LITTLE ROCK Palestine-Wheatley linebacker Fred Leak was a finalist for the Class AA Defensive Player of the Year award Monday night at the first State Farm Awards ceremony in Little Rock.
His coach, Terry Farmer, was a finalist for Class AA Coach of the Year.
The players and their families were honored at a banquet and awards ceremony at the Arkansas Aerospace Museum / IMAX theatre. The program will be televised at 6:30 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 18, on KARK Channel 4 on Hooten's Arkansas Football.
The Hooten's Arkansas Football staff selected all of the finalists and the winners.
While both Leak and Farmer fell short of winning the respective state award, being recognized as one of the top three players and coaches in Class AA is an impressive feat in itself.
Rison's Wayne Wainwright was named the AA defensive player. with 49 solo tackles, eight interceptions as well as kicking seven field goals in eight attempts this season and hitting 54 of 60 extra points. Wainwright had 26 touchbacks on kickoffs and as a receiver averaged 22 yards per reception, and 25 yards per kickoff return.
Wainwright and his senior teammates capped their careers Saturday nigte with win number 40 and a state championship as Rison finished 15-0.
Rison defeated Palestine-Wheatley 50-30 in the quarterfinal round of the Class AA state playoffs.
Rison coach Clay Totty was named the coach of the year edging out Farmer and Jessieville's Don Phillips.
Rison's 62 victories this decade are the most in Class AA. Rison has won 25 consecutive conference games, 34 straight regular-season games and four conference titles.
Wainwright edged out Leak and Junction City's Joseph Hall.
Coach Farmer called Leak the "heart and soul of our team."
As a dual-threat quarterback this season, Fred Leak ran for 650 yards and 14 touchdowns while completing 74 percent of his passes for 1,012 yards and nine TDs.
But it was at linebacker that Leak solidified the Patriot defense with 61 solo tackles, five sacks, six fumble recoveries and 11 interceptions -- three of which he returned for scores.
Palestine-Wheatley had made the playoffs two times before Farmer took over in the year 2000.
Since then, the Patriots have racked up 37 victories and five consecutive playoff berths. Coach Farmer guided Palestine-Wheatley to wins over Harding Academy, Barton and Lavaca this season.
The Patriots are 32-18 in regular season games under Farmer and 4-5 in the five state playoff appearances.
Leak's brother, Antonio was also a nominee for the State Farm awards as was senior lineman derrick Cooper.
Charleston's Drew Hill, who took home the Class AA offensive player award. Hill gained a combined 1,634 yards this season in leading the Tigers to the state title game for the first time in school history.
Other winners:
Class AAA Offensive Player: Jesse Gates of CAC. Led the Mustangs to their first state title. Gates passed for 3,582 yards and 33 touchdowns and rushed for 1,426 yards and 32 touchdowns this season.
Class AAA Defensive Player: Marcus Arnold of Rivercrest. Racked up 52 tackles and two interceptions this year. He also rushed for 1,856 yards and 24 touchdowns as a halfback.
Class AAA Coach: George Shelton of Dollarway. After winning a combined nine games the previous two seasons, the Cardinals won 13 games and finished as state runners-up this season.
Class AAAA Offensive Player: Darren McFadden of Pulaski Oak Grove. The future Razorback rushed for 1,965 yards and 28 touchdowns this season.
Class AAAA Defensive Player: Nick Cowger of Vilonia. Collected 111 tackles this year. He finished his career with a school record of 389 tackles.
Class AAAA Coach: Rick Jones of Greenwood. He led the Bulldogs to 11 wins and a state runner-up finish in his first season at Greenwood.
Class AAAAA Offensive Player: Mickey Dean of LR Central. Rushed for 1,339 yards and 21 touchdowns as the Little Rock Central Tigers won their second straight state title.
Class AAAAA Defensive Player: Kevin Thornton of LR Central. Helped the Little Rock Central Tigers win their second straight state title. He finished his career with 28 interceptions.
