Dragons fare well in 7-on-7 games

The DeWitt Dragons competed in the Sonic Air Raid 7-on-7 Tournament at Harding University June 7.

The Dragons started off the double-elimination tournament with a 16-6 victory over Watson Chapel. The Dragons were led by Jacob Coleman’s eight receptions for 53 yards and a touchdown, Madison Mayfield’s six receptions for 53 yards and Parker Frizzell, who had a seven-yard touchdown reception. Mayfield finished out the scoring with an interception for two points.

In the second round, the Dragons beat Des Arc 13-6 behind Coleman’s four receptions for 41 yards, Mayfield’s six receptions for 38 yards and Blake Kagebein’s best performance of the day, five receptions for 38 yards.

The next opponent for the Dragons was the Searcy Lions. Mayfield led DeWitt with six receptions for 48 yards and a touchdown. The Dragons tied the game at 16-16 with under a minute to go on a 25-yard touchdown reception by Gunner Knoll from Frizzell. But the Lions scored on the last play of the game to pull out a 23-16 victory and send DeWitt to the loser’s bracket.

In their final game of the day, the Dragons lost to Watson Chapel 14-6. The Dragons scored first to take a 6-0 lead. Watson Chapel answered to tie the game at 6-6. The Dragons threw an interception on the next drive to give Watson Chapel an 8-6 lead. DeWitt played outstanding defense the rest of the way to keep the score at 8-6 until their inexperience hurt them. The Dragons froze, allowing Watson Chapel, who had gotten the snap off just before the horn, an easy score and a 14-6 victory.

New coach Doug Corley and his staff were “impressed” with the Dragons’ effort on the day as they played with only 10 players, while most of their opponents had 30 to 40 players. The lack of depth was too much to overcome as the day went on, and fatigue became their biggest opponent.

Corley said he and the other coaches were “excited” by the defensive play of Coleman, Mayfield and Jake Wood. “Offensively, Wood and Frizzell both performed well at quarterback, while Coleman, Mayfield and Kagebein led the receivers,” Corley said.

On the day, Mayfield led DeWitt with 33 receptions for 237 yards. Coleman caught 30 passes for 193 yards, Kagebein 13 for 99; Wood, four for 32; Frizzell four for 28; Knoll, two for 28; Collin Hornbeck one for nine; and Ty Vaughn, one for six.

Frizzell completed 50 of 79 passes, Wood, 38 of 66.

Monday’s games

The Dragons hosted Rison and Dumas Monday night. The Dragons came out in their first game against Rison and quickly took a 7-0 lead on a three-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Parker Frizzell to Madison Mayfield. After Rison answered to tie the score at 7-7, DeWitt’s offense went back to work and quickly regained the lead with a 22-yard touchdown pass from Jake Wood to John Ullrich. Rison again tied the score at 14-14.

The Dragons’ offense was stalled because of dropped passes, and Rison hit a long touchdown pass to take the score to the final 21-14.

DeWitt controlled the second game from start to finish with their best defensive performance of the season on their way to a 23-7 victory over Dumas. Mayfield again led the offense with touchdown receptions of eight and 23 yards against Dumas. Ty Vaughn also added a 16-yard touchdown reception, and Jake Wood closed out the scoring with two points for an interception. Dumas’ only touchdown came on a long pass as two DeWitt defenders tried to make a play on the ball and collided with each other leaving the Dumas receiver all alone in the end zone.

On the night, Mayfield had eightreceptions for 75 yards; followed by Jacob Coleman with four for 59; John Ullrich, three for 40; Collin Hornbeck, two for 32; Vaughn one for 16 and Deane Marks one for five. Frizzell completed 12 of 20 passes and Wood completed seven of 18.

Corley praised “outstanding defensive plays” by Frizzell, Coleman, Wood, Mayfield and Marks.

“The Dragons have continued to improve through the first week of 7-on-7 competitions and will resume competition in July after the mandatory AAA dead period. The fans continue to give the players and coaches their support,” Corley said.

Gillett prepares for local disaster

Even before a tornado destroyed much of Dumas in February 2007, officials in Gillett were worried about what would happen if such a disaster struck their isolated town. Spurred on by that disaster — and the tornado that struck Stuttgart May 10— officials developed a response plan. Last Thursday, they revealed the plan to the public in a meeting at Gillett High School.

Board mulls school policy changes

After a long and often convoluted discussion of attendance policies, the DeWitt School Board voted to let each school adopt whatever policy suits its needs, as long as it meets state standards.

Council takes few actions

The DeWitt City Council took few actions in a 42-minute meeting Monday night.

Stuttgart cleanup going ‘smoothly’

A month after an EF3 tornado hit Stuttgart May 10, the cleanup “has gone extremely smoothly,” Mayor Marianne Maynard told members of the Arkansas County Intergovernmental Council last Friday.

JPs hear of county disaster relief

Things were relatively quiet at this week’s Quorum Court meeting. After a moment of silence in honor of Leonard Bisswanger, County Judge Glenn “Sonny” Cox applauded the large turnout of seven people.

Dragons fare well in 7-on-7 games

The DeWitt Dragons competed in the Sonic Air Raid 7-on-7 Tournament at Harding University June 7.

Obituaries

Leonard Harvey Bisswanger

DeWitt Police Report

DeWitt Police reported answering the following calls May 31-June 6: