GENTRY -- A little change doesn't faze Dustin Stoufflet.
Gentry football coach Brian Little approached the senior following the Pioneers' win over Berryville and asked him to make an unusual position change. He wanted Stoufflet to move from running back to offensive line.
A pair of linemen quit the team after a 30-14 loss to Pea Ridge in the 4A-1 Conference opener. Another was injured in the Berryville game, leaving the Pioneers with only four linemen and Little searching for answers.
The 6-foot, 215-pound Stoufflet turned out to be just what Little and the Pioneers needed as he stepped into a tackle spot and helped Gentry notch a pair of 4A-1 Conference wins to earn a spot in the playoffs last week.
Gentry (3-7) traveled to Pine Bluff Dollarway (8-2), which is ranked No. 1 in Class 4A according to Hooten's Arkansas Football.
Stoufflet has spent most of his high school career as a back or receiver on offense. It's ironic that Little chose to make the move after Stoufflet's best game of the season offensively. He caught three passes for 66 yards and two touchdowns and also chipped in 34 yards rushing. But Stoufflet didn't mind the move.
Even Little agreed he might not have been happy about it, but it was his maturity that got the coach's attention.
"We did talk about it," Little said. "I told him 'Hey, I need to move you. You're the first choice because of your size and ability.' He's done a really, really good job with it. That's what I'm most proud of is the way he's handled it. He probably wasn't happy about it, but he handled it in a mature way and that's one of the things I'll remember about him and this season.
"He took one for the team as a senior and that's outstanding."
Stoufflet understood.
"Oh I like the back area, but it's just whatever I need to do to get the job done," Stoufflet said. "To help the team progress. We lack linemen and I could see how I got moved there. I'm bigger than some of them."
He talked about starting his football career as a youngster at center, but he soon moved to running back. But he acknowledged there he had to adjust to the position change.
"Oh it's different blocking now instead of being the one running with the ball," Stoufflet said.
Little said Stoufflet also has the football mind to make the change seamlessly.
"It may seem like a new position, but the blocking schemes and the reads are really similar for him," Little said. "It wasn't a radical change and he has the football mind to make those subtle changes."
Little is proud of the way his Pioneers have progressed this season, despite the 3-7 record. But he also referenced a preseason poll that picked Gentry to finish last in the 4A-1.
"We were picked eighth, but we didn't finish eighth," Little said. "Matter of fact we were playing for a chance to finish fourth in the last week. I think it's something to say for this group to have hung in there and kept fighting and we're in the playoffs."
Sports on 11/19/2014