Alma hits the road this week
By Kevin Taylor
Alma Schools
Penalties, missed opportunities, and a hot August night didn’t make for a good recipe in Alma’s 2024 season opener last week.
But alas, one game doesn’t define a season.
The Airedales head to Benton County this week to face Siloam Springs.
Alma leads the all-time series, 31-8, and is a whopping 29-2 since 1964.
Friday’s game, however, is anything but normal when it comes to the two longtime 5A-West foes. The Panthers are now led by first-year Doug Loughridge, who already made imprints in the 6A-West by leading his team to a 17-0 win over Rogers Heritage last week - snapping Siloam Springs’ 27-game losing streak.
“Against Heritage, they came out in what I would describe as a spread offense, but they quickly went to some wing stuff that he did here to try to get (Giovanni Flores) the football,” Alma coach Rusty Bush said. “(Flores) a spectacular football player. They ended up shortening the football game with Heritage and did a really good job.”
The Panthers hadn’t won a football game since blistering Pea Ridge, 54-17, on Sept. 17, 2021. In all, Siloam Springs had lost 30 of 31 games dating back to late 2020.
Alma finished 7-4 a year ago but has suddenly dropped its last three games dating back to the end of the 2023 campaign.
In last week’s 37-27 loss to Van Buren, the Airedales allowed three touchdowns in the final 5:55. Hot weather and a lack of depth compounded Alam’s loss.
Senior Israel Towns-Robinson led the way for the Airedales, churning out 198 yards on the ground and two touchdowns. He also caught two passes for 30 yards and had five tackles, including a quarterback sack on defense.
“The first thing we have to point at is the number of snaps that we took,” Bush said. “We knew going into it, with the number of two-way guys we have, we exceeded that in the first quarter. I got a little worried in the first quarter because we were close to what it should have been at the half. It tapered off, but at the end of the game, I think it ended up costing us.
“Plus, with mistakes and penalties, you’re not going to end up beating a good football team.”
Alma was flagged 11 times during last week’s game, compared to just four against Van Buren.
Every time the Airedales seemed to take a step forward, they ended up taking one back, too.
But there were some bright spots, too.
Sophomores Colton and Tristan Nutt combined for 11 tackles, and senior Caleb Parker played well at linebacker with seven tackles, including a pair of TFLs (tackle for loss).
“We’ll probably try and keep guys like Izzy as fresh as we can,” Alma defensive coordinator Zach Jones said. “Izzy’s getting so many reps on offense, too. And really, we did a lot of that. Our starting defensive line, the Nutts, (Demetrius) Humphrey, gave us a great effort. Tim (Plourde) gave us some good backup play, and I thought Colton was going to lead us in tackles. They did well. We have a couple of guys that are banged up, too, like (Sam) Schlegel and Caleb Parker.”