Oak Grove High School - Hornet Yearbook (North Little Rock, AR)

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DRE DED DEFEAT A TGGL FoR MOTIVATIGN The favored team was ex- pected to win by two touch- downs. The underdog had only won three games. But surpris- ingly enough, it was not un- common for the underdog to be topdog when the dust set- tled. Even the most winning teams at times faced what had become an unspoken word in a p1ayer's vocabulary: defeat. Depending on how a play- er looked at it, losing a game or two could be the end of the world, or the beginning spark of a raging fire in their eyes the next time they stepped on the field. Defeat could dampen the spirit, or motivate the soul depending on how badly a player wanted a winning team. Losing does get you down. Nobody wants to lose, Molivafion is the key! Al Graham and Gary Williams rouse the crowd at a pre-game pep rally. but it does motivate you and make you want revenge on the next team you play, for what the last team did to you, said Mike Plummer. Working hard during the summer practices only to be shot down by the Harrison Goblins, a AAA school, at the first game of the season was not what the Hornets had in mind. The Goblins went on to be ranked 6th in the state. We knew if we had won, we could have had an accom- plished season, but our great loss made me feel like we had to start all over again, said Jarrett Johnson. The Hornets took the loss in stride to bounce back the next game and beat North Pu- laski 8-7. Even with losses to im- portant teams such as Beebe and Robinson, we realized we had the ability to come back and play some outstanding football, said Jimmy King. It's important that players encourage each other rather than discourage the team. You have to have player support from everyone to per- form 100'Mm, said Lee Hunt. Together the players as a team must stand through a winning season as well as a not-so-winning season. Re- gardless of their record, the Hornets came out on top for uplifting and supporting each other to perform to the best of their ability. Sports

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SWE T IT QUT MISCUES PLAGUE IUNIORS Sweating through hours of prac- ticing and conditioning, the junior high football team worked at strengthening their bodies. Strength was a major part in protec- ting the body, but sometimes it was not enough. T-Ray Rester found this out when he broke his arm during the first quarter of the J oe-T Robin- son game. Breaking my arm was a big let- down to my teammates and to my- self, because I enjoy not only the game of football, but the competition as well. You can bet I will be back next year, said T-Ray. This injury followed an earlier one when he was sandwiched between two Jackson- ville North players and was rushed to the hospital during the first game of the season. Other injuries that oc- I think we had a great year. We lost some key players late and that hurt us in the end. But, all in all, we had a lot of fun, and that is the way it's supposed to be, said Andy Chunn. 28 Sports curred throughout the season were Brian Edmondson breaking his thumb and Scott Shrigley dehydra- ting. Football can bring about other mishaps as Josh Plummer proved when he tripped in the mud running through the spirit line before the Robinson game. According to Josh, he wanted to get a head start on muddying up his uniform since the Senators would take every opportunity to knock him to the ground. As it turned out, it was mud in the Senator's eyes when the Hornets claimed the victory. Miscues did prove beneficial to the team this season. VVhen the Hor- nets played Glenrose, a miscue oc- curred that led to a win. Glenrose punted and received a penalty. After lailing lo make a Hrs! down, T-Ray RCSIBI' punts to a Glenrose returner. The Hornets WOH the game 32 to Q Coach Palmer signaled to decline the penalty, but a Oak Grove player misread the signal and said for Glen- rose to punt again. A Hornet punt re- turner caught the ball and sailed down the field to make the final and Winning touchdown. I think We had a great season. We practiced hard, we played hard, and our record proves the greatness of our team, said Chris Stratton. Even with injuries, mishaps, and miscues, the junior high Hornets managed to pull off a season win- ning more games than they lost. Everyone showed great spiril at the football games. Josh Plummer showed his by being the first to break through the run through sign. - STATS - Junior Football 0 Jacksonville North 6 32 Glenrose 0 21 J .A. Fair 6 20 Carlisle 0 0 Hot Springs Central 0 0 Beebe 28 6 Joe-T Robinson 0 0 Lonoke 14