A good schedule has a way of making 1-8 seasons seem like a distant memory.

That was the case early for the Little Rock Central Tigers.

The reality of the 7A-Central, however, is a little different.

Central (4-4, 1-4) faces Southside on Friday at Verizon Field at Earl Quigley-Bernie Cox Stadium.

Second-year Tigers’ offensive line coach Austin “Tank” Moreton has helped the program reverse last season’s 1-8, 0-7 showing.

“When I got hired (2018) it was in July,” Moreton said. “I was just learning who was who, who played where. I think off-season really helped. You can really see the results now.”

Moreton honed his skills under the tutelage of longtime Mavericks offensive line coach Tadd Stewart.

“He’s doing a great job, and it makes me happy,” Stewart said. “To see him doing well, and teaching what he learned here to others, that’s really awesome.”

The Mavericks drilled the Tigers, 49-16, in 2018.

“You look at Little Rock Central, and see what Austin’s done with the offensive line, it’s night and day,” Southside coach Jeff Williams said. “It’s exciting when you see former players succeed in this business.”

“To look across the field and see those guys (Southside coaches), it’s really why I’m here doing what I love,” he said. “Those guys mean a lot to me.”

The Mavericks (1-7, 0-5) need a win, too, and some magic if they are to extend their season.

“It’s about first downs and succeeding in the red zone,” Williams said. “We have to come away with points in the red zone.”

The Mavericks scored on three of their four red zone opportunities last week in the 24-20 loss to Catholic.

Southside also missed a golden chance when quarterback Parker Wehunt was intercepted at the Rockets’ 23.


Wehunt is 13 yards shy of reaching 1,000 for the season. His favorite target is Jake Tyler (32 catches for 371 yards and four touchdowns), though Josh Hannan is coming off a monster effort in last week’s game with eight catches for 59 yards and a touchdown.

Central’s Lawson Gunn has passed for 1,344 yards and 17 touchdowns. He threw 10 touchdowns in the team’s first three games — wins over West Memphis, Heritage and Rogers.

Against 7A-Central foes, he’s averaging 168 yards per game.

Samuel Franklin leads the Tigers with 640 yards rushing and 10 touchdowns. Antoine Westbrook is the team’s leading receiver with 243 yards receiving and four touchdowns.
