Sugg proud of individual performance despite recent loss to rival Farmington

By Buck Ringgold

As a fullback, Elijah Sugg knows the value of picking up the tough yards and paving the way for teammates to get their yards.

And then at outside linebacker, Sugg knows the importance of finding the ballcarrier and trying to bring them down.

The Prairie Grove senior takes a great deal of pride in those duties.

“I feel like my strengths on offense is my ability to get yards after contact and blocking, while on defense, I feel like I’m a good tackler, and I can set the edge well,” said Sugg, who has started on both sides of the ball since his junior season and also sees action at halfback.

Sugg is also determined to make up for lost time, as he missed seven games with an ankle injury. Yet, when healthy, Sugg made a difference as he still rushed for more than 700 yards, including 208 in the Tigers’ first-round playoff win against Lonoke, a season in which they finished 7-5.

“As a player, I feel like I did well with the snaps that I had, but my season was cut in half by an injury and I only played five full games,” Sugg said. “I feel like there was much to improve on as well, especially effort on defense. … I think we had a good season (despite) the mistakes we made.”

This season, Sugg has turned in some strong performance. Perhaps his best outing took place in the Tigers’ second game, a narrow loss to neighboring rival Farmington, But Sugg still ran for 224 yards on 22 carries and had three touchdowns.

“I think I will remember (the Farmington game) more than any,” he said. “I had a solid game against a really good team and even though we lost, I am happy with the effort I gave.”

Though Prairie Grove started the season 0-3, losing to three tough non-conference foes, Sugg still raves about how the Tigers have been able to stick together.

“Out of any year I’ve played football, I’ve never felt so close to all of my teammates; the companionship is outstanding,” he said.