2022 Football Preview | Page 18

Aug . 26 at Southside Sept . 2 Nettleton Sept . 9 Brookland Sept . 23 Rivercrest Sept . 30 at Gosnell Oct . 7 at Harrisburg Oct . 14 Trumann Oct . 21 JC Westside Oct . 28 Blytheville Nov . 4 at Highland

The Pocahontas Redskins are poised to have a special season . Veteran Coach Charles Baty has a great group of football players returning including all-state QB Connor Baker . Baker is coming off an incredible junior season in which he moved from running back to quarterback . Baker has the potential to make a huge play on every single offensive down . He ’ s Northeast Arkansas ’ most valuable player and will look to lead the Redskins to a conference title while propelling Pokie deep into the state playoffs . Baker had 283 carries for 2211 yards and 40 touchdowns rushing . He was 50 / 72 through the air with 615 yards and 6 touchdowns . Aside from being a stellar offensive player , he was one of the areas top defensive players as well . Connor had 110 tackles with 21 of those resulting in a loss . There are a few other special players that return for Coach Baty . Reed Bigger FB / DE / OLB had 59 tackles , 10 batted passes , 6 blocked punts and two defensive touchdowns last season . Harrison Carter accumulated 25 receptions , 400 receiving yards , and four caught touchdowns . Reagan Womack RB / OLB carried the ball 93 times for 540 yards and five touchdowns . He also had 60 tackles . Pocahontas is loaded . “ Offensively we are spread ,” explained assistant coach Cannon Davis . “ Our strengths are that we are returning all skill positions . Harrison Carter returns after leading us in receiving last year . Tripp Risley , Greyson Maupin , Will Mason and Zane Hibbard all are returning starters . We are returning our quarterback who led the state of Arkansas ( all classifications ) in rushing yards and touchdowns . We are returning our running back Reagan Womack who is now 6 ' 3 225 and has gotten a lot stronger . We return both fullbacks Reed Bigger and Jack Privett who play huge roles in our offense . Areas of concern are that we graduated four starting offensive linemen , and we will have some young guys starting on the offensive line . Coach ( Deryk ) Hibbard has done a great job working with the young guys and new guys on the offensive line and they keep getting better and better . Our lone returning offensive lineman is Caleb Bettis . He had a good year last year as a sophomore and has put in a lot of work to get better . We think he will have a great year . Redskin leader Lawson James will transition from defense to center for his senior season .” The Redskins will run multiple defensive schemes . “ Our strengths defensively are that we are returning nine starters . The defensive front is led by 6 ' 3 , 330 senior nose guard Brayden Vancil . We return leading tackler Connor Baker and super sophomore Reagan Womack at outside linebacker ( strength of the defense ). We return all state senior Reed Bigger , senior Ethan Morris and junior Jack Privett on the defensive front . Junior Zane Hibbard shifts from free safety to inside linebacker , and he flies to the football . Secondary returns starters Tripp Risley , Harrison Carter and Cooper Sorg . Areas of concern are keeping our two-way starters fresh early in the season . We return outstanding punter Marcus Streeper . Reed Bigger returns after blocking six punts last year . Bigger and Zane Hibbard are experienced deep snappers . Connor Baker and Greyson Maupin are dangerous returners for us . We go into every year with the goal of winning a conference championship . However , our conference is loaded with great coaching staffs and every week is a battle . Our kids have had a terrific offseason .” NEA Sports projects Pocahontas to win their conference and possibly run the regular season table .