Sports

WARREN LOOKS TO AVENGE ‘08 PLAYOFF LOSS

By Sean Saunders/OF THE COMMERCIAL STAFF
Thursday, November 19, 2009 11:53 PM CST

The Warren Lumberjacks are accustomed to making deep playoff runs. So when they weren’t playing after Thanksgiving last season, they immediately set their sights on rectifying the situation.

The Lonoke Jackrabbits ended Warren’s season with a 47-7 drubbing in the second round of the Class 4A state playoffs. Warren gets its chance for revenge tonight when it faces Lonoke once again in the second round, this time at Jim E. Hurley Jr. Stadium.

“I don’t think revenge is on our minds too much because it’s a different year,” Warren coach Bo Hembree said. “We’re just focusing on trying to get better at what we do. We can’t really focus on what the other team is trying to do.”

Lonoke (8-3) capped off one of the best seasons in school history by beating tradition-rich Warren. The Jackrabbits won nine straight games and the 2-4A Championship before falling to eventual state champion Shiloh Christian in the quarterfinals.

“That was a very special game for us last year,” said first-year Lonoke coach Doug Bost. “We worked hard to get that conference championship and that home playoff game, and beating a team like Warren really made us proud as a team.”

Bost was promoted from junior high coach after Jeff Jones decided to leave the program. Though he hasn’t led his team to a conference title, he did lead the Jackrabbits on a five-game winning streak to end the regular season, and they sewed up the league’s No. 3 seed and a home game in the first round where they beat Clarksville 48-21.

Warren (7-4) has responded positively since suffering its first loss in 8-4A Conference play since 2004 when Hamburg stunned the Lumberjacks 7-6 Oct. 30. The Lumberjacks have inflicted the mercy rule at halftime on their last two opponents, defeating Clinton 38-13 last week after scoring the first 38 points.

Warren quarterback Hayden Smith’s numbers have improved over the last couple of weeks because his receivers have cut down on their drops. Smith has completed 16 of his last 22 pass attempts, and eight of those have gone for touchdowns.

“I think the weather has a lot to do with it,” Hembree said. “The last two weeks have been dry, and we’ve been holding onto the football. But Hayden’s still been competing, and we expect that out of him.”

The three-year starter went over the 2,000-yard mark last week. He has more than 7,000 yards for his career, but he won’t be the only Smith to be featured in Warren tonight.

Lonoke senior tailback Brandon Smith is a big play waiting to happen. The three-year starter has churned out 1,368 yards in only eight games for an average of 171 per game. He racked up 172 yards on only 10 carries last week, scoring on runs of 5, 70 and 65 yards.

“He’s a big part of our offense,” Bost said. “We like to be balanced in our approach, but when we need a big play, we usually call on Brandon.”

Brandon Smith’s impact on Lonoke became apparent in the middle of the season. Smith had to miss three games because of injury, and the Jackrabbits suffered a three-game losing streak. Subsequently, the two conference teams they lost to — Heber Springs and Bald Knob — finished first and second in the league.

Smith has had some help all year to gain chunks of yards. He has a college prospect lead blocking for him in classmate Morgan Linton at fullback, and fellow senior Michael Nelson has passed for 1,728 yards this season.

“We were a very inexperienced team at the beginning of the year,” Bost said. “We only returned three starters on offense, but those kids have just matured as the season has progressed.”

Charged with stopping a Lonoke offense that puts up nearly 400 yards per game is a Warren defense that carried it through much of conference play. Led by standout linebackers Eldon Thompson and Antonio Harding, the first-team defense hasn’t given up a point since the second quarter of the Hamburg game, and the Lumberjacks allowed only 9.6 points per game in league play.

“Our defense will be ready to play. They’ve been that way pretty much the whole year,” Hembree said.

The winner of tonight’s game meets the winner of Malvern and undefeated Booneville in the quarterfinals. But more importantly to Hembree if Warren wins, he’ll be back to playing after Thanksgiving.

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