By Mike Marzelli, Pine Bluff Commercial
Johnathan Moore will remain as Arkansas-Pine Bluff's starting quarterback for Saturday's game at Southern Illinois and it appears as though the job will belong to the former Dollarway star for the foreseeable future.
Moore, who replaced Southwestern Athletic Conference Offensive Player of the Year Chris Wallace under center in Saturday's 12-10 loss to Alabama State after Wallace had missed the previous week of practice with exhaustion, completed 8-of-25 passes for 83 yards and also ran for a score against the Hornets. His start this weekend will be the fourth of his three-year college career.
“Johnathan Moore is still our guy,” Forte said. “The thing he has to do is look at some more film and really study some film of himself and our opponents and just increase his knowledge of the position and what we need from him. We don't need him to go out there and win the game for us, he just needs to play within himself and manage the game and make good decisions.”
Wallace, who spent Saturday on the sidelines in street clothes, has returned to full practice this week and got a number of snaps with the first-team offense on Tuesday. The senior looks to have regained his strength and is slated to be Moore's backup.
“It is great to have Chris back out here,” Forte said. “Any time a member of our UAPB family is sick or hurt or has anything wrong you just pray for him and you want him back out here so it's good to see him back.”
Continued struggles up front
Forte continues to be frustrated by the ongoing struggles of his offensive line, which was unable to hold the line of scrimmage in either facet of the offense for the third straight contest Saturday.
Offensive coordinator and line coach Jonathan Cannon, a former UAPB offensive lineman himself, continues to work long and hard with the group but Forte says there is only so much a coach can do.
“There isn't one thing that we need to focus on or spend extra time on, they just need to keep working and keep getting better and they can't quit,” he said. “It's really just the whole thing that offensive lines work on throughout the season that they need to spend their time in practice doing because we just haven't been good enough.”
Tough loss
The Golden Lions are still stung by their last-second loss in Saturday's Arkansas Classic but the coaching staff has made sure to emphasize the need to move on.
Practice has been crisp to begin the week, especially on Tuesday when UAPB has its longest workout of the week, but the disappointment from the loss still lingers.
“It's been rough,” Forte said. “That's as tough a loss as any right here but these kids are resilient and they know we need to look ahead and never look back anymore.”
A tough test
Southern Illinois will be as tough an opponent as UAPB faces all season. The Salukis are currently ranked sixth in the Football Championship Subdivision after reaching the national semifinals a year ago.
It's a challenge UAPB is welcoming for the second straight year.
“Some teams don't get the chance to play a top ten team but we do and we're going to make the most of it,” Forte said. “They're an outstanding football team with so many talented athletes and they're going to be very tough but we're a good football team and we like challenges.
Last season UAPB hung with SIU for a little over a half and trailed 21-16 early in the third quarter before the Salukis ripped off five straight scores and 27 consecutive points to close the game.
“We were right there in a tough game and then they just broke it open,” Forte said. “It gives our kids confidence that they can compete with them if we play every play and we all know it would be great to go in there and pull an upset.”
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