The 2022-2023 off-season for the Conway Wampus Cat Football team was a time of changes, including losing valuable seniors such as Boogie Carr, Quadrell Wilson, Hudson Wallace, Wade Simpson, etc. Along with the departure of key players, we hired Bryant’s head coach, Buck James, with hopes of his coaching to elevate us to the state championship and a ring. With all of these new changes, there were valid questions about how the Wampus Cats would perform in their first season under Coach James.   

Eight weeks under Buck Jame’s lead, and the Wampus Cats are 8-0 and are ranked as one of the top teams in the state, if not the best team in the state. In the past seven games, the Wampus Cats have mercy-ruled all their opponents and displayed their dominance as the team to beat. The argument that they have played cupcake teams isn’t accurate because we blew out Cabot 52-14, and they won against another good team, Bentonville.  One of the keys to their success has been the unshaken and powerful combination of Donovan Omalo and Chris O’Neal. Collectively, they have been burning secondary left and right and have produced electrifying plays all year long. For example, the Wampus Cats beat the Southwest Gryphons when Donovan and Chris combined for three touchdowns against Southwest before the end of the first half. It is clear that Coach Buck James has brought a winning culture along with him because when we asked Chris O’Neal about how the practice has changed under Coach Fimple to Coach James, he said, ” We are in the weight room a lot more, practices are way longer, no skipping practice unless you want to pay for the consequences, overall Buck is more strict than Fimple.”

Additionally, we asked Wampus Cat kicker Major Strain-Mahor about the key to their consistent success he stated, ” Defense helps makes the offense’s role easier, and the phrase defense wins championships is so true.” Overall, the Conway Wampus Cats look sharp this season, and they look to make a run to the state championship for the first time in a long time. The Wampus Cats’s next game is on Friday, October 27th, against the Jonesboro Hurricanes, who look to keep their 3-game winning streak alive.