The mind game Curry constantly plays in his head has worked well this season for the junior, who has totaled 242 yards and four touchdowns in only six games. He also has four receptions for 32 yards.

Last week against Mountainburg, Curry scored the Elks’ (3-3, 2-2 3A-1 Conference) first touchdown in a 13-8 victory.

“He’s a power runner, he’s not afraid to get the ball and run right at you and then take two or three guys with him,” Elkins coach Aaron Clark said. “That’s just the way he is. He’s not going to juke you, so you have to take him head on.”

Curry’s strength was especially evident earlier this season when during practice, one of Elkins’ defensive players went to tackle him, but instead came away with a broken collarbone.

“I think I get it from my dad,” Curry said. “He (Kevin) played football at Fayetteville and has always worked with me and my brother (Chad) in the weight room, helping us get better. He’s the guy that taught me football when I first started in the pee-wee leagues.”

Regardless, Curry said he’s not only enjoying playing with his brother — a sophomore halfback/linebacker — this season, he’s hoping the Elks can continue their winning ways on Friday against Cedarville.

This season, the brothers have combined for 505 rushing yards and seven touchdowns, easily the majority of Elkins’ rushing attack.

“Right now, we’re just trying to stay focused for every game,” Curry said. “There’s only 20 of us on this team, but we’re pretty good when we want to be. We have to stay focused and keep looking forward to the next best thing.”

Kind of like getting a new truck after scoring a touchdown.

Frazier was 12-of-14 for 231 yards and also added a rushing touchdown for the Saints (6-1, 4-0 4A-1). Frazier hit Jon Hawes on scoring tosses of 25 and 37 yards, while Chris Bryant caught a 29-yard TD pass and Colin Self caught a 15 yarder.

Caleb Ramsey scored two rushing touchdowns for the Pioneers (2-5, 1-3), while completing 7-of-16 for 184 yards.

Elkins 13, Mountainburg 8

Elkins made a two-touchdown halftime lead stand up in a 3A-1 Conference home win over Mountainburg.

Weston Curry scored on a 4-yard run in the second quarter to help the Elks (3-3, 2-2 3A-1) to a 7-0 lead. Later in the quarter Robert Teague connected with Blake Bailey on a 10-yard scoring strike to increase the margin to 13-0 at the half.

After a scoreless third quarter, Mountainburg (2-5, 2-2) scored to cut the deficit to 13-8, but the Elks held on from there.

CAC 26, Siloam Springs 24

Bryan Adair threw for three touchdowns, but overthrew a receiver in the end zone for the game-tying two-point conversion as Siloam Springs remained winless in 5A-West Conference play Friday.

Adair connected with Chris Villasenor on a 19-yard touchdown pass as time ran out to pull Siloam (3-4, 0-4 in 5A-West). But he and the Panthers, who trailed 26-10 with 8 minutes, 4 seconds left in the game, couldn’t force overtime.

Adair completed 29 of 48 passes for 356 yards, but also threw an interception which was returned for a touchdown. He threw a 20-yard touchdown pass to Stuart Cifuentes and a 5-yarder to Cody Noble in the fourth quarter. Adair also had a two-point conversion pass to Cifuentes.

Huntsville 21, Pea Ridge 7

Huntsville rallied past Pea Ridge to even its 4A-1 Conference mark at home.

The Eagles (3-4, 2-2 4A-1) got on the board first on a Phillip Hoskins 5-yard run. After Pea Ridge (1-6, 0-4) tied the game at 7-7 in the third quarter, the Eagles took the lead for good on a short touchdown run by Wilson Phillips. The score was set up by a 44-yard run on fourth and one by Hoskins.

Huntsville ended the scoring on a 50-yard pass from Hoskins to Shannon Wilcutt.

Prairie Grove 41, Berryville 12

PRAIRIE GROVE — Quarterback Chad Austin ran for two touchdowns and threw for another to lead Prairie Grove past Berryville in 4A-1 Conference play Friday.

