Sports

SMITH’S 237 GIVES DUMAS LIFT ON GROUND

By Sean Saunders/OF THE COMMERCIAL STAFF
Tuesday, November 3, 2009 9:13 AM CST

Dumas coach Mark Courtney said he knew he had one of the 8-4A Conference’s top playmakers during the preseason in senior transfer Sherodrick Smith. And during the last couple of weeks, Smith has proven his coach correct with his play on the field.

Smith rushed for 237 yards and three touchdowns on 17 carries in the Bobcats’ 38-6 win Friday over Desha County rival McGehee. For his effort, Smith has been selected as the Southeast Arkansas Player of the Week by the staff of The Pine Bluff Commercial.

“That was definitely a big game from him,” Courtney said. “The only bad thing was that he overshadowed a pretty good game from Jamarean Buchannan. Jamarean rushed for more than 100 yards, but then Sherodrick goes and rushes for more than 200.”

Courtney said this year hasn’t gone the way he expected, and that has little to do with the team’s likelihood of getting the league’s No. 3 seed for the second straight year after the fourth-year coach expected improvement in playoff positioning. He saw he had his top four receivers and his starting quarterback returning from last year, so he thought his team would be leading the conference in passing by this point of the year.

But the Bobcats (7-2, 4-2) have become a running team out of the spread this year. That running game has helped Dumas bounce back from a two-game conference losing streak with a two-game winning streak. The Bobcats rushed for more than 300 yards against Fordyce before rushing for more than 350 yards against McGehee.

“I think it’s because of the weather,” Courtney said. “Ever since that North Pulaski game that first week, we haven’t (had) a good field to play on. We can’t use that as an excuse because everybody else has had to deal with the weather, but that has really thrown off the timing of our passing game.”

With Smith’s recent surge in production, he rushed for 181 yards at Fordyce, he has soared near the top of the league rushing leaders, and that includes backs like McGehee’s T’Cambry Green and Fordyce’s Dexter Walker that carry the ball between 20-25 times per game. Smith has rushed for 418 yards over the last two games.

Smith has made a splash in the 8-4A Conference since transferring from Class 6A Little Rock Hall. Courtney said there is really only one downside to him.

“We only get him for one year,” Courtney said. “He gets adjusted to our system, and then he has to leave.”

Smith has also given Buchannan some time to rest during games. Buchannan is a starting outside linebacker for the Bobcats, so the second-year starter on offense and defense rarely leaves the field. But Smith allows Buchannan to get some rest when the team is on offense.

“They’re really dangerous when they’re on the field together,” Courtney said. “Defenses don’t really know who to key on at that point.”

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