The size of the Dog in the fight?

The size of the Dog in the fight?

Sports Editor A.C. Coleman made a statement yesterday morning that, while probably not a popular opinion in coaching circles, is one that makes some sense.

“I honestly don’t care much about my coaching record overall, the wins and losses and all that,” says the seventh-year Earle head coach. “Don’t get me wrong, I love to win and hate to lose, but the biggest thing for me and for my team is being tested early on and that helping us win a state title.”

So if you’re wondering why tiny Earle, a Class 2A school, is traveling to Helena to play the Class 4A Cougars of Central High, that’s the reason.

During Coleman’s tenure in Crittenden County, he hasn’t shied away from playing schools that are bigger in size.

In 2010 and 2011, Earle played and beat Class 6A J.A. Fair in a home-andaway series.

Earle traveled to play Lake Hamilton in 2012 and while that game was fairly lopsided, the Bulldogs led the entire game in 2013 at home before losing 35-26.

The past two seasons, Earle played Highland, a Class 4A team, and lost both.

“We don’t care about one A or two A’s or whatever when we schedule teams, we look at 11 players on the field both ways,” says Coleman. “Usually some of your bigger schools have more players, and we usually don’t have as many, so our guys wind up playing both ways against fresh bodies too. Also, you never know when you may be able to beat one of those schools. Going to play Lake Hamilton was great, because our kids got to see what it was to play at a big school like, in an atmosphere like that.”

When it comes time to play the game, Coleman has a pretty good scouting report.

“They have a lot of size, and they always want to outflank you,” says the coach. “They run quite a few traps, jet motion. Sweeps off of the jet motion. They’ll throw a screen at you. We’ve watched quite a bit of film, and I think it’ll come down the trenches and who plays better there.”

Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. on Friday night in Helena-West Helena.

By Chuck Livingston