Elkins hoping to finish off dream season with Class 4A title game win over Arkadelphia

By DUDLEY E. DAWSON

There were some that thought Elkins might have missed its best shot to win a Class 4A state title last season as several talented players graduated and headed on to college.

But Elks head coach Zach Watson could see the potential in what was coming back and he’s proven to be a prophet as Elkins (14-0) will face Arkadelphia (12-2) Saturday at noon for the Class 4A state championship.

The contest from Little Rock’s War Memorial Stadium will be televised by Arkansas’ PBS stations.

“I am very proud of our football team, our community, our faculty and staff,” Watson said. “I mean it takes everybody and really everybody has poured so much into this season.

“It’s always good to get rewarded like this at the end of the year when we have worked so hard for this.”

Elkins was 13-0 last season before falling to eventual Clash 4A champion Harding Academy 41-27 in a semifinal contest.

Watson’s program is now 45-6 in his four years at the helm of the Elks.

“I thought there was a chance we could get here,” Watson said. “We had a lot of good players returning and coming back on this football team. I knew we lost a lot of good players as well.

“But I really felt like…with the players we had coming back up front, we had a chance. Not a lot of people see those guys on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, they see the skill guys that make plays.

“But I thought with the kids we had coming back up front, we would have a shot because I thought we could win both lines of scrimmage.

“I also knew there were some players skill-wise that not a lot of people had heard about that I thought may have a big year and they did.”

Elkins was led last season by tailback Deshawn Chairs and quarterback Dizzy Dean, both of whom signed with 2023 NCAA D-II champ Harding University as five Elks signed collegiately.

Senior Ja’Quae Walden (6-1, 190) stepped in for Chairs and junior signal caller Ben Napier (6-2, 185) for Dean.

“Ja’Quae Walden is a kid who as a junior had 18 carries and 7 touchdowns and then this season has had over 1,500 yards and I think 28 touchdowns,” Watson said. “He’s been awesome.

“We did have an injury at quarterback, but Ben Napier has done an unbelievable job stepping up into that role…He has played well over my expectations.

“I always thought he was going to be good. I don’t want anyone to think I didn’t think that, but I didn’t know that he would be this good this early. He has done a really good job of working hard and he is in film every morning when I get here.”

Overcoming injuries has been a positive this season for Elkins according to Watson.

“It was a tough, tough journey and we’ve had a lot of guys hurt and injured this year and I have been really proud of the guys have embraced the next man up. You see that a lot in football, but we really put that to the test this year. It seems like every week somebody else has stepped up.”

Watson believes beefing up his team’s non-conference slate has helped it get to the championship.

“Our league was good and I know Gravette got beat early in the playoffs, but I really thought that were a really good football team,” Watson said. “I think that could really be at this point we are if a couple of bounces had gone their way.

“Looking back from previous years, I thought we need a tougher non-conference schedule just to get us ready for these moments.

“And so we played a great Warren team at Arkansas Tech and a Miami, Oklahoma team in Miami, Oklahoma. It was one that ended up having a deep run in their playoffs and finished the year on a good note.”

Elkins has downed visiting Mena (35-16) and Malvern (45-31) and took out Little Rock Mills (32-22) last Friday.

“You’ve got a Malvern team in the playoffs that were second in their league and played Arkadelphia a good game,” Watson said. “Little Rock Mills, those guys were unbelievably athletic and is young football team that will react good the next couple of years.”

Arkadelphia has won its last 11 games, including eliminating Gentry (46-14), Dardanelle (35-27) and unbeaten Southside (35-6).

“They are a good football team, solid in all areas and – not to be in a bragging way – but it is kind of like looking in the mirror,” Watson said. “They play good defense, good offense and have good special teams.

“They don’t turn it over that much so we have got to do a good job of making then turn it over. They have done a really good job of protecting a young quarterback and we have got to do a good job of getting pressure on him.

“And then we have got to find ways of scoring the football against their stingy defense. They are very athletic defense and I think it helps us from having played Mills last week.

“…We have got to get on the scoreboard early.”

Elkins did that last week by scoring 16 points off its special teams and defense.

“Through our playoff run and really back into our late (regular) season, the last five to seven game, I bet we have block that many punts,” Watson said. “So our punt return unit has been really good. If we are not blocking it, we are having returns that set up short touchdowns.

“Also our kickoff unit has been phenomenal the last two years. (Kicker) Dawson Mallis is putting it in a good spot on his kickoffs and our guys are covering that.

“We are getting set up with special teams to score and also making people go 80 to 85 yards on offense to score against us or then our defense has been so good that is hard to do for opposing offenses.”

Elkins will make its way to Little Rock on Friday and get in a workout at War Memorial Stadium.

“We are going to do that,” Watson said. “With our game being Saturday at noon, we are going to go down Friday and spend the night.

“It would be asking a lot of our players if we left Saturday morning and had them get up around five o’clock. “I’d like them to sleep in their own beds, but I don’t know if that helps us.

“Your not going to get much sleep anyway the night before a big game like that, but having to wake up really early wouldn’t help out anything.

“So we are going to down Friday, practice around 1 p.m and stay the night there Friday night. I think practicing at 1 is beneficial for us because we play at noon on Saturday and our returnees and receivers can get used to catching the ball during that time of day.”

Watson knows Elkins will be bringing a large crowd.

“We have got great community support,” Watson said. “I have been here four years and from the time I had stepped on campus until now they have been coming out to support us and for us to be successful.”

Photo courtesy of Elkins football