Maupin leads Maumelle into 5A-Central Thursday gridiron showdown with Joe T. Robinson
BY DUDLEY E. DAWSON
What’s on the line Thursday night is what former Joe T. Robinson assistant Brian Maupin envisioned once he took the Maumelle head football coaching job three years ago.
Maupin’s Hornets (7-2, 5-1) can grab a share of the Class 5A-Central championship with a home win over front-running Joe T. Robinson (8-1, 6-0) in a 7 p.m. clash.
“Obviously it’s always exciting to play those guys with a lot of history, excluding Brian Maupin,” noted Maupin. “So obviously with the time I spent over, the relationships mean a lot and I am just excited this program is playing for a conference championship again.
“It is a goal we set out for when I got here and to be already on the precipice of it in year three, I think is a really exciting time for us as a program and what better team to play for it than Joe T.”
Maumelle is riding a five-game winning streak coming into the showdown after escaping with a 24-23 overtime win at Searcy last Friday.
“I think we had a real good wake up call early with Beebe,” Maupin said of a 22-0 road loss in week four that dropped the Hornets to 2-2. “We really pushed through it and got tougher and had a big win the next week at UAPB over Pine Bluff.
“I think from there we just continued to grow every weekend plays some of best football against White Hall (a 55-0 home win) and showed some good character Friday in a real tough environment at Searcy with everything on the line that we had on the line.
“We were down at the half and just really proud of the guys with our comeback. We are just trying to stay as healthy as anybody can be at this point in the season and continue to build on this momentum.”
Joe T. Robinson has won 8 consecutive games since a season-opening 35-21 loss at Pulaski Academy and has outscored its foes 283-86.
The Senators, who won state titles in 2019 and 2021, are trying to win their sixth conference crown in seven seasons under head coach Todd Eskola after not doing so in 2023.
“Coach does a great job over there and they have got a million guys on the sideline over there coaching,” Maupin said. “A lot of them I coached with and played for me.
“It is just a brunch of good dudes that do ball the right way and obviously there is a rich winning tradition from all the success we have had over the past decade over there.
“It’s my job to match that level of football IQ and discipline and help our guys understand that is what we strive to be.
“This is our moment to go take it. I don’t believe in uncrowned kings or anything like that, but at the same time when you are in that situation you have to be ready to bow your head and be anointed.
“I just want the guys to step up and play their best game of the season and trust God with the results.”
Maumelle went 3-7 and 7-4 in Maupin’s first two seasons while losing to Robinson 35-30 and 2022 and 48-38 in 2023.
“When I got here we had kids that wanted to win,” Maupin said. “Really it was just trying to
get them to understand the standard we talk about. Perhaps (former Alabama head coach) Nick Saban said it best – the standard is the standard and that is what we are trying to build here.”
Photo by John D. James
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