Prairie Grove (2-5, 2-2 4A-1) led 28-6 at halftime and cruised to the win. Thomas Soehner rushed for 154 yards on only 11 carries and two touchdowns in just a half for the Tigers. Soehner did not play in the second half because of a hand injury.

Quarterback Eric Holman threw a pair of touchdown passes to Ryan Nance for Berryville (1-5-1, 0-4).

Republic, Mo. 27, McDonald County, Mo. 22

Republic’s Tyan Sifferman scored his fourth touchdown of the night with 2 minutes, 12 seconds left in the game to lift the Tigers past McDonald County on Friday night.

Sifferman ran for 283 yards on 20 carries and four touchdowns for Republic (3-5).

John Graham’s two-point conversion run gave McDonald County (1-7) a 22-21 lead with 10 minutes left in the game. Graham also had 50-yard touchdown run on an end around.

Kilby Shockley led the Mustands with 120 yards on 22 carries and a touchdown, while teammate Nelson Boyd added 115 yards on 22 carries and a score. Boyd’s 1-yard touchdown run pulled McDonald County within a point in the fourth quarter.

McDonald County plays at Branson next week beginning at 7 p.m.

Cedarville 21, Lincoln 6

LINCOLN — The Cedarville Pirates put a damper on Lincoln’s homecoming festivities.

Cedarville’s Blake Morton scrambled 26 yards to put Cedarville up 7-0.

The Wolves (1-6, 0-4 3A-1) retaliated just over two minutes later when Bao Nguyen ran 47 yards for the score. The PAT was no good and Lincoln trailed 7-6.

The second half belonged to the Pirates (2-5, 1-3), scoring on their initial drive of the third quarter to go up 13-6, and later added another touchdown.

— WASHINGTON COUNTY PRESS-ENTERPRISE

JUNIOR HIGH FOOTBALL

Springdale Southwest 24, Rogers Heritage 21

Eighth-grade Brian Lemus hit a field goal with less than a minute left to lift Southwest past Heritage on Thursday night.

Dalton Clinkscales’ second touchdown, this one coming on a long run, tied the game at 21.

Quarterback Casey Paraday threw for two scores, including one to Clinkscales, for a 13-0 Southwest lead. He threw another to David Karr.

ELKINS — The unexpected time off surely didn’t help.

That’s the sentiment felt by Elkins coach Aaron Clark after his team lost 36-8 last Friday night at Huntsville. The Elks didn’t play the week before because their scheduled opponent, Decatur, cancelled its season. Elkins beat Pea Ridge 42-34 to start the season.

“Maybe that played a part of how we did offensively,” Clark said. “We lost our rhythm, I think. We had a lot of penalties and couldn’t get anything going.”

Clark said he was frustrated with how the Elks’ mistakes changed the game’s momentum late in the first half. Elkins (1-1), which opens 3A-1 Conference play Friday night at Lavaca (1-2), competed hard in Huntsville during the opening 24 minutes.

And despite struggling with its run game, Elkins started the second half believing it could win.

“People who saw that game would tell you it was a lot closer than the final score,” Clark said. “It was 14-8 with about 10 seconds to go in the half. We had five personal foul penalties in the last few minutes of the half. You just can’t do that.”

Lincoln’s Julian Ortiz and Bao Nguyen accounted for the Wolves’ touchdowns. Nguyen scored on a 7-yard run while Ortiz caught a 29-yard touchdown pass from Zack Summers.

Lincoln (1-2) hosts Greenland on Friday.

Siloam Springs 38, Gentry 7

Quarterback Bryan Adair threw for 219 yards and R.J. Castillo ran for two touchdowns as the Panthers cruised to the victory Friday.

Castillo scored on first-quarter runs of 1 and 12 yards as the Panthers led 28-0 at halftime.

