Former Arkansas Razorback Brey Cook guides Pea Ridge to undefeated start
When Brey Cook took the reins as the head football coach at Pea Ridge three years ago, he knew he had his work cut out for him in the 5A-West. He was taking over a struggling program that could barely win a game.
It was the first head-coaching position for the former Arkansas team captain, and former Razorback graduate assistant.
“Success is coming here at Pea Ridge,” he said a year ago, as his team managed just three wins -- which was an improvement over his first season in 2021, when the Blackhawks claimed just one lone victory.
Now, all of that hard work that Cook, his staff and his players have committed to over the past three years, is finally paying its dividends.
Friday night’s emphatic 41-14 win on the road at Prairie Grove is all the proof you need, as the Blackhawks have begun the season 4-0 for the first time since 2018.
“I’m just really proud of our guys,” said Cook, a Springdale Har-Ber alum who played for the Razorbacks from 2011-14. “We had some new coaches come in this year, so the kids had to learn a new offense and new defense, but our guys bought in to what we were doing.”
Pea Ridge has rolled big in all four games so far, usually taking control early and not letting off the gas.
After a scoreless first quarter Friday night, Prairie Grove began driving deep into Blackhawk territory, looking to put the first point on the board. But a huge defensive stop on fourth down, gave Pea Ridge the ball and seemed to swing the entire momentum of the game. The Blackhawks quickly scored twice, taking a 14-0 lead into the locker room.”
“What Coach Abshier has done here is so impressive and he’s known for that offense, so for us to get that stop right there, our kids knew how important that was,” Cook said. “Coach (Max) Hotelling had a great game plan going into tonight. Our kids loved it and our kids executed.”
The incredible start to the season is especially rewarding for the seniors who have continued to grind away over the past three years.
“For those guys to go through what they’ve been through, and now allowing them to have this success, is all we could ask for,” Cook said. “It’s so rewarding. We focused on fighting adversity during the offseason, and these guys are doing that.”
-- Steve Andrews
Ashford has emerged as top back for top-ranked Patriots
No. 1 Parkview, the defending 5A state champions, imposed its will against 7A competition during non-conference play and kept it going in Thursday’s 54-7 rout of Hot Springs at War Memorial Stadium to start 5A-South play 1-0, as well as increase the current win streak to 15.
Some of the top players on the loaded Patriots roster feature Arkansas 2025 target Omarion Robinson, plus seniors Central Arkansas commit Eric McGehee, Arkansas State commit Alex Martin, Arkansas-Pine Bluff commit Randall Davis, along with rising prospect 2025 prospect Monterrio Elston.
Senior Jaden Ashford is another to keep tabs on having emerged as the featured back in the Patriots’ punishing ground attack. Ashford proved his worth last season, earning all-conference honors, but has already nearly matched the production from 2022.
Ashford leads Parkview with 398 yards and four touchdowns on 45 carries through four games, compared to last year when he ran 91 times for 521 yards and four touchdowns in 14 contests.
--Kyle Sutherland
LRCA snaps losing skid to PA
Recent history has indicated that the winner of the Little Rock Christian-Pulaski Academy game has had the upper hand regardless if the two teams were participating in the 5A-Central or the current 6A-West Conference.
Pulaski Academy defeated Little Rock Christian the past three years: 49-26 in 2022, 63-14 in 2021 and 60-28 in 2020, winning the conference titles and state titles each year. Friday night, the Warriors, who hadn’t beaten the Bruins since the 2019 season (63-61 victory), turned the tables with a 55-13 blowout at Warrior Field.
“Our guys played a good game. Hats off to our coaching staff and the players for executing. Pulaski fought hard and kept playing hard,” said Little Rock Christian head coach Eric Cohu.”
For Pulaski Academy head coach Anthony Lucas, there were no excuses for this defeat despite the fact the Bruins have had plenty of reasons to cite for such as running back Kenny Jordan, who rushed for 1,725 yards and 20 touchdowns a year ago, did not return to the team; quarterback Brandon Cobb has been playing with a broken thumb and wide receiver John Mark Charette, hardly played Friday night with a foot injury.
“You ain’t kidding,” said Lucas when it was mentioned to him that his team very rarely gets blown out like this . “We got mercy ruled for the first time by them. I’m a big believer in doing the little things and we didn’t play well. I didn’t have them ready to play. They did a lot of things we do as far as blitzing and changing things up and tonight I felt like we didn’t have an answer.”
The Warriors took advantage of the Bruins inability to covert fourth downs by turning those failures into three touchdowns. They also turned three turnovers into touchdowns and put the Arkansas Activities Association’s sportsmanship rule into effect at the 9:21 mark of the fourth quarter.
Leading the way was Warrior quarterback Walker White, who completed 18-of-31 passes for 253 yards and 4 touchdowns. He also rushed for 2 touchdowns.
“Walker as we’ve said all year is a great athlete. Tonight, he showed such great leadership,” said Cohu.
He had company as Tate Collins caught 7 passes for 107 years and 1 touchdown. Cade Bowman caught 4 passes for 48 yards and 2 touchdowns.
“It felt good,” said White, who has committed to Auburn. “We knew we could do it. It’s a matter of executing. We had to do the small things such as executing and moving the chains. Our offensive coaches put together a great plan. We experienced a few shifts in momentum and we did a good job.”
While the Warriors have the upper hand on the Bruins, a potential conference championship at Greenwood on Nov. 3 awaits, but Cohu and the Warriors know there is a lot of football left to be played.
“We can’t look that far ahead,” said Cohu. “We have four more opponents (actually five). Week in and week out we have to show up. We look forward and past our next four games, we can be beaten.”
That’s a point White emphasized. “We’ve been telling our guys, this is worth celebrating because we have a bye week,” he said. “The main thing is to get healthy and focus on our next opponents. We do have the upper hand and have half the season left, not including the playoffs.”
Cohu has plenty of reason not to get overconfident as evidenced by the fact his team lost 43-22 to Shiloh Christian on Sept. 1 and back in 2019, Pulaski Academy earned a measure of revenge with a 63-21 victory in the Class 5A state championship, denying the Rockets a chance to win consecutive titles after beating the Bruins 52-38 in the 2018 championship.
Lucas knows his team shook off a 33-23 loss to Greenwood a year ago in the regular season to beat the Bulldogs 42-35 in the 6A championship.
“We’ll find a way to fight back,” said Lucas. “Maybe we needed this loss. This will give us some humble pie.”
--Jeff Halpern
DeWitt 5-0 for the first time in over two decades
The Dragons are currently at the top of the 4A-8 standings and quietly one of a handful of remaining undefeated teams in Class 4A, but the lone squad that has reached 5-0, a feat not accomplished by the program since 2002. The offense is averaging 44 points per game and has reached 49 in the past three contests against conference foes Monticello, Helena and Star City.
Junior Justin Ross leads a Dragons defense that is allowing 24 points per game with 46 tackles, four for loss, along with a forced fumble and an interception. Ross is also the team’s second leading rusher with 320 yards and four touchdowns on 46 carries, behind sophomore Korri Graham who has rushed 74 times for 551 yards and 10 scores. Senior Carson Mitchell has collected 44 tackles, five for loss, with a sack and has also completed 33-of-61 passes for 692 yards and seven touchdowns.
“Our players are playing extremely hard,” DeWitt head coach Tommy Cody said. “The backs run the ball hard and do a great job blocking for each other. The kids are playing with confidence and great desire.”
A home game with Hamburg Friday followed by a trip to Crossett will each be the point of focus over the next two weeks, but DeWitt hosts Warren on October 13 that could decide the conference championship.
--Kyle Sutherland
