promoted to Junior Jackrabbits head football coach

Nick Smith, helping with Jackrabbits spring football practice, was hired as the new Junior Jackrabbits football coach this week. (Photo by Mark Buffalo)

By Mark Buffalo

Staff Writer

@markbuffalo

LONOKE — Nick Smith is the new Lonoke Junior Jackrabbits football coach.

Smith, 25, was hired by the Lonoke School Board on Wednesday night to replace Darrick Lowery, who resigned in the spring. Smith was coming off his first year at Lonoke as an assistant coach for the Junior Jackrabbits squad.

"It's an amazing opportunity," Smith said Thursday night. "Under the circumstances that the job came open, I wasn't expecting that.  But once I saw that opportunity, I felt it was the Lord's Will telling me that I needed to jump on that. With my aspirations to be a head football coach, I know this will give me some really good experience."

Smith already has some head-coaching experience. Following Lowery's resignation as both junior high football and head baseball coach, Smith took over the reigns as baseball coach and led them to an appearance in the Class 4A state tournament. 

Smith said he's bonded with the eighth graders this year after running the offseason program during the spring. 

"I made a really good connection with them," he said. "The seventh graders went undefeated last season. I think they had seven or eight games. They are a good group that is moving up. The potential is there. We're looking to have a really good year in Jackrabbits football from seventh grade through senior high."

Smith will be assisted by Tyler Shaw, Chris Foor and Chris Bailey. Shaw and Bailey return this fall. Foor was hired as an assistant coach and head baseball coach Wednesday night.

"We're just looking to get these guys ready, to motivate them, get them in shape," Smith said, referring to his staff working with the players. "I know these guys [coaches] are going to work hard. We're really going to push those junior high kids."

Smith said he and his staff will do whatever the high school staff, including head coach Doug Bost and assistants Taggart Moore, Jack Keith and Tyler Tarrant, needs them to do. 

"Whether is be water boy, taping ankles, up in the booth — we're going to do whatever we can to ensure that the senior high program has success. But we're going to attack that junior high season to go undefeated and win the conference championship."

Lonoke opens the season Sept. 1 at home against Beebe. 

Smith is a 2009 graduate of Prescott High School. He earned a football scholarship to Arkansas Tech University in Russellville but decided to play at NCAA Division III East Texas Baptist University  in Marshall, Texas. After one year of playing football, he transferred to Henderson State University in Arkadelphia, where he received his bachelor's degree. Smith also did an internship at Fountain Lake High School under coach Tommy Gilleran. Lonoke is his first full-time job. 

Smith and his wife Trisha live in Lonoke.