Adair completed 13-of-16 passes with a touchdown. Stuart Cifuentes also returned an interception 30 yards for a score.

Harrison 51, McDonald County (Mo.) 12

Ryan Harrison threw for 301 yards and seven touchdowns — five in the first quarter — to lead visiting Harrison past winless McDonald County.

John Collier caught three of the touchdown passes and finished the game with seven receptions for 139 yards. Collier also kicked all seven extra points and added a 19-yard field goal in the second quarter, helping the Goblins (2-1) take a 38-14 halftime lead.

McDonald County quarterback Cameron Farmer ran 12 times for 45 yards and the Mustangs’ two touchdowns. He also completed 9-of-14 passes for 63 yards, while Nelson Byrd had 19 carries for 135 yards.

McDonald County returns to action next week at Mount Vernon (Mo.).

West Fork 35, Prairie Grove 16

Isaac Muggy threw for two touchdowns and Garrett Eakins ran for one to lead West Fork past Prairie Grove on Friday.

Muggy completed 5-of-11 passes, including two for touchdowns to Lee Gaesswitz for 49 and 40 yards. Eakins ran 14 times for 123 yards for West Fork (3-0), which led 21-8 at halftime.

Thomas Soehner ran for 167 yards on 20 carries and one touchdown to lead Prairie Grove (0-3).

Huntsville 36, Elkins 8

Huntsville junior tailback Phillip Hoskins had 18 carries for 124 yards and three touchdowns to lead the Eagles (1-2) to their first victory of the season.
Huntsville, which plays at Prairie Grove next week, also had a good performance from junior Cody Wages, who had five carries for 63 yards and one touchdown.

Berryville 6, Green Forest 6

Junior Peter Acuna scored a touchdown with about five minutes left in the game to give the Bobcats a tie against their Carroll County rivals.
Berryville, which only had seven snaps in the first half, trailed 6-0 at halftime. The Bobcats (1-1-1) play at Shiloh Christian next week.

GROVE, Okla. — McDonald County managed just 86 yards of total offense in losing to Grove.

The Mustangs (0-2) committed four turnovers. Grove rolled up 380 yards of total offense.

McDonald County travels to Gravette next week.

Yellville-Summit 32, Berryville 14

Two touchdown runs from tailback Travis McBride were not enough to overcome Yellville-Summit’s fourth-quarter rally.

McBride scored from 3 yards out in the second quarter and added a 5-yard score and two-point run in the third quarter to tie the game at 14-all.

But Yellville-Summit quarterback Timothy Hoyt threw touchdown passes of 20 and 65 yards in the final quarter to rally for the win.

McBride left the game early in the third quarter with an undisclosed injury and did not return. He had 102 yards on 14 carries.

Berryville visits Marshall next week.

Elkins 42, Pea Ridge 34

Chad Curry’s 15-yard touchdown run lifted Elkins past Pea Ridge.

Pea Ridge failed to convert a two-point conversion in the fourth quarter that would have given Blackhawks the lead. Elkins then drove 70 yards for the final score, capped by Curry’s run.

The Elks got two 10-yard first-quarter scoring runs from Weston and Curry to take a 14-0 lead. Pea Ridge responded to tie the score at the end of the first quarter at 14.

After the teams traded touchdowns, Elks quarterback Robert Teague hit Blake Bailey for an 8-yard score that gave Elkins a 28-21 halftime lead.

Teague’s 1-yard run after Andrew Brink returned a fumble to the 1 gave the Elks a 35-21 edge.

Pea Ridge’s Tyler Ramsey punched it in from a yard out in the fourth quarter to narrow the margin to 35-34.

Pea Ridge hosts West Fork next week.

Harrison 28, Huntsville 7

Harrison rolled to a 21-0 lead and cruised to the victory.

Huntsville drove inside the Harrison 10 three times, but was unable to score.

