Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Smith and Maxwell offer thoughts on '06 football season

The Prescott Curley Wolves finished the 2006 season, 10-1 with the only loss a heartbreaking finale at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock. More than 3,000 fans packed the stands to support the two teams.

As the Wolves left the field, Prescott head coach Greg Smith said the team will have a brief period to reflect, but then the teams attention will turn to next season.

Smith said the key to the Wolves loss is age.

Were young, he said. They (Shiloh Saints) were focused.

He said the Prescott players lacked the focus that would have allowed them to compete with the Northwest Arkansas private school.

With the game over, Smith said the next step was to allow the Wolves time to realize that they finished the season second in their conference and that they returned to Prescott with a 10-1 record.

Were going to hang our hat on that for now, he said.

But he said the hat hanging wouldnt last long. The next step for those players is to get ready for off-season activities. There are weights to be lifted and plays to work on over the next few months, followed by spring training to get the 2007 team ready to follow an excellent season.

Prescott School Districts technology coordinator David Maxwell has become a well-known voice of the Curley Wolves as he joined a local radio station for weekly broadcasts of the game. Maxwell said the number of younger players has made an impact.

I think we did an absolutely wonderful job with a young team, Maxwell said.

He said that coaches are typically prepared for a trade-off when sophomores are put on the field. In most cases, sophomores dont have the playing experience to maintain the focus necessary to play well.

Weve played a bunch of sophomores, Maxwell said. And weve won.

The fact that the current team has focused on more than their time on the field is vital to their success, Maxwell said. For example, the players have maintained grade averages so that no one is missing practice or games because of poor grades and players arent pulled away from practice time to frantically make up assignments.

Players have run routine plays, even when the rest of the team were involved in other activities, if thats what a particular player needed for his success. Maxwell said those decisions are largely personal and that no amount of coaching can make the players push themselves to those points.

He said he sees those same attributes in the sophomores and juniors who will be playing next year.

I think, if the kids keep their heads in it, theyll do just as well, Maxwell said. I can see us back in Little Rock next year.