White Hall to focus discipline for ’24

White Hall was two or three plays away from making the 5A state football playoffs last season, and the Bulldogs are looking to make those plays this fall.

Last year featured five losses by a touchdown or less for the Bulldogs, who finished 4-6 and missed the postseason for a second straight season. Several of those games came down to the final play.

This year, new head coach Daryl Patton said discipline will be the key to turning some of those close losses into wins.

“Every game, there was some type of key penalty or key mistake that was just a lack of discipline,” Patton said. “We’re trying to become a more disciplined football team. We’re trying to play it the right way. We’re going to play hard. We want to compete every snap. We want to give the community something to be proud of.”

The Bulldogs started 2023 by winning three of their first four games, with the lone loss coming against Warren after the Lumberjacks scored in the final moments of the game, taking advantage of a turnover. White Hall was still 2-0 in 5A-Central play before losing on the road to Mills after the Comets scored late.

That loss started a five-game losing streak which included a loss to Pine Bluff in which the Bulldogs were stopped on the goal line on their final possession. That streak included four losses by a combined 20 points and ended White Hall’s playoff hopes after a promising start.

Senior wide receiver Ivan Armour agreed with his new coach’s assessment of how to fix the Bulldogs’ close-game woes.

“I feel like a lot of that comes down to discipline, making the right decisions,” Armour said. “At the end of the day, as long as we play disciplined and stay determined, we can come out with the win.”

As tough as the past two seasons have been, it wasn’t that long ago White Hall was near the top. This year’s seniors were freshmen when the Bulldogs reached the 5A state championship game in 2021.

Building the program back up to that level is now Patton’s responsibility. He said it won’t be easy, but White Hall can do it.

“We’ll get there, but it doesn’t happen overnight,” Patton said. “We’re going to try to lay the groundwork and do the best we can. We want to get to the playoffs. We want to make a statement. We’re trying to win a championship now, but it is a process. Just getting our seniors to provide that good leadership for us and lay the groundwork is crucial.”

One change which could help White Hall return to the postseason is the new alignment of the 5A-Central. Two of the teams which finished ahead of the Bulldogs in the standings, Mills and Morrilton, are no longer in the conference.

White Hall lost many of its starters from last season and will need a new batch of stars to lead it back to the playoffs. Of note, the Bulldogs must replace star quarterback Noah Smith, running back Jayden Smith and wide receiver and defensive back Braeden Bell. Players such as Armour, running back Kylon Davis, tight end and defensive end Savion Slater, and quarterback Wyatt Golden will try to fill those voids.