The Eagles managed their only points when quarterback Cody Stephens connected with Taylor Sone for a 32-yard touchdown pass. Stephens finished with168 yards on 15 of 31 passing.

Jake Kirk led the Eagles with six catches for 66 yards.

Huntsville visits Clarksville next week.

West Fork 24, Greenland 0

Damon Byrum recovered a fumble in the end zone for a touchdown, setting the tone for West Fork’s easy win Friday.

Isaac Muggy scored from 2 yards out to give the Tigers a 14-0 halftime lead.

Logan Genz scored on a 4-yard run for the final touchdown, and kicker Griff Smith added three PATs and a 27-yard fourth-quarter field goal.

West Fork visits Pea Ridge next week.

— The Morning News

Why Elkins Will Win

The Elks may not dress out more players than a majority of their opponents (27 players), but they do boast a mix of leaders and talented youngsters. Junior fullback Weston Curry, a 245-pounder, will spearhead a reinvigorated Elkins rushing attack, boosted by three speedsters — sophomore halfback Chad Curry and senior wingbacks Hunter Guffey and Jacob Evans.

Why The Elks Will Struggle

Lack of depth could devastate Elkins. Last season, the Elks started 5-0, but they didn’t win again, partly because injuries depleted their roster. They started with about 15 more players last season, as well, so the margin for error is narrow. Junior quarterback Robert Teague must mature quickly.

Crucial Games

at Huntsville, Sept. 18
Elkins could find itself a tad rusty by the time they travel to face the Class 4A Eagles, who the Elks beat 21-14 last season. Decatur canceled its season, giving the Elks an open date in week 2. Elkins opens conference play the next week at Lavaca.

at Cedarville, Oct. 23
The Elks may need to steal a conference road game to challenge for the playoffs — and this looks like a possible spot. The league’s coaches voted Cedarville fourth in the 3A-1, a spot Elkins would like to slip into.

vs. Greenland, Nov. 6
It’s revenge time. Doubt any of Elkins’ players forgot the 47-13 whipping Greenland put on them to finish last season. The Elks get the Pirates in Elkins this season — and could keep Greenland out this time around with a victory.

Talented Youth
Eight of Elkins’ players competed for an undefeated junior high team last season and could all contribute to the varsity team by the end of this season, coach Aaron Clark said.

Several of them will impact the Elks early on, led by Chad Curry and defensive end/tight end Zack Hutcheson. Clark said quarterback Mac Leichner pushed Teague for the starting job and would continue to vie for playing time. Senior lineman Andrew Brink raved about the athleticism the three sophomores had shown in camp.

“The young guys are all working hard and doing well,” Brink said. “They’re all acting like they want to play and get a lot of playing time and that helps the older guys work hard.”

Strong Secondary
Clark expressed immense trust in his secondary, citing the experience and intelligence sported by his defensive backs. He singled out two Elks in particular, Evans and Guffey. Looks like those two will help on both sides of the football.

Both seniors are three-year starters in the secondary.

“I think our biggest strength will be our secondary,” Clark said. “Jacob Evans is our best cover corner. I don’t think anybody can do a better job of covering people. Then you’ve got our free safety Hunter Guffey, who’s also one of our best runners with the football. Hunter’s moved around a bit and play free and strong safety. He’s a real heady player.”

By The Numbers
0 — Losses suffered last season by Elkins’ junior high football team
5 — Consecutive wins to start the Elks’ 2008 season; Consecutive losses to finish it
12 — Returning starters for Elkins
16.2 — Average margin of victory in the first five games of 2008

Outside The Lines
Clark didn’t need long to discover the key to this season: Stay healthy. The 10th-year coach led the Elks to the state playoffs in each of his first five seasons but only in one of the last four. Other important two-way starters, such as senior Pedro Puente and juniors Keith Fields, Bailey Parrish and Kasey Srita, must stay on the field for Elkins to return to the playoffs for the first time since 2006.

