First-year Watson Chapel Coach Steven Heard remembers a lesson he learned from the late George Shelton — take care of your players before you worry about the football game.
Hired away from Pine Bluff High School in May, it’s an approach Heard has taken through a brief offseason with the Wildcats, looking to return to the days of championship contention when Shelton led them from 2008-13 and coached in three straight state semifinals. Heard was a student-teacher under Shelton and worked under him at Dumas.
The Wildcats have lost 19 straight since blanking Texarkana 48-0 in the 2022 season opener, but the players who have bought into Heard’s program are now selling it to fellow students.
“I didn’t (sell it). The boys did it,” Heard said. “I said I need players out, and the way I treated and embraced them and the things I said I was going to do, that’s what they’ve told other students I would do.”
Heard has taken his love for the Wildcats to social media in an effort to showcase the program and school community. A student-created online poster revealed Tuesday evening features Watson Chapel’s new gold jerseys and themes for each game, including Camo-Army Night for Friday’s season opener at home against Helena-West Helena Central.
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Kickoff at Wildcat Stadium is set for 7 p.m.
“I really hit social media hard as far as promoting the program,” he said. “No one was promoting or giving them flowers. I’m just recognizing the kids. When you recognize them, they do what’s expected.”
The season opener will pit two teams that have fallen on hard times in the 2020s. Watson Chapel went 1-27 under two head coaches in the past three years, last posting a .500-or-better win percentage in 2020 (second straight 5-5 record).
Central, a program that narrowly lost its only state final appearance in 2008 (to Pulaski Academy in 5A), has won just once since going 5-5 in 2019. A 26-8 win over Dumas on Sept. 9, 2022, ended a 26-game slide, but the Cougars have not won in their last 17.
Heard, a 2000 Central alumnus, has warned the Wildcats to not look past the Cougars.
“I know a great deal about them since I was born and raised in Helena-West Helena,” Heard said. “I have five nephews on the team. The ninth grade quarterback, that’s my sister’s son. I’m ‘Unc.’ The left tackle is my brother’s son. I know what Central brings, tenacity and speed, a hunger and desire to win. I’m not taking them lightly. Once I got hired, I’ve been emphasizing what West Helena’s been about, and in no way can you take them lightly. They always have speed.”
Both Central and Watson Chapel are seeking to reclaim their winning ways while bringing up sophomores who went unbeaten in junior high action. The starting quarterback, freshman K.J. Gilcreast, is expected to create plays for junior Greyson Miller, a multiposition athlete.
Heard returned only three starters on each side of the ball who had been with him since his hire and regained a few more who he said had previously left the team. Junior quarterback Malachi Rayford is a playmaker who’s done everything Heard asked him to do, the coach said.
“He’s jumped in,” Heard said. “I’ve never heard him complain about anything. He doesn’t say anything, but when I took him to Media Day a month ago, he’s well spoken.”
Watson Chapel has an all-senior wide receiver corps with Taariq Conner and Jabari “Bug” Smith leading the way. Sophomore Kentrell Mason will see time at running back.
The Wildcats are counting on sophomores Demonte Lawrence and Braylon Bennett to make plays from the defensive line. Lawrence’s older brother, Dexter II, is a nose tackle for the New York Giants, Heard said.
Sophomore cornerback Dequan Lawrence may be the smallest player on the team, but he’s been performing “like a straight dog,” Heard commented.
Heard has prepped this team without spring drills or a preseason scrimmage because he arrived so late. He’s used the time he has to quickly install his Spread offense and 4-2-5 defense, and in his own words, show the Wildcats how to walk, talk and even wash clothes.
Those little things could lead to a big turnaround on U.S. 79.
“I keep telling everybody, it’s destiny waiting to happen,” Heard said. “It’s too many storylines.”