Arkansas Class 7A high school football team previews: Bentonville West hopes playing young players has paid off

The Wolverines boast several returning starters on offense and defense.

SBLive is previewing the Arkansas high school football teams from the three largest classifications. Today, we feature the Bentonville West Wolverines from the 7A-West Conference.

By Steve Andrews | Photo by Sadie Rucker 

BENTONVILLE WEST WOLVERINES

HEAD COACH

Bryan Pratt, 8th season

2021 AT A GLANCE

Overall record: 6-5

League record: 4-3, 4th in 7A West

Playoffs: Lost to Fort Smith Northside 47-21 in the first round.

KEY PLAYERS LOST

OL Micah Pinales Graduated after a stellar senior season up front.

OL Colin Muskrat Slated as a returning starter on the OL, the senior tore his ACL and is out for the year.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Junior OL Lane Jeffcoat – The all-state performer stands 6-9, 290, and will be a power up front.

Senior LB Braden Jones Will again be counted on to lead the charge for the Wolverine defense. Getting interest from a number of D-I schools.

Senior CB Nick Bell – Earning all-state honors, he was the leader of the defense a year ago. He is also an impact receiver.

Junior QB Jake Casey – The returning starter passed for nearly 2,000 yards and 16 TDs a year ago.

Senior RB Carson Morgan – Ran for over 7/YPC last year with 7 TDs.

Senior WR Ty Durham – A threat on the outside, he has already committed to play baseball at Southern Miss. Had 719 yards and 9 TDs last year.

OUTLOOK

This is a year Wolverines coach Bryan Pratt and his staff have been waiting on, with several key starters returning a wealth of returners on both sides of the ball. West had three freshman starters a year ago, as well as four sophomores, who all return with a year under their belts. Add to that, seven junior starters, who will give them a loaded senior class.

The Wolverines return seven starters on each side of the ball. “We’ve played a lot of younger players the past two years, so this is the year we have kind of had our eye on, and I think it could be a special year,” Pratt said.

Four of those starters have already received college offers, including 6-foot-9, 290-pound lineman Lane Jeffcoat, who is a three-sport letterman, also playing basketball and baseball. He already has offers from Arkansas State and North Texas and will likely garner many more over the next season.

Senior defensive back Nick Bell has an offer from Princeton, senior running back Carson Morgan has offers from Tulsa and all three service academies and senior linebacker Braden Jones has several D-II offers and is drawing lots of interest at the D-I level. Receiver Ty Durham received a lot of interest as well, but is committed to play baseball at Southern Miss next year.

West will mix it up offensively this year but will have to replace some lineman, especially after the season-ending injury to returning starter Colin Muskrat, who tore his ACL. Sophomore Kaleb Chandler may be relied upon on both sides of the ball. “We will definitely have to replace some guys up front, but the skill guys we have back are as good as we’ve had here,” Grant said.

With returning quarterback Jake Casey, a 6-foot-4, 190-pound junior, the Wolverines will spread the ball around the field. Casey threw for nearly 2,000 yards a year ago with 16 touchdown tosses. Casey also ran a swift 4.69 in 40 yards this summer.

“He has really worked hard in the offseason, and he actually runs better than people give him credit for,” Pratt said. “He’s just got to put some weight on his frame, but he’s got great arm strength. I feel like we can be very explosive and be able to throw the ball around, and make teams have to defend the whole field.”

Durham and Bell lead a stacked receiving corps, which will also include juniors Jaxson Burst, Cole Edmonson, and sophomore Harris Vinson. Morgan will handle most of the running duties.

West will run a 3-4-based defense and will bring back a strong secondary, led by Bell, who was named All-State a year ago. He will be joined by seniors Josh Buxton at cornerback and Thomas Willbanks at safety.

The linebacking crew will also be a strength with seniors Jones and Tate West in the middle, and Morgan and Vinson on the outside, along with seniors Aiden Honeycutt and Chris Ehlers.

The defensive line will return seniors Ashton Norman and Grant Overman.

COACH SAID

"I think our leadership is going to be huge for us. We have built our program from the ground up – and I mean literally from the ground up, because there was nothing here when we started – and we have always focused on the little things. So, we feel if we do all the little things right, the big things should fall into place for us." — Bryan Pratt