By BILL SORRELL
Special to the Express
It never gets old.
Arlington senior Conner Ford could kick extra points and field goals until he’s blue in the face and always want for more.
“I always want to put up points,” said Ford, who continues to perfect his golden toe that made him first-team Region 7-6A punter and second team placekicker last season, hitting 44 of 45 extra points and 7 of 10 field goals. His state ranking was first in field goals, second in PATs and kickoffs, and fourth in punting.
During a 51-6 Homecoming victory over Sheffield on Friday in Arlington, Ford hit 7 of 7 extra points, averaging 53.5 yards per kickoff with two touchbacks.
“Our kicking game has gotten better, field goals, kickoffs. We are still improving. It builds confidence for me and be more consistent to land the ball where coaches want me to land it,” he said. “It gives us a good opportunity to pin them down deep and give our defense more room.”
The defense and offense had room against undermanned Sheffield, a squad with 29 players who didn’t begin practice until the first day of school. The season was on the verge of being forfeited.
Averaging 20.4 yards per carry, Arlington’s Mitchell Faulkner ran for a game-high 102 yards and two touchdowns. Quarterback Zach Baker rushed for 63 yards, including a 41-yard touchdown, his second longest of the season following a 48-yarder against Kingsbury. Running back Jeremiah Dora rushed for 22 yards, including a 4-yard touchdown.
Arlington’s Cyrus Sin-Berry returned punts for 40- and 45-yard touchdowns. In his only pass of the game, Baker threw a 12-yard touchdown to Cannon Linebaugh, the fourth touchdown TD reception for Linebaugh this season.
The Tigers’ defense forced a safety and held the Knights to 12 yards rushing. Arlington finished with 258 yards rushing.
Sheffield passed for 134 yards, including an 80-yard touchdown from quarterback Walter Redmon to wide receiver Caleb Johnson with 3:47 left in the game. It was Redmon’s longest touchdown pass this season.
“We expected to win. We had one mistake at the end and that cost us 6,” said Ford. “Other than that it went as expected. Zach threw the ball well. Mitchell ran the ball really well. Cyrus was a big one. When Cyrus had those two punt returns for touchdowns and the safety, that gave us more motivation to keep it going. Our defense did their job and gave them a lot of negative yards. Getting everything down pat, it built a lot of confidence to go to the next game.”
Arlington (4-2) plays at Brighton (2-4) at 7 p.m. Friday, while Sheffield (1-5) hosts Tunica Rosa Fort (5-1) in its homecoming at 7 p.m.
“We knew we were a better team. It’s football — anything can happen,” Baker said. “You have to execute. We have 11 players; they have 11 players. Once that 48 minutes starts, it’s no going back. There is no underdog.”
“We played well on both sides of the ball. We executed on defense. The defense played excellent. Our playmakers on defense were (linebackers) Jake Golday, Mitchell Faulkner, Cannon Linebaugh (defensive back) Braxton Tompkins.
“We executed on offense. I feel like all 11 on defense were playmakers and on offense all 11 of us work together to be playmakers and stay as one unit.”
With six games under his belt as starter, Baker said that his leadership has gone up, and with more reps his nerves have gone down. “I am staying focused and calm.”
Linebaugh said, “The key to winning was the offense moving the ball well and the defense stopping everything they tried to do. Our linebackers are all returning starters, and our defensive line and defensive backs are getting better and better each week. The playmakers on offense were Mitchell, (wide receiver) Devo Glover, Zach. From a win like that, we need to make sure we stay crisp on offense and defense.”
Arlington head coach Adam Sykes said, “It is one of those games where you want to execute. Numbers-wise, we had the advantage. We knew that coming in. We didn’t want guys to take plays off. We tell the guys you are going to get your shot for one play or 10 plays — you better make it count. The big thing is we didn’t want them to come in Monday with loss focus.”
Houston defeated Arlington 46-14 on Sept. 20.
“Obviously on the scoreboard they beat us pretty good but we made some progressions in some positions that game. Guys played really hard, guys played better than we thought they would,” said Sykes, who praised Faulkner and Golday.
