Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Awards Handed Out At Football, Cheerleader Banquet At PHS

Area football junkies were thrilled Thursday, Jan. 30, as the 4th Annual Prescott Football Banquet was held.

This gave them one more taste of gridiron action, sort of, as the season has ended.

The Curley Wolves finished their 1996 campaign with a 12-2 record, reaching the semi-finals in the AA playoffs. The Wolves fell just short of a return trip to the state title match, which would have been against the Nashville Scrappers, as they lost 12-6 to Oceola.

There was no "official" speaker at this year's banquet, though the coaching staff had plenty to say about the players and their accomplishments on the field.

The evening in the Prescott Elementary cafetorium began with highlight films of the team's season.

Coach Eddie Jackson told those on hand anytime a program has a successful season, it can be traced back to the coaching staff. He said Prescott has a great staff of position coaches, which makes his job as head coach much easier.

He said the success of the Curley Wolves can be traced back to the fan support the team gets. This, he told the crowd, has been showed time and time again, especially with the large crowds that followed the Wolves to McGehee and Osceola.

The other coaches followed Jackson, telling who the players of the game were for each of the Wolves' 14 games during the season.

It was brought up the Nashville game had 6,000 fans in the stands from the two rival communities. The game lived up to its billing as one of the best played in the state during the year. The only negative was the Scrappers were able to win it this time.

The first award of the night, however, did not go to a player. This honor went to the Volunteer of the Year -- H.T. Lassiter, the Voice of the Curley Wolves.

Then came recognition of those who volunteer their time during the season to help in areas such as keeping stats, training, filmers, press box, chain crews and others.

After the volunteers were honored for their work, the players were introduced and recognized for their efforts on the field.

The freshmen players who stepped up from the 9-2 season were named and told they would receive certificates from the Arkansas Activities Association for participating in the playoffs.

They were followed by the sophomores, juniors and senior class.

While there will be a large class of juniors who will be seniors next year, the Wolves are losing 19 seniors from this year's crew.

Along with the certificates, the seniors were presented with video highlights of the '96 season.

Once the players were introduced and recognized, the cheerleading squad was honored.

Laura Ward, cheerleader sponsor, said the girls competed in the University of Arkansas camp in Little Rock, bringing home a number of awards, along with earning six superior ribbons and four excellent ribbons.

When the cheerleaders had been named, they presented the senior players with scrapbooks they had compiled during the '96 campaign.

This was followed by presentation of the perfect attendance awards.

Eight players received plaques for making every practice during their first year. They were: Johnny Bourdess, Jarrod Miller, Doug Young, Lamar Dixon, Justin Jernigan, Brent Jordan, Jams McGough and Jarrod Yates.

Ben Jones, Al Johnston, Gary Stovall and Jeremy Morrow were given plaques for making all practice sessions for two years.

Only two players were lauded for not missing a practice during their careers -- Jamie Williams and Sam Marlow.

Brian VanHook earned the Rotary Leadership Award, while Marlow received the Purple Heart Award. Terrell Burton took home the Lions Club Defensive honors, while the offensive plaque, also known as the Dan Ridling Award, went to Kyron Johnson.

Marlow took home a number of plaques, certificates and honors from the banquet, including the Kiwanis Scholastic Award.

Williams was named the Lions Club Most Improved Player for 199.

Then came one of the most popular awards of the night, though the least serious. A helmet covered in bandages was presented to the player who spent the most time unnecessarily in the training room. The player taking home this year's Cramer Award was none other than C.D. Flemons.

William Mullins, who presented the award, likened Flemons' desire for bandages to fashion statements, saying whatever someone else had, he wanted as well.

Once the hilarity from the Cramer Award died down, it was time to be serious again. The Special Teams Award went to Rashad Johnson for his playing on the punting and kick off teams.

The final award of the evening was the Don Muse Defensive Award. Jackson told all present defense wins championships, and presented Flemons with the Don Muse Award.