Arkansas Class 7A high school football team previews: Fort Smith Southside moving forward without injured star senior QB

Quarterback and baseball star David Sorg will not play his senior season after undergoing Tommy John surgery.

SBLive is previewing the Arkansas high school football teams from the three largest classifications. Today, we feature the Fort Smith Southside Mavericks from the 7A-West Conference.

By Steve Andrews | Photo by Karen Schwartz 

FORT SMITH SOUTHSIDE MAVERICKS 

HEAD COACH

Kim Dameron, 3rd season

2021 AT A GLANCE

Overall record: 2-9

League record: 2-5, 6th in 5A West

Playoffs: Lost to North Little Rock 51-7 in the first round.

KEY PLAYERS DEPARTED

QB David Sorg Threw for 2,774 and 26 TDs as a junior last season. But recent Tommy John surgery will keep him out for the season.

TE/LB Dmitri Lloyd A mainstay on both, the offense and defense last year. He has signed to play H-back at Missouri Southern.

WR Desmond Lopez-Fulbright The team’s leading receiver with 698 yards and 5 TDs.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Senior K Jackson Delassus The all-state kicker will again handle field goals, extra points and kickoffs.

Junior QB George Harrell Takes over the starting role after backing up Sorg last year. Has looked solid in the offseason.

Junior RB Amari Tucker Last year’s leading rusher will start at RB and play some out of the slot.

Junior SR Isaac Gregory Will start as the slot back, but will also play running back.

Senior C Miguel Solis A three-year starter in the middle of the offensive line.

Senior LB/DE Kage Castling Will be a key cog in multiple schemes.

Senior S Russell Key Returns to be a leader in the defensive backfield.

SEASON OUTLOOK

Kim Dameron began his coaching career 39 years ago as a graduate assistant at the University of Arkansas, after spending the previous four years as a defensive back and wide receiver for the Razorbacks. With the majority of his time spent as a defensive coach and coordinator at the collegiate level, Dameron is now in his third year with the Mavericks and second year running a wide-open offense which he leaned as the head coach at Eastern Illinois.

Southside will again run the Air Raid spread offense, made famous by current Mississippi State coach Mike Leach, who perfected the attack at Texas Tech in the early-2000s. While serving as the head coach at Eastern Illinois in 2018, Dameron hired Scott Parr, who is now the offensive coordinator at Louisiana Tech. Parr had spent four years on the Texas Tech staff and became well-educated in the Air Raid, before passing that knowledge on to Dameron.

The majority of the Mavericks’ offensive personnel are returning, as most of the skill players and linemen got substantial time a year ago. “Offensively we need to have speed on the outside and find some guys that can make things happen with the ball,” Dameron said. “That whole offensive philosophy comes from the same family, which it all comes out of the Leach coaching tree. After we began running it here last year, we became more effective offensively than we had been.”

His first year in 2020, Dameron kept continuity with Southside’s more methodical two-back offense. Then, last year he began implementing the Air Raid with quarterback David Sorg conducting more of a spread passing attack. Although Sorg, a University of Oklahoma commit, is a senior this year, he recently had Tommy John elbow surgery and will miss the season. So, last year’s backup, 5-foot-11, 165-pound junior George Harrell, will take over the starting reins, with junior receiver Carter Zimmerman serving as the backup QB.

Harrell, who took over for an injured Sorge in last year’s playoff game against North Little Rock, got a lot of reps during the spring and summer and has performed well in 7 on 7 competitions. “Our offense is based on a quarterback that makes good decisions and processes things quickly,” Dameron said. “He has picked up out system pretty well and has an accurate arm, so I think he’ll be fine.”

Though they did lose leading receiver Desmond Lopez-Fulbright, Southside has some skilled pass catchers ready to step up. Outside receivers will include Zimmerman, senior Xander Connor and junior Jackson Davis. The inside slot will be played by juniors Isaac Gregory and Greyson York, along with senior Mason Adams.

Junior Amari Tucker will return as the team’s primary running back after gaining 505 yards and 5 TDs last season. Tucker, who will be backed up by Gregory, will also shift to the slot on occasion. “Amari and Isaac are both guys that can play in the slot or at running back, and both got a lot of playing time last year,” Dameron said. “We will have to get the ball in those guys’ hands as much as we can.”

All five starters on the offensive line will return, led by senior three-year starter Miguel Solis at center, and senior Cade Nally. Juniors Cooper Anderson, Kobe Branham and Connor McCoy all started as sophomore last season. “Some of those guys got baptism by fire last year in the 7A-West,” Dameron said with a chuckle. “But they really did a good job and now return for the second year in this system.”

“With my background being pretty multiple we can do about anything,” he said.

The Mavericks will be based out of a three down-lineman odd front, but they will also convert into a four down-lineman nickel packages. Two big keys will be Kage Castling and junior John Parkinson, who will both flex between defensive end and outside linebacker. Senior Gage Jones and junior Andrew Reeder, who both played a lot as reserves last year, will likely start on the defensive line.

Two big pieces returning to the defensive backfield will be senior safety Russell Key and junior cornerback Devin Huggins. Linebackers, senior Cole Elwonger and junior Evan Shelby, will both return from injury-plagued seasons a year ago. “We don’t have a lot of true returning starters on defense, but we have several guys filling in who played a lot for us last year,” Dameron said.

One of the brightest spots for Southside is the return of senior All-State kicker Jackson Delassus, who scored 50 points for the Mavericks on field goals and extra points, and booted 11 touchbacks on kickoffs. “He has kicked for us the last two years, but last year he really settled in and was very consistent for us,” Dameron said. “Not only with field goals and extra points, but also with kickoffs.”

COACH SAID

"We’ve just got to get better and better at what we do and get the ball in the right people’s hands. We’ve got to be consistent and efficient offensively and be able to put points up. And defensively, we’ve got to get better at stopping the run, which we have emphasized this offseason."

— Kim Dameron