FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — The 7A state champion Fayetteville Bulldogs completed the perfect 13-0 season in 2023 with a win over rival Bentonville in the championship game to claim the school's first title since 2016.
However there's a famous saying in sports, it's easier to get to the peak, than it is to stay there, which may be especially true for Fayetteville as they lost arguably their best player in quarterback Drake Lindsey.
Lindsey, who is now at the University of Minnesota, threw for nearly 4000 yards to go along with 54 touchdowns last season on his way to a state title game MVP and being named the 2023 Arkansas Gatorade Player of the Year.
However there is plenty of talent returning for the Bulldogs as the team will have 38 seniors on the roster this year, which they believe is the X-factor to their success.
"I mean there is a lot of experience coming back," said Head Coach Casey Dick.
"Experience often leads to maturity in high school football so they understand situationally what we expect. They know what a Thursday is supposed to look like, they know what a Monday is supposed to look like so that experience for us is very key. It's something you can't replace in high school football. Again, those guys have been in the fire they know what to expect. They've been through an offseason, so their doing a great job of handling everything that we're throwing at them."
Fayetteville will put that experience to the test in week one on the road against Cabot.
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