New Arrows football coach looking forward to spring drills

By Danny C. Davis

Coach John Carr

Recently-hired new head football coach John Carr has hit the ground running on Arrow Drive.

Carr was named head football coach in March, after twelve-year head football coach Judd Boswell resigned. Boswell will continue to serve as athletic director.

“We met each assistant coach when I got here, and I wanted to know a lot about their families. They are some really good guys,” said Carr. “Then I met with the team the first day I was here.”

“We talked to the team about our expectations and about attitude, energy and body language,” said Carr. “Those three things do not require any talent. We just want the team to bring those three things, and our coaching staff will take care of the football. We want them to bring those three things every day, and, the more they are around me and I am around them, we will build trust in each other. That is the way that relationships grow, and that is what we want.”

“Our players have bought in to what we want to do, and they are already working extremely hard every day,” continued Carr. “We are already working on the offense we want to run.”
The Arrows begin spring drills on April 30 and will have ten days of full practice that will end with an inter-quad scrimmage on Wednesday, May 15.

One of the first things that Carr and Boswell have already done is to reorganize the eighth-grade football team. The junior high Arrows will play four football games against local opponents, like Warren Central, Madison Central and others.

“That is where football starts, and we are going to put build up the junior high program,” said Carr. “We also plan to play a lot of junior varsity games to give everybody a lot of game experience.”

Recently, the Arrows’ eighth-grade team, which will be playing in the ninth grade this fall, played a scrimmage game at Warren Central.

“They looked good,” said Carr. “They played with a lot of grit. They have some good skill players and a quarterback and ran the ball well. It was a good scrimmage.”

This year, the Arrows will again face one of the toughest schedules in the state, with eight of the nine opponents making the playoffs.

“I like our schedule, and we want to play against top competition,” said Carr.

“For every game, our preparation will be all about us. We want to play at a high level every week. We are going to play our style of football. Regardless of the score and if we are up or down, we want to execute with the gas pedal down every game.”

“That will be our message every week,” said Carr. “It will be about us; and, at the end of the game, we will find out if we are the better team.”

“I will put every ounce of energy in taking care of our players and enhancing our football program.”

The Arrows open the season on August 30 against Warren Central in the annual Red Carpet Bowl at Vicksburg. The first home game will be September 13 against Brandon.