The 2010s era of Heber Springs football was the most successful decade in school history with one perfect regular season, an outright conference title and two more that were shared. The decade also saw the Panthers reach the playoffs nine out of 10 seasons.
The 2010 season saw Steve Janski’s Panthers open with wins over Mountain View and Harding Academy before falling to Bald Knob and, in the conference opener, to Lonoke. A win over Stuttgart would follow with a setback at Marianna-Lee, before the Panthers would win four straight to close the regular season. A loss at Joe T. Robinson ended Heber Springs’ season with a 7-5 mark.
History would be made in 2011 as the Panthers opened the season by dominating defending 4A state champion Shiloh Christian, 36-17, in the opener at Reynolds’ Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville. Heber Springs would put 49 on Harding Academy, 55 on Bald Knob and 63 on Lonoke, before winning at Stuttgart 28-21. No team in the regular season would get to less than two touchdowns the rest of the way as the Panthers completed a perfect regular season and the school’s first outright conference title sine 1979. The second-ranked Panthers would defeat Shiloh Christian again in a first-round playoff match-up at Panther Stadium before falling to Farmington to finish at 11-1 on the year. The 11 wins are the most in school history.
The 2012 team, opened with a loss to Pottsville and had a week 2 game at Harding Academy canceled after weather delays in the first half. A win over Gentry would make the Panthers 1-1 heading into conference play. Heber Springs would not repeat as conference champions finishing 2-4A play at 4-3, closing the regular season with a loss to new conference member Pine Bluff Dollarway. The Panthers would rebound in the playoffs downing Star City and Pea Ridge to reach the quarterfinals of the playoffs. Highland ended the Panthers season leaving Heber Springs with a 7-5 mark.
Janski’s last season at Heber Springs, 2013, would see the Panthers claim wins over Marianna-Lee and Southside Batesville but finish with a 2-8 mark.
Assistant coach David Farr was promoted to head coach for the 2014 campaign. The Panthers would down Clinton and Harding Academy in nonconference play before finishing 5-2 in conference play. The Panthers would drop Crossett in first-round playoff contest before seeing their season at Warren the following week to finish 8-4.
The offseason would see Farr take a job at Maumelle and long-time assistant coach Darren Gowen promoted to head coach. Heber Springs would open the 2015 season with a win over Clinton before falling to Greenbrier and Harding Academy in nonconference play. The Panthers would finish conference play at 4-3 to earn a playoff spot, but Star City would end Heber Springs’ season at 5-6.
The 2016 season saw Heber Springs start 0-3 in nonconference play before bouncing back to finish 6-1 in the 2-4A and earning a share of the conference title and the number 1 seed. After a first-round playoff bye, Shiloh Christian would end the Panthers season at 6-5.
In 2017, Heber Springs would open at 1-2 before earning another share of the 2-4A crown with a 6-1 conference mark. The three-way tie left the Panthers as the No. 3 seed where they would win a thrilling playoff contest at Gravette before falling at Gosnell to finish at 8-4. With the Panthers earning a share of the conference title, it was the first time since the 1979-1980 seasons that the Panthers had won at least a share of the conference title in back-to-back seasons. Those two teams joined the 1975-1976 teams as the only ones to accomplish that feat in school history.
The 2018 team attempted to be the first to win at least of share of a conference title in three consecutive seasons. After starting the season 0-3, Heber Springs would finish conference play at 6-1 but Stuttgart would win the crown with a 7-0 conference mark. The Panthers dominated former conference foe Pocahontas in first-round playoff match-up before losing at Rivercrest to finish 7-5.
Gowen would step down as head coach in the spring of 2019 to take a position in northwest Arkansas and Will Cox was promoted for the upcoming season. Heber Springs would fall to Clinton and Harding Academy in the final seconds in nonconference play, as well to Greenbrier, to start 0-3. The Panthers would finish conference play at 4-3 and get the No. 5 seed in the playoffs, after a four-way tie at the top. Shiloh Christian would end the Panthers season in the playoffs.
