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Morris probably won’t announce quarterback until he’s ready

We’ll probably know who the starting quarterback will be after next Wednesday’s scrimmage … or when Morris feels it’s the right time to announce it.

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As usual right now at this stage of a new football season, there are considerably more questions than answers and we honestly really don’t even know what to be asking about.

We always ask about the quarterback because somehow conventional wisdom makes many think that decision should always be made sooner rather than later.

Just like we’ve seen in the first 20 minutes of practices, there are good things … and bad. With every single one of the four quarterbacks. Well, five if you count some of the things Jack Lindsey was apparently doing Wednesday.

“Hey!” yelled offensive coordinator Joe Craddock after a Lindsey throw. “Peyton Manning decided to show up!”

It wasn’t a sarcastic remark. Craddock had praise for a couple of Lindsey’s passes.

There’s been plenty of praise at various times for every single one of the likely four leaders — Ben Hicks, Nick Starkel, John Stephen Jones and KJ Jefferson. There’s also been an equal amount of criticism at times.

“It depends on what period you’re really talking about,” Chad Morris said after practice Wednesday. “There’s different periods, situations, and one guy may have a little bit better period than the other.”

The whole situation is not about seeing some good things, but eliminating the bad things, it appears.

“All three, four, of them are showing great flashes,” Morris said. “It’s consistency that we’re looking for.”

Everybody has a play or two you can point to. Even Ty Storey and Cole Kelley had a couple of good plays last season, whether you want to admit it or not.

Quite honestly, nobody in the media has seen enough where any of us really know anything. Any projections by any of us is by guess and by golly. We’d simply be guessing.

Talking to the other players isn’t a lot of help, either. They aren’t going to say anything bad about any of them and will point out the big plays.

Morris admitted all of them have made a few of those.

But it was Craddock after last Saturday’s scrimmage that probably put it best when he pointed out the biggest thing was being able to get points on the board.

And Morris said the same thing Wednesday.

“I’d say whether you lead your drive or not, lead your team down the field, it’s can you get them in the end zone?” was how he pretty much summed up what is likely going to be the deciding factor.

It’s not about the big plays.

The key is going to be eliminating the bad ones.

Playing quarterback in this offense, Craddock told me back in the spring, is more about what happens above the shoulders. What that means is making decisions.

Oh sure, fans love to have a rocket-armed quarterback that will throw the ball between three defenders and hit a receiver in stride squarely between the numbers on the front of his jersey.

That usually won’t make it through the long haul of a season without a majority of the right decisions being made.

This offense requires a quarterback to make multiple decisions before the ball is snapped, a few after it’s snapped, then making an accurate throw or scampering down the field and either getting down or out of bounds.

With a scrimmage scheduled for Saturday and another next Wednesday, don’t expect a decision until at least Thursday.

“We’ll eventually announce it … just at the right time,” Morris said Wednesday.

That means when he decides it’s the right time.

Whether any of us agree or not.

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2024 High School Rankings

Following is the Arkansas Sports Media High School Football Poll including the Overall Top 10, the top five in Classes 7A, 6A, 5A, 4A, 3A and 2A, plus the top three in the 8-man division, as voted by a panel of sports media from around the state for the week ending August 24. Ranking is given with first-place votes received, records, total points and ranking from last week's poll:
OVERALLRecordPtsPrv
1.Bryant (18)8-02521
2.Conway (6)8-02302
3.Greenwood (2)8-02103
4.Little Rock Parkview7-11714
5.Bentonville5-31416
6.Benton7-11265
7.Fayetteville6-21008
8.Pulaski Academy6-2757
9.Rogers5-3459
10.Shiloh Christian6-24010
Others receiving votes: Marion 13, Valley View 9, Joe T Robinson 8, Mountain Home 4, Cabot 3, Elkins 3.
CLASS 7A
1.Bryant (20)8-01241
2.Conway (6)8-01052
3.Bentonville5-3753
4.Fayetteville6-2455
5.Pulaski Academy6-2354
Others receiving votes: Rogers 5.
CLASS 6A
1.Greenwood (26)8-01301
2.Benton7-11022
3.Shiloh Christian6-2713
4.Marion7-1524
5.Mountain Home7-131
Others receiving votes: Little Rock Catholic 4.
CLASS 5A
1.Little Rock Parkview (23)7-11271
2.Joe T Robinson7-1902
3.Valley View (3)8-0803
4.Hot Springs Lakeside7-1484
5.Farmington7-130
Others receiving votes: Camden Fairview 4, Maumelle 4, Morrilton 3, Greenbrier 2, Harding Academy 1.
CLASS 4A
1.Elkins (19)8-01161
2.Arkadelphia (5)6-2792
3.Little Rock Mills (1)8-0703
4.Warren6-2404
5.Malvern (1)8-0315
Others receiving votes: Dardanelle 22, Southside Batesville 11, Mena 8, Bauxite 7, DeWitt 4, Highland 2.
CLASS 3A
4.Bismarck (15)8-01054
5.Fordyce (4)8-0765
Prescott (3)7-1531t
1.Osceola (2)6-149
3.Mayflower (1)8-036
Others receiving votes: Booneville (1) 31, Rivercrest 19, Mansfield 14, Charleston 4, Rison 3.
CLASS 2A
1.Carlisle (21)8-01211
2.Conway Christian (4)8-01042
3.Des Arc7-1663
4.Bigelow (1)6-2455
5.Murfreesboro6-230
Others receiving votes: Marked Tree 10, Mineral Springs 6, Junction City 5, Cross County 1, Mount Ida 1, Poyen 1
8-MAN SANCTIONED
1.Strong-Huttig (25)5-0761
2.Midland (1)7-0502
3.Cedar Ridge7-1253
Others receiving votes: Rector 5.

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ESPN ARKANSAS 99.5 IN FAYETTEVILLE, 95.3 IN THE RIVER VALLEY, 96.3 IN HOT SPRINGS, 104.3 IN HARRISON-MOUNTAIN HOME.