“If I had to pick, those two guys right now game by game we can depend on. Mitchell is a really good player on both sides of the ball. I don’t worry about him ever — he is going to do the right thing. He is going to play hard. It’s good to have guys like that on your side because they make you better. Mitchell is consistent. He is on whether it be running back or linebacker. You know what you are going to get out of him.”
Sykes called Golday (6-3, 185-pound junior linebacker/tight end) the most consistent player defensively. “He has played really well.”
Golday led the team with four tackles, including two for loss.
Sykes told Sheffield Head Coach Edward Kuykendoll, in his first season as head coach after previously coaching at Oakhaven, that his team played hard the entire game.
“Those guys never quit. That’s all you can ask for and ask from a team that is fighting from behind. He knew he was outmanned as far as numbers.”
A linebacker at Alcorn State before transferring to Memphis (where he got his degree in 2010), Kuykendoll said, “It’s a man sport. We play tough-guy football. We have faith in the team, faith in believing in God. Staying positive is very important. It’s chemistry. Guys don’t get down. They keep fighting until the end of the game. That is very important.”
The team motto is “Blame No One. Expect Nothing. Do Something.”
They say the slogan during each practice before going to the next station.
The Knights were fighting at the beginning as Darkell R. Bradshaw, with 4.47 speed in the 40, returned Ford’s kickoff 44 yards to the Arlington 45. Ford tackled him.
“He is explosive,” said Kuykendoll of Bradshaw. “He is a track runner. He loves to compete.”
Redmon’s TD pass to Johnson was a momentum boost that Kuykendall hopes will carry into the final home game of the season against the Lions Friday.
“We want to leave out with a bang. I want my seniors to leave with a win. There is a lot of football left. We are trying to get a good seed (Region 8-3A) so we can make the playoffs.”
With a good connection with each other, Redmon, the only returning player from last season, and Johnson have good morale with each other and practice on routes after practice, said Kuykendoll.
Redmon said his touchdown throw came with the offensive line providing him time and him being patient until Johnson got down field.
“We can move the ball. We can do pretty good things on offense. We have got to do that the rest of the season,” said Johnson. “I listen to my coach and keep all faith in God. I can do a lot of things with God.”
Redmon said, “You have to work hard, keep being dedicated to football for the love of the game and keep God first.”
Baker said, “They had some definitely playmakers. Their quarterback and receiver are playmakers. Every team is going to make big plays in every game.”
The Tigers scored the first time they got the ball. A 23-yard gain by Faulkner and a 16-yard run by Baker got to the Knights’ 25. Faulkner ran 14 to the 11 and then 11 more for the touchdown with 9:25 left. Ford kicked his first of seven extra points for a 7-0 lead.
Sin-Berry’s 40-yard return of Delitte Ngabonziza’s punt went for a touchdown with 6:29 left, and Ford made it 14-0.
A 30-yard punt return by Sin-Berry set up Faukner’s 10-yard touchdown run with 4:52 left. It was 21-0 after Ford kicked his third extra point.
A blocked punt put the Tigers on the Knights 12-yard line. Baker then threw the 12-yard touchdown pass to Linebaugh for a 27-0 lead, which Ford upped to 28-0 with 54.7 left.
“The touchdown pass I caught was a route that we have game-planned for them and it worked well,” said Linebaugh.
From the 3-yard line, Sheffield was charged with pass interference and moved half the distance to the goal. A bad snap led to a Knights’ fumble in the end zone, a safety for the Tigers and a 30-0 lead.
Sin-Berry fielded the Knights’ kick after the safety and returned it 45 yards for a touchdown with 11:21 before Ford kicked it to 37-0.
Besides the touchdown, Sheffield had its knight-in-shining-armor drive. Johnson’s gritty return of Ford’s kickoff went to the 18. Redmon then threw a 19-yard pass to Bradshaw. A face-mask penalty on Arlington notched the Knights a first down at the Tigers 42. A 24-yard pass from Redmon to Johnson got to the 18. An 8-yard run by Jaylon Ellington got to the 12. A pass interference penalty moved it to the 6, and at the 5-yard line Destin Sims intercepted for Arlington with 3:23 left in the second quarter.
