FAYETTEVILLE — It will be a post-Thanksgiving showcase of Fayetteville talent in Little Rock on Friday at 1:30 p.m. when Arkansas hosts Missouri at War Memorial Stadium.
The Razorbacks may start former Purple'Dog and Springdale quarterback Jack Lindsey (6-2, 204) behind Fayetteville-born center Ty Clary while Lindsey could have former Purple'Dog wide receiver Tyson Morris as one of his weapons.
Missouri boasts a trio of former Fayetteville stars in quarterback Taylor Powell (6-2, 210), wide receiver Barrett Banister (6-0, 190) and defensive lineman Akial Byers (6-4, 280).
“We were a really close team in high school,” Clary said Tuesday. “I love those guys. Sunday we have a board in our O-line room with pictures of the whole defense and I took a video of Akial and I was like, ‘Oh, you’re bald now!’ I was making fun of him.
"We still keep in touch. It’s fun.”
All except Lindsey were on either or both of the Purple'Dogs’ 2015 or 2016 state championship teams that won title games at War Memorial Stadium.
Mark Powell, Taylor’s father and an Arkansas basketball team doctor, is proud of all of the former Fayetteville stars.
“Fayetteville has a few guys playing in the NFL right now (Dre Greenlaw and Brandon Allen) and it is fun to watch them on Sundays and also fun to watch all the Fayetteville kids that are playing all over the country in college,” noted Mark Powell. “It is even more impressive when you consider there was a kid that played with them in junior high who is now with Stanford.
“There’s also (suspended Arkansas tight end) C.J. O’Grady. That is quite a bit of players that came from that same team or same program. I don’t know of any other high school in Arkansas that has put that many out on the field at this level at the same time.”
The game could very well pit Powell against Lindsey. They battled for the starting spot at Fayetteville before the latter followed his uncle Zak Clark to Springdale when he took over as head coach.
“I think it is pretty surreal,” Mark Powell said. “They have been friends for a long time and close friends since 10th and 11th even though they were competing against each other a lot of the time. They both have remained really close and both have a really good sense of humor and I think that has really kept them close.”
Powell, who finished his career fifth in Arkansas high school football history in passing yards (10,413) and eighth all-time in touchdown passes (113), played in state championship games at War Memorial in 2016 and 2017, winning both.
“He has had a lot of success there in that stadium and he has been fortunate to be on some really good teams that have gotten to state championships and he has had some of his better games there,” Mark Powell said.
Powell is 21-of-48 passing for 192 yards this season while backing up Missouri starter Kelly Bryant. He got his first start at No. 5 Georgia in a 27-0 loss.
“I was there and it was very surreal,” Mark Powell said. “I had people texting me and going, ‘Oh, my God, that is your kid out there.’ The only word I could come up with was surreal. I watched (former Arkansas assistant) Bobby Allen go through that with two kids and every now and then I would bend his ear about that.
“(Former Arkansas quarterback) Tyler Wilson was telling Taylor that it is a pretty lonely place to be out there taking snaps. I felt lonely for him out there. It felt very intimidating to me. I couldn’t do it.”
Powell threw a 6-yard touchdown pass to Banister and Byers had a fumble recovery in the end zone for a touchdown in Missouri’s 38-0 win over Arkansas in Columbia, Mo., last season.
Banister has 21 catches for 186 yards and a touchdown this season while Byers has 16 tackles.
“Barrett’s been awesome,” Clary said. “He was awesome in high school. All those guys that went to Mizzou, they’re all good players. Barrett knew that [he could play at Mizzou] and he went and proved it to the Mizzou staff.”
That type of thing is bittersweet for interim Arkansas head coach Barry Lunney, Jr., who recruited Powell.
“I think a lot of him and his family,” Lunney said. “Obviously, you know, with his ties here and his dad's ties, they're just great people. I ran into his mom and sister at the DMV not long ago and had a great talk with them. Just really good people and, obviously, like I said yesterday, always for a young man like that until you have to play against him, then I'll be right back for him again the next day.”
Mark Powell noted that Lunney was one of his favorites during the recruiting process.
“We have had the most respect for Coach Lunney even before the recruiting process and he is just from a superb family,” Powell said. “His dad and him have been really cool to my kid. We will always have a strong place in our heart for him for how good he has been to my son.”
Even with Taylor Powell at Missouri, the family remains staunch Razorbacks supporters going back to when his dad was friends with the kids of former Arkansas basketball coach Eddie Sutton and assistant Pat Foster.
“I have always been attached to the basketball team because of being friends with the Suttons and Pat Foster's kids,” Powell said. “I grew up with them, we were good friends.
“I have also been a Razorbacks football fan growing up and so has Taylor and he always will be. You can’t take the Hog out of people.”