ALL-AREA OFFENSIVE TEAM

Although Union County schools may have fallen short in their quest for a state title last year, all five schools qualified for the postseason thanks to some of the most explosive playmakers in the state regardless of class.

Thanks to that, all five schools are represented on the 2015 News-Times Offense squad.

There is great balance on the team with El Dorado, Junction City and Smackover each having three members on the team, while Strong and Parkers Chapel each have one representative.

One of the most versatile offensive players in the state is El Dorado’s Kawon Love.

A senior who played at quarterback, running back and wide receiver for the Wildcats, Love excelled at running back, tallying 1,804 yards and 17 touchdowns on 268 carries.

As a receiver, Love caught 24 passes for 249 yards and two touchdowns.

At quarterback, the All-State selection was 2-for-5 passing for 41 yards and a touchdown.

Love also saw time on special teams, returning nine kickoffs for 166 yards.

“Kawon is a unique talent,” said El Dorado coach Scott Reed. “He’s very versatile. He’s a good receiver. He’s a good receiver out of the backfield. He’s a good passer. He’s obviously a good runner. Although he doesn’t have great top-end speed, he got the most out of his opportunities with the ball, whether it was run play, pass play or whatever.

“He finished plays, was physical. The good thing about him is, when he lines up, you still don’t know where he’s going because he’s not just a between-the-tackles runner. He’s also really good in space as far as catching the ball, making a guy miss and then finishing runs. He’s a very skilled player but, at the same time, he’s also physical.”

In addition to Love, Union County has a trio of running backs that all will be back to terrorize opposing defenses in the fall.

Parkers Chapel’s Dezmon Jackson has been used to being the focal point of opposing defenses since he was a freshman, but that hasn’t stopped the junior from posting consecutive seasons of over 1,500 yards rushing.

After rushing for 1,534 yards as a sophomore, Jackson nearly duplicated that number by finishing with 1,535 yards along with 24 rushing touchdowns.

An All-State selection, Jackson averaged nearly 154 yards per game rushing and 7.45 yards per carry.

“Dez’s ability gives an opportunity for an explosive play on special teams and offense,” said Parkers Chapel coach James Housdan. “He can make some big plays defensively as well.”

Having to take over for the all-time leading rusher at a school that is rich in tradition is a tough chore, but Junction City’s C.J. Johnson showed he is more than capable of adding his name to the record books.

A junior, Johnson set the school record for most yards rushing in a single game with 385 yards on the ground in the Dragons’ playoff game against Conway Christian.

Johnson finished with 1,271 yards with 10 touchdowns on only 142 carries.

He also caught five passes for 34 yards.

“He did a really good job,” said Junction City coach David Carpenter. “He could play at several different spots. He just fit in and did a good job at running back. We originally wanted to play him at receiver more because he has good hands and good speed, but he did such a good job at running back.”

With the departure of several key seniors, Smackover’s Michael Edwards could be in line for a banner senior season.

Although he rushed for only 655 yards and five touchdowns on the season, Edwards showed his ability to make big plays by averaging nine yards per carry to aid the Bucks in reaching the state semifinals.

A junior, Edwards was also a solid two-way standout, playing at defensive back.

“He was our shutdown corner,” said Smackover coach Brian Strickland. “Teams would try to throw against him, but he did a good job of covering receivers and keeping the ball out of their hands. On offense, we rotated him in at running back. He had a really good year back there as a running back. Overall, he’s a hard nosed player.”

Two players who will be playing collegiately headline the corps at wide receiver.

Although his numbers may look pedestrian, Smackover’s Jordan Jones was one of the most closely watched players in the state.

An Arkansas commit, Jones caught 36 passes for 721 yards and 11 touchdowns.

A senior, Jones added 150 yards rushing on 21 carries while also completing eight of his 16 passes for 149 yards and a touchdown at quarterback.

“Every Friday night in conference play he saw a double team,” Strickland said. “Everybody double-teamed Jordan Jones.”

On the rare occasion when he wasn’t double-teamed, Jones showed his explosiveness by catching six passes for 128 yards and two touchdowns in the Bucks’ playoff win over Manila.

A big reason why Strong reached the playoffs for 10th time in the last 11 years was senior LeAndre Rucks.

Rucks, who is committed to Central Arkansas, had over 1,200 yards combined rushing and receiving for the Bulldogs.

Overall, Rucks had 824 yards rushing along with 405 yards receiving and 13 touchdowns.

He also enjoyed a solid year on defense, finishing with 63 tackles and four interceptions.

“He showed great team leadership this year,” said Strong coach Craig O’Neal. “He was always focused on team success and not individual success.”

A big reason why Junction City rolled up nearly 3,500 yards of total offense was due to the play of their offensive line.

Two members of the Dragons’ line made the squad with seniors Matthew Freeman and Garrett Woods earning nods.

Freeman, who was a three-year starter and an All-State selection, also had a big year on defense by registering 131 tackles.

“He takes pride in what he was doing and how he was able to not have many bad snaps,” Carpenter said.

Woods played a pivotal role on both sides of the ball for the Dragons, finishing with 25 tackles, including three for a loss on defense.

“He’s a big strong, lineman,” Carpenter said. “He was a strong force on the offensive side. He was an aggressive blocker for us. It made us as coaches feel better about him. He was able to do more things for this season than in years past. He was a good player and a smart kid that helped his performance on both sides of the football.”

The 2015 squad has seven seniors on it, and two of them helped lead El Dorado to the second round of the 6A playoffs.

Right tackle Matthew Hays helped power the Wildcats’ offense, and Reed was pleased with his leadership.

“Matthew has a real fire,” Red said. “He’s vocal. He’s a fierce competitor. He’s probably the most physical, downhill guy we had. Matthew set the tempo, set the tone for the offensive line. He was the vocal leader.”

A veteran of the trenches is left guard Lucas Hargett, who was a three-year starter for the Wildcats.

“Lucas started for three years,” Reed said. “But, he worked really hard this year and it was, by far, the best he’s played. He was probably the highest grader all year. He was very dependable. He wasn’t as good of a puller early on. He got better until this year, he was very effective in all phases. He’s a guy who was there every week for three years.”

Another two-way stalwart who was rewarded for his outstanding season was Smackover’s Reave Mullens. An All-State selection, Mullens played a key role on the offensive line while also racking up 60 tackles on defense.

“On offense he was our pulling lineman,” Strickland said. “If we pulled, he was the man who would do it. He did a good job of blocking whether we were pulling or going straight ahead. On defense, Reave teamed with Desmond Williams to form a wall up front.”