Season Prediction: 5-4

Elkins Roster

GREENLAND — Local followers of the 3A-1 Conference should circle Nov. 5 on their calendars.

People in Elkins and Greenland have probably marked up that date on their football schedules already. For the second straight season, the Elks and Pirates could decide a 3A-1 Conference playoff spot on the final day of the regular season.

Greenland downed Elkins 47-13 on the final Friday of the 2008 regular season to earn a playoff berth and keep the Elks out at the same time.

“It came down to us and them last year, and you could see it happen again,” Greenland coach Tracy Sutton said. “But overall, this conference is going to be very strong again this season. It’s always tough. Charleston, Mansfield and Lavaca are so talented, and then some of us other teams will be fighting for spots.”

Elkins and Greenland both are searching for a little more consistency in 2009.

The Elks and Pirates started strong last season. Greenland won six straight to start the 2008 season, and Elkins won its first five. The teams combined to go 1-9 the rest of the way, with the one victory being Greenland’s over Elkins.

Both teams must replace valuable players. Elkins must hope junior Robert Teague can fill the void left by graduated quarterback Drew Clark.

Greenland, meanwhile, must deal with the loss of 18 starters.

So while Elkins coach Aaron Clark can’t deny the potential significance of his team’s Nov. 5 trip to Greenland, he hoped to minimize its importance.

“I’d say every game in the conference is as big as that one’s going to be,” Clark said. “It can’t be for the playoffs if we haven’t played well up to that point. That said, it’s always a big game between us (and Greenland). And if we’re both in contention, it’ll be even bigger.”

ELKINS — Senior lineman Andrew Brink turned to Elkins coach Aaron Clark near the end of a practice late last week, hoping to ease his concerns. He could sense Clark worrying about the Elks’ thin ranks, so Brink simply told him to stop thinking about the team’s roster size (27 players).

Brink saw a field full of senior leaders. He noticed confident sophomores, who went undefeated in winning their junior high conference last season. He felt a hunger from a squad that started 5-0 last season but dropped its last five.

So he gave Clark a positive perspective to consider.

“I just told coach that it’s about quality, not quantity,” Brink said. “The older guys are working hard and trying to get back to the playoffs, and the younger kids have really stepped up and surprised me.”

That mix of experienced veterans and talented newcomers could give Elkins a chance at returning to the Class 3A playoffs, Brink and Clark said.

Clark first cited the offensive line, which includes Brink, as a cause for optimism. He also talked excitedly about the opportunity to establish a running game once again at Elkins.

His son, Drew Clark, threw for about 2,800 yards the last two seasons, making up for the Elks’ struggles on the ground. But Brink, a right guard, and three other starters return up front, and Elkins has a wealth of backs to help along its new quarterback, junior Robert Teague.

Clark thinks fullback Weston Curry, a 6-foot-2, 245-pound junior, can set the tone for plenty of games out of Elkins’ Wing-T formation.

“We’ve got four senior starters back on the line, and that’s a been a great starting point for us,” Clark said. “And Weston, he’s a load. He could definitely have a great season if he stays healthy. We need to have success early with our running game, and I think we can.”

Both of Elkins’ speedy wingbacks, seniors Hunter Guffey and Jacob Evans, will play off of Curry’s strengths. The duo also will lead the Elks defense — their third straight season in the secondary — and be two of as many as eight players to start on both sides of the football.

Clark stressed the need to stay healthy.

“We’ve been saying quality’s better than quantity, but we could still get in trouble with our numbers the way they are,” Clark said. “That junior high class has added to our depth more than maybe we thought it would.

“I’m still worried about our depth. That said, I think the kids all think we can compete.”

SPRINGDALE — Less than a week after a statewide proposal to send private schools to separate playoffs from public schools failed, the 4A-1 Conference passed its own proposal — aimed at Springdale private school Shiloh Christian.

The conference’s athletic directors voted Monday to not play Shiloh in any junior high sports, beginning in the 2010-11 school year. Shiloh is in the 4A-1 in senior high, where member schools are required by Arkansas Activities Association rules to play the Saints.

However, while Shiloh has played in the conference’s junior high league recently, no rules exist at that level to keep schools from voting a member out of the league.

“It’s not like it’s the first time Shiloh has had to overcome adversity,” Shiloh football coach and Athletic Director Josh Floyd said. “Ever since (former Shiloh football) coach (Gus) Malzahn was here and they started winning games, there’s been adversity and people trying to take the program down and our school down and attack our school.”

Last week, the AAA’s member schools voted down a proposal that would have banned financial aid-providing private schools from the public school playoffs. That proposal was sponsored by in part by 4A-1 member Berryville, which has already said it won’t play Shiloh in scheduled junior high games this season.

Brad Blew, Farmington’s athletic director and former girls basketball coach, didn’t hesitate when asked on Monday what was the reason for the vote — recruiting. Shiloh has won five state football championships since 1998, including the Class 4A title last season.

“It’s the hottest topic in high school athletics that I’ve seen in my career,” Blew said. “I think that it goes beyond just Arkansas. There are a lot of states across the country that are in similar waters as we are.

“(Recruiting) is what the whole thing is about. It’s about having an advantage over another. Until the playing field is leveled, I think we’re going to continue to have this problem. I just don’t see anything changing in that area anytime soon.”

Current 4A-1 member Huntsville wasn’t a part of Monday’s vote because the Eagles are moving up to Class 5A in 2010. However, Huntsville football coach and Athletic Director Ken Harriman was at the meeting, and the school will take Shiloh’s place in the junior high conference.

“Obviously, for Huntsville this is a tremendous benefit for us because we had no place to play in junior high without traveling 3 1/2 hours to somewhere like Greenbrier or Vilonia on a Thursday night,” Harriman said.

Harriman agreed with Blew that recruiting allegations and questionable financial aid practices were the primary reason for Monday’s vote. He also pointed to private school’s higher student athletic participation percentages as a problem.

“This is one of the few things schools feel like they can do about recruiting to even the playing field,” Harriman said. “I think the only place that this can ever end up and completely settled is just like I’ve been reading in editorials, and that has to be separate private school and public school divisions, just like it is in other states. Until it gets to that point, I don’t think we’re ever going to be able to level the playing field.”

Monday’s vote isn’t the first time members of a conference have voted not to play Shiloh. When Floyd played quarterback at Shiloh more than a decade ago, conference members — including Greenland and Elkins — voted to not play Shiloh in senior high football.

After that, the AAA passed a rule forcing teams to play senior high conference members if they wanted to participate in the playoffs.

“If the junior high rules would apply to senior high, then I think there would be a lot of people who wouldn’t play private schools,” Blew said. “They just don’t have that choice.”

Conference member Berryville has already voted not to play Shiloh in junior high this season, but Blew said the other schools elected to wait a year to give Shiloh a chance to find teams to fill out their schedule.

“As much as we don’t like it, we’ll just keep moving on,” Floyd said. “We will have a schedule for our kids. It does involve kids. People seem to forget about our kids in all of this stuff.”

Blew also said Monday’s vote likely wasn’t the end of the private vs. public debate.

“I think, if I were a betting man, then the rules that were adopted last week (forcing students who transfer from public schools to private to sit out of athletics for a years) is a step,” Blew said. “I don’t think it’s a finished product and would anticipate more proposals on next years’ ballot. This thing could go on for a long, long time.

“Either the two sides have to get together and come up with a set of guidelines or wind up in a courtroom at some point. We’re quite a ways from seeing the end of this.”

ELKINS — Farmington’s Taylor Blew gave her team a lead with outside shooting, then sealed the deal at the free throw line as the Lady Cardinals topped Elkins 50-35 on Tuesday night in nonconference girls basketball.