(Editor’s Note: The teams were selected based upon a vote by former players and coaches. They were asked to fill a ballot based upon positions. Players were allowed to a put a player in multiple positions (i.e. WR/DB). Votes were recorded based upon on the number of ballots a particular player was listed on. If a player was listed a multiple positions, they were still counted as being on one ballot. As with past decades, positions were kept fluid in order to ensure those that were on the most ballots would make the team. In several cases, there were players that received more votes for one position than the person selected for the all-decade team, but were on fewer ballots, and therefore did not make the team. In the previous decades, I was able to create a limit amount of all-purpose positions to cover those that may have been squeezed out of one position but were on more ballots than those who did make it (though not all-purpose positions do not mean those players were on fewer ballots, in many cases it was because a player exceled at so many positions that their votes were scattered). When it came time to do the 2010s, there were more votes cast by former players than any other decade. The votes were more varied than other decade. It created a situation were I was going to have to create a larger number of “all-purpose” positions to get everyone on the team that was going to get squeezed out because of the position that they played. So for this decade only, I created a second team. There are several players on the second team that were on more ballots than those on the first team, but I could not put them at position that did not play (an example would be if someone played WR/DB, I could not put them on the offensive line even though they were on more ballots than someone on first-team offensive line). That is just an example. Also, there is no punter on the second team, because all of those who received votes were already on the team so an extra “all-purpose” position was created in its place. And with ALL of the all-decade teams, there are some very, very good football players that didn’t make it and this decade was no exception. The hardest part of doing this was leaving out those who have contributed so much to the Panther program over the years. Coming in October, all those on any all-decade will be eligible to be voted on the all-time team that will be selected by a vote by the public).
The 2010s HSHS All-Decade Football Team
(Position, Player and Last Season Played)
FIRST TEAM
OFFENSE
WR – Clint Ligon (2012)
WR – Pierce Mitchum (2016)
OL – Jimbo Bodron (2010)
OL – J.J. Bray (2018)
OL – Andrew Davis (2011)
OL – Derrik Fisher (2012)
OL – Joseph Tharp (2010)
QB – Adam Martin (2019)
RB – Chandler Marquardt (2014)
RB – Markeyvus Mays (2011)
RB – Blaze Nelson (2018)
K – Julian Cameron (2018)
AP – Michael Ludwig (2011)
DEFENSE
DL – Chris Hart (2017)
DL – Zach McCormick (2014)
DL – Luke McGowan (2016)
LB – Geoffrey Anderson (2011)
LB – Ethan Bly (2012)
LB – James Ketchum (2015)
LB – Mason Williams (2010)
DB – Jacob Bremmon (2017)
DB – Micah Dew (2012)
DB – Nate Dew (2016)
DB – Brooks Morgan (2012)
P – Landon Glover (2011)
AP – Hunter Chandler (2015)
SECOND TEAM
OFFENSE
WR – Andrew Hill (2010)
WR – Rocky Finney (2018)
OL – Austin Childers (2011)
OL – Harley Hannah (2019)
OL – Nate Hills (2013)
OL – Ethan Lee (2012)
OL – Dylan Platt (2015)
QB – Michael Kramer (2013)
RB – Chandler Jones (2014)
RB – Julio Rubio (2019)
RB/WR – Gunner Nelson (2012)
K – Edgar Torres (2015)
AP – Joseph Stacks (2017)
DEFENSE
DL – Dalton Hall (2018)
DL – Harley Hooten (2012)
DL – Kody Youngblood (2014)
LB – Fate Berry (2019)
LB – Dustin Ervin (2012)
LB – Wade Gilbrech (2012)
LB – Landon Johnson (2019)
DB – Caleb Carmikle (2010)
DB – Cooper Lawrence (2013)
DB – Jesse Lawrence (2011)
DB – Dillon Spivey (2017)
AP – Brandon Loethen (2017)
AP – Ian Lowe (2013)
PREVIOUS DECADES
The 2000s HSHS All-Decade Team
The 1990s HSHS All-Decade Team
The 1980s HSHS All-Decade Team
The 1970s HSHS All-Decade Team
The 1960s HSHS All-Decade Team
The 1950s HSHS All-Decade Team
The 1940s HSHS All-Decade Team
