Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Season passes offered at PHS

August will be a busy month for Prescott High School athletes.

David Maxwell, athletic director, said players are ready to start football practice, which actually began Monday morning.

He told the Prescott School Board, in a special called meeting Thursday, Aug. 1, the numbers are up from 17 in spring drills to 36 at this time for the Curley Wolves,

The Curley Cubs should have about 40 players, while there will be 45 seventh grade players suiting up.

Fans this year will be able to purchase season tickets in a variety of methods.

First, they can purchase passes for home Wolf games for $20. Prescott's home games will feature Gurdon, Hope, De Queen, Fouke (homecoming) and Ashdown this year.

Or, they can buy a pass which will allow them to see all games played at Cummings Stadium. This package sells for $50, and includes games for PHS, and both Cub teams.

Basketball fans can get season basketball tickets for home games at the Prescott Sports Arena for $60. This includes a total of 17 games.

The home games for junior and senior squads will be: Gurdon, Murfreesboro, Blevins, Fouke, Emmet, Mena, Ashdown, Hope, Nashville, Arkadelphia, Nevada, Lakeside, De Queen, Bismarck and Fountain Lake. Nashville and Emmet will be played twice on the schedule.

Fans can also pick up an all sport pass, giving them access to all football and basketball games played by the Wolves. The cost of this pass is $100.

Those purchasing the passes can enter through the pass gates at the football field and gym, thereby avoiding the headaches of standing in line and problems with seating.

These passes, Maxwell said, give the athletic programs cash up front so it doesn't have to deplete its monetary reserves.

Fans buying the passes, he said, will get better seats for the games than those who just buy regular tickets, while they also save money with the blanket purchase.

The Cubs will scrimmage against Magnolia on Aug. 29 at Cummins Stadium, while the Wolves hit the road for a scrimmage game against Lakeside Aug. 30.

Maxwell reminded the board the schedule this year will be different as Prescott opens the season hosting the Gurdon Go-Devils. This, he said, was done because of the addition of another team in Gurdon's conference.

"This is usually a big game and we expect a good crowd," he said.

This game will also be for bragging rights and the annual possession of the Picayune-Times Traveling Trophy presented to the winning team at the end of the game.

Gurdon has pulled off a hat trick by managing to hold onto the trophy the last three years, winning the 2001 game with a 7-6 score.

The Hampton Bulldogs are a new team added to Prescott's schedule. The Dogs replace Mineral Springs, another team in the 7AA West conference.

"Everything looks good now," Maxwell said.

PHS is looking at starting a cross country track team to run in fall meets, he added.

Student reaction has been positive with five not currently in any athletics already signed up for the squad.

If things work out, Maxwell said, they could run in meets at Southern Arkansas University at Magnolia and at Ouachita Baptist University at Arkadelphia, with Prescott possibly hosting a meet as well.

The state meet, he continued, will be held on Nov. 9 at Oaklawn Jockey Club in Hot Springs.

If Prescott can field a team of nine runners, he said, the Wolves could conceivably come home with a state title.

Turning to the topic of the softball field, Maxwell said the crews are ready to shoot the field again and check for level.

Once this is done and the field is level, he said, culverts will be installed by the city, and a ditch will be dug around the field for drainage purposes.

Once this is done, the field could be sod with grass for the winter, then be ready for the 2003 softball season.

In closing, Maxwell told the board the Wolves will be doing something completely different to get two-a-day practices started. The team will host a "midnight madness" practice at Cummins Stadium on Aug. 14.

He said the lights will be on, the band will be playing, cheerleaders will be on the sidelines and fans can come and watch the first day of full contact drills.