Undefeated Scrappers head to State Championship game
LUKE REEDER
Sports Writer
NASHVILLE – A new head coach, the loss of
the star wide receiver, and the expectations
of an entire town were all on the shoulders
on the Nashville Scrapper football team at the
beginning of this season. Unlike most teams
that would buckle under all the pressure and
changes, the Scrappers took the pressure with
a grain of salt and proved that the winning spirit
was still alive and well in Scrapper Stadium.
The Nashville Scrappers are on their way to
finishing their first undefeated season in almost
a decade, with a win at the state title game
Saturday the Scrappers would be undefeated
for the first time since the 2006 season and
have their first state title since 2007.
Nashville
announced that its new coach from Henderson
State University was hired to head up the
team. Coming off a quarterfinal demolishment
last year by Dollarway,
Mike Volarvich had his work
cut out for him when he took
the head coaching position.
Coach Volarvich came
from the offensive coordinator
position at Henderson
State University and enjoyed
success with his star
quarterback Kevin Rodgers
who won numerous awards
during his playing time at
Henderson including GAC
Male Athlete of the Year for
2012-13 and 2013-14 and he
also set a HSU and Great
American Conference single
game passing record during
his career. With a player as
talented as Rodgers that
Volarvich helped groom,
it was an easy choice to
court Volarvich for the job at
Nashville, but there is a big
difference between college
and high school football.
Not only is there an age
difference between college
and high school players, you
also have the town of Nashville
looking and critiquing
your every move but Volarvich
was ready for this season
and the expectations that
came along with it, but not
even Volarvich expected to
make it to the state title game
in his first season, “That was
our goal, even when I went
through the interviewing
process I told them that
that was my goal and our
goal every year to get to
state. I wasn’t sure honestly
in the summer if we were a
5-5 team or if we were a 15-0
team because there were
some things that had to get
done and I wasn’t sure how
good we were or weren’t,”
Volarvich explained.
This season Volarvich has
been able to groom another
star in the quarterback position
with senior Leonard
Snell. Snell has not only been
a threat in the passing game
but also a threat running the
ball with 1,793 yards passing
and 1,670 rushing yards this
season so far. Having a quarterback
that leads the team
in passing and also rushing
is any coach’s dream. But
at the start of the season
it looked like that dream
was in jeopardy for Coach
Volarvich. At the start of this
season Snell had a turned
ankle that he hurt about a
week before Coach Volarvich
arrived in Nashville, “When I
first got here Snell was hurt
and had a turned ankle that
he hurt the week before I got
here in some offseason work.
I did not get to work with him
immediately,” Coach Volarvich
said. Yet even with the
slow start to their relationship
as a player and coach,
the two have come together
to build one of the most potent
offenses in the state that
averages almost 345 rushing
yards a game and 136 passing
yards a game.
Along with the double
threat of Snell’s arm and legs,
the team also has two other
talented running backs to
chose from. Junior Darius
Hopkins is the team’s second
leading rusher just 129 yards
behind Snell with 1,541 yards
rushing this season. The
third piece in the Scrapper’s
rushing trio is Sophomore
Trent Harris. Harris shares
carries with two players with
over 1,500 rushing yards
each and yet is only 72 yards
away from having 1,000 rushing
yards this season this
928 yards so far this season.
With two productive running
backs and a quarterback
that can be a threat both
through the air and on the
ground it can be easy to see
how the Scrappers are playing
for a state title, but the
high octane offense is just
half of the winning equation
for Nashville.
The saying goes that “Defense
wins championships”
and if that is true Nashville
has their work cut out for
them Saturday. The Scrapper
defense is run by the ever
enthusiastic Coach Brad
Chesshir. Coach Chesshir’s
squad has allowed just 18.9
points or less than three
touchdowns a game this season.
To say the Scrappers do
not have a strong defense
would be the understatement
of the season.
The leading tackler for
Nashville is senior Ashton
Nelson who can be seen
relaying the calls from Coach
Chesshir to the rest of the defense
every game. Number
34 is the shot caller of the
defense and wherever the
ball is he is usually close behind.
Nelson leads the team
with 111 total tackles and
61 of those tackles came in
one on one situation. Going
into the state game Saturday
Nelson will be in the zone
and will look to carry out
the three things he believes
it will take to win, “We just
have to line up, we have to
do our assignments, and we
have to fly to the ball.”
