In the 95 degree plus sweltering heat on the artificial turf of Alumni Field, ten schools continued their preseason preparation for the upcoming 2022 football season. Among the ten schools participating in the camp were two schools from Logan County, Booneville and Paris. Other schools included the host Charleston Tigers, Lamar, Ozark, Muldrow, Two Rivers, Danville, and Lincoln. It was truly a very hot day that arrived a little early this summer, and with the camp taking place on the turf in Charleston, the surface temperature was approximately ten degrees warmer. But the coaches, headed up by camp host and Charleston head football coach, Ricky May, did a very good job in protecting the players by providing frequent breaks and constantly providing fluids to keep them hydrated. In fact, the coaches cancelled the final period of the camp due to the extreme heat.

There was a lot of talent on the field during the camp, but most impressively, the Booneville Bearcats’ offense appeared to be in mid-season form as they demonstrated their physical brand running the football that has become a hallmark of their program. The Bearcats are moving to the 3A-1 conference in the fall, and with little doubt, a big showdown with Charleston is inevitable and will likely be for the conference championship.

The Charleston Tigers, undefeated champions of the 2021 3A-1 conference, have several returning players in 2022. Among a talented senior class, the Tigers “All Everything” senior quarterback, Brandon Scott, will be among the highest rated quarterbacks in the state, and could be the highest rated quarterback in Class 3A. Scott is an experienced and highly talented quarterback who posses great athleticism and can effectively run and pass the football. This year’s showdown with Booneville should be one of the best football games across the state this fall.

After two straight years of going at least two rounds deep into the state football playoffs, the Paris Eagles graduated a deep and talented senior class at the end of the 2021 football season. But the Eagles will return several players who saw considerable action last year when the team had big leads and were able to take the places of starters in the second half. Among those is two-way player Maddox Watts. Maddox will replace Chase Watts who started three years at quarterback for Paris. Maddox is an experienced player on defense as a member of the Paris secondary and saw considerable mop-up duty at quarterback last season. The Eagles will be counting on him and other returning roster players this fall. Second year head coach, Jeff Weaver, is known as a very good teacher and developer of players and talent, and this writer believes his influence will be evident each week as his team gains experience.

The Eagles’ will play in a new conference that will entail significant travel time to play South Arkansas powers such as Glen Rose and Centerpoint. It will be a very challenging year for Paris, but I look for the Eagles to be a pleasant surprise this season and possibly contend for a four or five seed in the state playoffs.

Schools will continue to practice and attend other camps until the Arkansas Activities Association’s (AAA) mandatory dead period takes place during the last week of June and extends through the end of the first week in July. Once teams return in July, their focus will begin to narrow as they lead up to the first week of the season in August.

RNN will be there for our readers every week of the season to bring you all the action of the 2022 high school football season. Football fans can also find additional photos taken at the Charleston Football Camp on Facebook at Paris Eagles Sports.

Thanks again to our readership and everyone in Logan County and the surrounding area for subscribing to the RNN Logan County newspaper!

After a 2021 season that culminated in a Class 3A state championship, the Paris Lady Eagles volleyball team is rebuilding for the 2022 season following the graduation of several key seniors from their state championship run. Every school eventually goes through the rebuilding phase. Paris has seemingly had one talented class after another in the past several years, and the 2022 roster is also loaded with good young talent. But that talent, for the most part, is relatively inexperienced at the varsity level, and the upcoming season that will be here before you know it, will be full of growing pains for Paris as the underclassmen develop throughout the season.

Paris head coach, Jordan Devine, “came out of retirement” for the upcoming season as the Lady Eagles’ coach. Devine had intended to retire from coaching after the state championship season in 2021, but was later asked by the district to return for this year. Devine is back, and she is as excited as ever to work with the 2022 edition of the Lady Eagles.

But with that excitement comes the realization that although there continues to be good talent and athleticism in the program, she knows that several sophomore players will be counted on to step up and make significant contributions to a program that has a very high standard of expectations for both performance and team success.

The approach of Coach Devine this summer has been of teaching and patience. Young players are developing into varsity players, and the Paris coaches have been busy teaching individual skills, as well as developing team chemistry. Dead weeks as mandated by the Arkansas Activities Association (AAA) are now in effect until July 9, but, as soon as the team returns from the break, the intensity will ratchet up as the August opening season approaches, and the team prepares for another tough non-conference portion of their schedule.

The message to Paris volleyball fans is patience; this team is young and talented, but will require patience early on in their season. They should steadily improve with each week, but there may be growing pains early. There is a tradition of excellence in the program from both past and current players, and nothing but excellence on and off the court will continue to be expected from everyone connected with the program. But, the truth is, the team graduated several talented and experienced players from last year’s championship team, and that is a challenge to replace. But the Lady Eagles will continue to improve and by district and state tournament times, they should be ready to contend in the post-season.

Last week, Paris scrimmaged two days against former players who understand the tradition of excellence in the Lady Eagles volleyball program. In fact, they came out in large numbers to play against the team to provide practice opportunities against veteran players who enjoy playing the game and continuing their influence and legacy of the program. They have great pride in having played in the Paris program, and their message to the current team is to continue to work hard and carry on the championship legacy of Paris volleyball.

With some of the Lady Eagles also participating in summer girls basketball camps and workouts, Coach Devine scheduled the alumni volleyball scrimmages as a way to get additional work in before dead weeks. The scrimmages were all part of an intense summer schedule that consists of practices and playing in camps around the state to simulate game conditions and to prepare the young Lady Eagles for the season.

Stay with RNN Sports as we will continue to bring you updates on the Lady Eagles’ summer practices and preparations, all leading up to the season opener in August!

And thanks to all of our readers who have subscribed already to the Logan County Edition! We are excited by the response, and we look forward to the future of bringing you coverage of local news and sports!