Undeterred Airedales preparing for Tigers
By Kevin Taylor
Alma Schools
Noah Ingle was a little bit surprised the first time the fireworks went off following an Alma touchdown last month.
“Boom!”
“I love the team, I love the fireworks … it’s amazing, to be honest,” the junior defensive end said.
Winning breeds confidence, and confidence breeds success. Ingle has a team-high nine TFLs (tackle for loss) on a defense that opposing teams have a hard time choosing who to stop.
Junior Ashton Chanhnouvong leads the team with 61 tackles and is by far the team’s best cover defensive bend.
But he’s hardly alone.
Trey Bown and Cash Farris have 49 and 40 tackles, respectively, including eight more TFLs. Ingle and Michael Taylor had 37 stops apiece.
Jackson Mitchell, Kaydin Minshull, and Landon Morris have 35, 34, and 32 stops, respectively.
“I think it will be just the same each week,” Ingle said. “We’ll come and try and do our best, which is what we normally do. (But) I don’t take anything for granted.”
Not after last week.
“Our offense has been doing really good, but obviously Harrison … that was a horrible (loss) with what happened on the goal line,” sophomore receiver Samuel Schlegel said. “But we’ve been working all week and we’re ready Prairie Grove and Dardanelle.”
Alma’s 2023 Airedales carry a 5-2 record into Friday’s clash with Prairie Grove.
“Mostly, we just want to go to the playoffs,” Kayden Lamb said. “We want to do better than what our team did last year, and we want to beat next year’s team. We know we’re going to have a tough battle with (Prairie Grove). We really want to be the first seed in the playoffs.”
Wins over Prairie Grove and Dardanelle would bump Alma’s 5A-West record to 5-1 heading into Week 10.
For now, though, Alma’s attention has shifted to Prairie Grove, which has won two straight following a three-game losing streak.
Lamb said he appreciates the work ethic his coaches have instilled in the team.
“Those guys work their butts off,” Lamb said. “They come in here on the weekend and put in extra hours and watch a lot of film. They’re helping us play better and prepare for different teams.”
Lamb said he’s an Airedale from birth. He is a tight end and serves a vital role as the team’s special teams long snapper.
“Playing with your friends, making new friends, and being friends with coaches … going out and hitting people is something else you won’t get in trouble for,” Lamb said. “At the end of the day, you’re just having a good time.”
“I just moved here from Roland, Okla., and I like this team a lot,” Ingle said. “Coming back from the last game, I think all of us are going to take this game personally and we’re going to come out on top.”