SPRINGDALE — When Eric Pearce isn’t doing homework or practicing football each week, he’s either doing one of two things.
Everyday he wakes up at 6 a.m. and heads to an area gym, where he puts himself through a rigid workout routine for nearly two hours before school. Sometimes, when time allows, Pearce goes back to the gym later at night, simply because he “loves the feeling of getting a good workout.”
Other times, the senior nose guard spends countless hours at both Springdale Har-Ber’s field house and at home watching game film, constantly preparing himself for the Wildcats’ upcoming opponent.
Pearce’s dedication to making himself bigger and stronger while constantly preparing himself for other teams by watching film are a few of the many reasons Har-Ber coach Chris Wood said he’s one of the best defensive lineman he’s ever coached.
“He’s one of the best in the state, and it’s weird because nobody talks about him,” Wood said. “He plays gap-to-gap, he controls the middle and is always getting double teamed. He’s going to be a next-level guy, but he gets lost in the mix because he doesn’t put up ungodly stats.
“But he definitely one of the biggest pieces to our defensive puzzle.”
When Pearce lines up against other teams on Friday nights, he said he’s already watched so much film that he knows exactly what teams are going to do, whether it’s what quarterbacks do or how blocking schemes are set up.
This season, Pearce has totaled 26 tackles, including nine for losses. He’s also had four sacks, nine quarterback pressures and one blocked kick.
“I really love my position,” Pearce said. “Who wouldn’t like going around and chasing a quarterback? It’s a lot of fun for me to get in there, hit some guys and get our defense going in the right direction. In our 4-3 scheme, we’re big believers that what we do starts up front.”
Travis Moreland, Har-Ber’s defensive coordinator, said because other teams sometimes put so many guys on Pearce, it always opens up other opportunities for Har-Ber’s defense.
This Wildcats have totaled 24 sacks, 23 quarterback pressures and eight interceptions, including two returned for touchdowns.
“Eric uses his hands so well and he has a great first step off the ball,” Moreland said. “Throughout the offseason, he really worked on his side-to-side movement, and he’s really improved.”
Although Pearce has been happy with Har-Ber’s defensive results this season, he said there’s still plenty of room for improvement.
“We’ve got to find ways to keep getting better, that’s the bottom line,” Pearce said. “We’ve worked hard to get to this point, but I feel like we can’t let up. We’re on a mission to get a championship ring and we’re not going to stop until we achieve that.”
