Alma, Morrilton renew rivalry
By Kevin Taylor
Alma Schools
Alma football coach Rusty Bush doesn’t expect his defensive unit to pitch a shutout in Friday’s key 5A-West clash with Morrilton.
The Devil Dogs (4-0, 1-0) averaged almost 41 points per game.
“Offensively, they’re really, really good,” Bush said. “We’ve got a huge challenge ahead of us; their quarterback is really good, and they’ve got several wide receivers that can catch the ball.”
Alma (3-1, 1-0) returns home for the first time since August as the Devil Dogs visit Citizens Bank Field at Airedale Stadium for the first time since 2019.
The Airedales wrapped up a 3-0 road swing, which took them through Siloam Springs, Hot Springs, and Harrison, with a 26-14 win last week. The school’s ‘next man up’ theme played out again as Landon Morris scored twice on short runs and Israel Towns-Robinson ran for a touchdown and tossed a short pass to Cash Farris to account for the scoring.
Alma did lose Sam Schlegel to an injury for most of the game, and he’s listed as ‘day-to-day’ heading into this week’s bout with Morrilton.
In his place, several other players have stepped up, including Farris, who had a season-high four receptions for 63 yards and the aforementioned touchdown.
“The last few weeks, you see a long list of at least one touch from six, seven, or eight guys,” Bush said. “That’s what we want to be offensively. We want to get the balls to different people, where you can’t just focus on one guy. We feel like we’ve got some depth in those positions. We’ve got a lot of guys playing a hundred snaps, so for guys like Ashton Millsap and others who don’t get a ton of reps, that’s a testament to if you work hard and keep your head on straight you’ll get a chance to get in the game.
“Right now Schlegel is very questionable for the game on Friday, and that will allow one or two guys to step up and have a chance to help the football team.”
Quarterback Michael Taylor completed nine passes to six different receivers last week, with Millsap snapping his first career catch for 12 yards. Morris, Schlegel, Brayden Polecat, Byron Standridge, and Ashton Chanhnouvong each caught one pass.
Towns-Robinson threw a short TD to Farris as well.
Alma and Morrilton have met 44 times throughout the years, with the Airedales holding a commanding 31-12-1 record.
But Morrilton is 4-4 in the last eight games, with the last three games being decided by one point and the last five by three points or fewer.
The 2024 Devil Dogs are led by quarterback Maddox Berry, who is averaging 346.8 yards per game through the air and the ground. He’s already passed for 1,343 yards and 18 touchdowns, including seven TD passes during a 51-7 rout of Arkansas High.
Morrilton’s Dante Cox is the team’s leading receiver (406 yards and six touchdowns). Champ McNabb has caught 23 passes for 185 yards.
The Devil Dogs’ Andrew Rhoden has seven touchdowns, including six receiving TDs.
For the Airedales, quarterback Michael Taylor has completed 60 percent of his passes for 579 yards and three touchdowns. Israel Towns-Robinson has rushed for 349 yards and five scores.
Farris, Chanhnouvong, and Morris are having exceptional seasons on both sides of the ball. In addition to his offensive and defensive numbers, Farris is averaging almost 20 yards per return on kickoffs this season.