Class AAAAA Coach: Darrell Henry of FS Northside. Northside won just one game last year, but Henry's team garnered 10 wins in 2003 and advanced to the semifinals.
Play of the Year: Lucas Miller of Greenwood. Miller won with his acrobatic catch in the fourth quarter of the state championship game against Wynne.
By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
Forrest City improved to 7-1 Tuesday, the team's best start ever under head coach Dwight Lofton, by defeating Wynne 71-57.
The 14-point win didn't come quite as easy as the 23-point victory over the Yellowjackets in the first meeting last week at Wynne.
In that game, thanks to an early comfortable lead, Lofton played almost everyone.
Tuesday's game was a little tighter, especially in the first half which saw the Mustangs up only 9-7 after one period and 22-19 at the half.
Forrest City created a little breathing room in the third period by outscoring Wynne 20-to-11 to take a 42-30 lead into the fourth period.
Enter Wynne's Lonnie Harris, who buried five, threes in the final eight minutes, to keep the Jackets close.
Harris finished with eight, three pointers and 29 points.
His seventh three of the game, coming with 4:21 to play in the fourth period, brought a Forrest City time out as Wynne sliced the Mustang lead to seven points at 52-45.
Forrest City broke the time out with five straight points for a 57-45 cushion.
Harris would nail another three but it wasn't enough as the Mustangs put up 29 fourth period points to secure the win.
"They (Wynne) came out and played us tough," Lofton said after the game. "We knew they would and we knew if Harris got into a rhythm, it would be hard to stop him. He always has a big game on our home floor."
Lofton remembers last year.
As a sophomore, Harris struck for 28 points, which included five threes in a 77-62 loss to the Mustangs.
Senior center Chris Williams kept the Mustangs in the game during the first half and finished with 23 points. He scored six of that total in the final 55 seconds hitting two free throws and breaking loose for two slams -- the second one an alley-oop dunk from guard Taurus Moore to finish off the scoring.
Marcus Britt finished with 17 points for the Mustangs, but did not score his first points until the final minute of the third period. Britt drained three, threes in the fourth period.
Stephon Weaver added 14 points and eight rebounds in the win while Sherman Allen, responsible for keeping the Mustangs alive in the first half, finished with 11 points. Moore handed out five assists and had four rebounds.
The Mustangs helped themselves by hitting 10-of-13 free throws.
Curtis Dixon added seven points for Wynne while Cord Baxter finished with six.
Tuesday's win gives the Mustangs six consecutive victories over the Yellowjackets over the past three seasons.
The Mustangs have one nonconference game remaining -- a Dec. 27 road trip to Marianna -- before opening AAAAA-East Conference play by hosting Jacksonville.
The Mustangs held off Marianna in the first meeting at Mustang Arena, winning 74-73 in overtime.
The Red Devils recently won the Mountain Home Shootout, defeating conference member Mountain Home in the finals.
Forrest City's Lady Mustangs got back to .500 for the year Tuesday by taking a 62-34 win over the Lady Yellowjackets.
Sequoria Grady led Forrest City with 29 points while LaShundra Rogers added 13 points. Tasha Mills finished with six points for Forrest City while Fareedah Washington had four and Chari Agnew and Tiara Ebron three points each.
Forrest City stands at 5-5 for the year and will next face Marianna on Dec. 27.
The Lady Mustangs started slowly, leading 9-7 after one period and 24-20 at the half before catching fire in the third period, outscoring Wynne 16-to-8 to take a 40-28 lead into the fourth period.
Chiquita Holmes led Wynne with 13 points.
Larry Summage poured in 18 points Tuesday to lead the JV Mustangs to a 69-24 win over the JV Jackets.
Heath King added 14 points and Jeremy Washington finished with 10. Michael Alston had seven, Terrel Lee six and Kelson Stewart and Larry Bean five points each.
Forrest City led 18-5 after one period and 43-9 at the half.