A 43-yard run by Faulkner preceded Baker’s 41-yard touchdown sprint for a touchdown with 32.1 seconds left. Ford kicked his sixth PAT of the half for a 44-0 lead. This season Baker has run for five touchdowns and passed for nine.
Arlington freshman Grant Buchanan played the second half, his first varsity game.
“It was a little nerve-wracking. Once I got in there it was fine. The game moved at a lot faster pace,” said Buchanan, who made good reads of Sheffield’s defense. “They could hit. They showed up at the end when they scored.”
Baker has taught Buchanan how to run and read defenses. “I’m taking what I can.”
Wearing No. 17, Buchanan knew another freshman who started the whole season, Tate Kolwyck — who passed for more than 10,000 yards during his four-year career and in the spring finished his college freshman year on Vanderbilt’s baseball team with a national championship.
“I definitely want to be like that,” said Buchanan.
Said Ford, who was on Kolwyck’s team, “He was crazy good.”
Substituting with freshman and sophomores in the second half, the Tigers got authoritative runs from John Davis to set up their final touchdown, Dora’s 4-yarder. Ford made it 51-0 with 7:42 left in the game.
Redmon’s TD pass to Johnson came with 4:39 left.
With the 45-point win, Linebaugh said, “I personally would rather play in a closer game such as the Lewisburg game (16-7 win), because win or lose we get better as a team.”
With the second-half clock not stopping, Arlington coaches had to shuffle numerous players in and out of the game.
Two Arlington quarterbacks were unable to play the position: Junior Dylan Keith had thumb surgery a few weeks ago, and sophomore Peyton Tate is going through concussion protocol. Keith did play linebacker and had two tackles.
Sykes’ desire was for players to pay attention to blocking and tackling assignments, which will be evaluated on film.
“The good thing is it’s a good chance for those guys who play on JV nights to get varsity experience and play on Friday nights and show a coach if they are deserving of more reps on Friday nights in the future,” said Sykes.
Because of the short field the Tigers often had, coaches were not able to see some offensive maneuvers.
“The field dictates what you can and can’t do,” said Sykes. “Overall our guys took control of the game fairly early and hung in there at the end.”
The Tigers’ regular offensive line starters — left tackle Chancellor Parnell, left guard Alex Maddox, center Jon Worley, who shared time with Carson Brimhall to get Brimhall more reps, right guard Matthew Bunch, and right tackle Jackson Ward — played roles of encouragers in the second half to backups.
On Arlington defense, Julian Maxwell had three tackles with two for loss; Jackson Freeman, two with one for loss; and Parks Wallace, two with two for loss. Isaac Jordan had one sack, and Thomas and Jack Myers each had a half-sack. C.J. James and Marcio Wilson each had one tackle along with Sin-Berry, Glover, Sims, Tompkins and Glover.
Kuykendoll, who was a linebacker at Fairley High School, wants the Knights to get off the field on third down and “give our offense as much time as possible to score. We didn’t do that tonight. I will watch film, go back to the lab, and correct our mistakes and get ready for next week.”
He was pleased with the play of defensive tackle Cama’ron Ware (6-0, 270). A junior, Ware is the strongest player with a bench press of 355. He also has a 3.78 GPA.
Kuykendoll has faith he will be able to change the culture and climate of Sheffield football.
Kuykendoll impresses Redmon. “The coach believes in the team. He didn’t leave us when we were down,” said Redmon.
Johnson said, “He is one of the hardest-working coaches I have ever met, the most faithful. He gets my name out, to get me more exposure.”
Ford wants to “pick up his game” to keep up exposure for college scouts. Tennessee Tech and Austin Peay have both looked at him.
“Tennessee Tech is the main one that I like,” said Ford, who went for a private visit and was told that only one other high school player was able to do that.
After Brighton, the Tigers will have region games against Bartlett, Collierville and Cordova.
“I keep telling our guys it is a week-by-week deal,” said Sykes. “We have to get ready for the next game. The back half of your schedule is where you see who you really are as a team.”
