UAPB Report

BY BECK CROSS, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

Heat will be on for first game

Preparing for the season opener at Mississippi Valley State on Saturday has kept Arkansas-Pine Bluff Coach Mo Forte plenty busy in the preseason.

Factoring in a 1 p. m. kickoff in Itta Bena, Miss., when temperatures could be in the mid-90 s, brings a few extra challenges. The start time was moved up five hours to accommodate a broadcast by CSTV (College Sports Television ).

“You certainly have to be aware of the conditions you’re playing in,” Forte said. “You have to have more people ready to play in order to get your starters some time on the bench to gather their strength and get their breath. It’s a tough situation for both teams.”

Forte hasn’t adjusted practice times to avoid the hottest hours of the day.

“I would be doing the kids an injustice if I did that,” Forte said. “They’ll have to play in the heat of the day [in the opener ] and I think they’ll be ready.” So many choices

Arkansas-Pine Bluff is armed with the one of the best quarterbacks in the Southwestern Athletic Conference in senior Chris Wallace, who was named the 2006 SWAC Offensive Player of the Year after throwing for almost 2, 000 yards and finished with a conference-best ©. 8 pass efficiency rating.

As proficient as Wallace’s passing was in leading the team to a seven-game winning streak and the school’s first West Division title, UAPB by no means will abandon the run with Martell Mallett and Mickey Dean in the backfield.

Mallett, who was named All-SWAC last season, led the conference with an average of 100. 4 rushing yards per game and scored a SWAC-high 92 points.

Dean, who opened last season as a starter before leaving the first game with a high ankle sprain, was the 2005 SWAC Freshman of the Year after rushing for almost 700 yards. Dean is back this season at full speed.

“We’ve always tried to be as balanced as we can be but we’re still a little heavier on the run than the pass,” Coach Mo Forte said. “We’ve never had Martell and Mickey at the same time and we want to get them the football. At the same time, we have a pretty good passer in Chris Wallace and receiver [Jason Jones ].” Heflin on target

The kicking game at Arkansas-Pine Bluff has been more miss than hit since the Golden Lions made the move to the Division I-AA level in 1996.

But with place-kicker Brodie Heflin back for his senior season, UAPB will have one of the more respected kicking games in the Southwestern Athletic Conference.

Heflin, who is a preseason All-SWAC selection, made 35 of 37 extra-point attempts and had a career-long 48-yard field goal last season.