Right behind Nelson is senior
Billy Stewart. Stewart is
second on the team with 98
total tackles and leads
the team in solo tackles by
having just one more than
Nelson with 62.
The statistic that stands
out and causes fear in opposing
quarterbacks all across
4A is the amount of sacks
Stewart has amassed this
season. Stewart has only
played in 13 games this season
having missed the game
against Waldron.
But even without the full
playing time this season,
Stewart still has had a record
breaking season.
With 23 sacks this season
Stewart has now sole possession
of the record for most
sacks in a season in 4A, “It
feels really good, but now
we have to go an take what
is ours,” Stewart said about
the record and the upcoming
title game.
Not only does Coach
Chesshir command a strong
defense, he also is the creator
of a phrase that has
taken Nashville by storm.
It is hard to go to a Scrapper
pep rally, a game on
Friday night, or even around
the town without hearing
or seeing the phrase “Get
Your Mind Right!” Most Friday
nights it is easy to hear
Coach Chesshir yelling his
catchphrase on the sidelines
before the game starts or
after a big play but it was
not meant to be a motto for
this season but instead it
came by accident one day
in the weight room, “Well
there really is no special
story behind it. One day
during pre-season in the
weight room we were getting
excited and having fun, and
it has always been my thing
as a coach to tell my players
to stay focused and get their
mind right. After that day in
the weight room we decided
to start that chant and it took
off and became a big deal,”
Coach Chesshir explained.
But even with the stingy
defense and the potent offense,
the Scrappers may
have a secret weapon to help
them on Saturday.
Instead of pads and a jersey,
this secret weapon suits
up in a different uniform and
is armed with pom poms
instead of a football.
The secret weapon is a
trio of sophomore cheerleaders
that share something
special in common.
will try to keep that streak going Saturday as they cheer on the Scrappers with the rest of their squad.
Breanna Peebles, Leslie
Lingo and Olivia Herzog have
been cheering together since
the seventh grade and have
yet to cheer for a team that
has lost a game.
It might be a stretch for
some to call the three a good
luck charm but they might
just be, “I’d like to think I am
a good luck charm,” Herzog
said. Peebles also agreed
with her saying, “I haven’t
ever missed a game in all of
my four years of cheering so
you could say I might serve
as a good luck charm.”
Lingo was not as quick
to say they might be a good
luck charm but she did believe
her and her squad’s
cheering impacts the game,
“They’ve told us before that
they couldn’t do it without
us and we also help get the
crowd going and they play a
huge part in the game.”
One thing all three could
agree on was their excitement
for Saturday. It is
the trio’s first year as high
school cheerleaders and to
be able to cheer for a team in
state is something that most
cheerleaders do not get the
opportunity to do, “I am so
excited I get to experience
this my year of high school
and to cheer on the mighty
Scrapper at War Memorial
Stadium,” Herzog exclaimed.
Peebles added that it
should be an experience
that she will always remember
and Lingo said, “I’m so
excited and expecting a win
but if we don’t win I may
cry.” Whether you believe
in superstitions and that
the trio of cheerleaders that
winning teams seem to get
cheered on by could be a key
to success for the Scrappers,
one thing anybody can agree
on is the impact cheerleaders
have on a crowd and
that without them the game
would not be the same.
The Scrappers have already
begun preparations
for the game on Saturday,
“We are going to War Memorial
on Thursday (today). We
could have gone on any day
but I chose Thursday so we
could have our two major
work days on Tuesday and
Wednesday so that they are
the same as they are any
other week. Today I’m going
to let the kids walk around
and take pictures to get the
wow factor out of them and
then have a light practice
and come back and have our
usual walk through on Friday,”
Coach Volarvich said.
But even with the biggest
game of the season looming,
Coach Volarvich is treating
this like any other game and
trying to keep the week as
normal as possible.
Nashville will face Prairie
Grove in the State Championship
game. The game is
the most important of the
season and Nashville will
go into it with an almost
unstoppable offensive trio,
a defense that does not give
points up easy and for the
superstitious the good
luck of three cheerleaders
cheering on the sidelines.
Nashville will hold a
community wide pep rally
in the Scrapper Arena at
6 p.m. on Friday and the
game will start at 6:30 p.m.
on Saturday at War Memorial
Stadium in Little Rock
with the gates opening at
5 p.m.
