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There’s good news and bad news for Green Forest fans heading into the 2023 football season as the Tigers look to improve on last season’s 1-9 record.
This year’s Tigers have some ability, coach Greg Tibbitt says, but experience is lacking.
“We were at Harrison team camp and I look up toward the end of the camp and I told (assistant coach Tyler) Harness: ‘There are nine sophomores on the field right now defensively for us.’ We’re young. I think we are probably more talented, but we are very, very, very young right now.”
Tibbitt has made a point of putting the Tigers up against top competition during the summer.
“I don’t know whether we benefit from it or not,” he said. “I kind of beat myself up both ways over it, but we’ve done that the last few years.”
This year, Green Forest has participated in camps at Greenbrier and Alma – taking on teams like Fayetteville, Rogers and Fort Smith Northside.
“We’ve seen the big boys this summer and then we team camped with Harrison and Salem, so it was good for us as well,” Tibbitt said.
Green Forest will have a new starting quarterback after the graduation of two-year starter Isaiah Fraga, but Tibbitt said the competition for the QB job is still open. Junior Brityn Gilliam filled in when Fraga was injured last season and is in the mix this summer.
“We’re looking at him,” Tibbitt said. “We’re looking at (sophomore) Ryne Stone. Also Chance McKee, another sophomore. Those three guys have been getting reps. I would say Brityn’s probably got the workload of the reps so far.”
The Tigers’ top offensive threat last season was running back Ridge Cole Swofford, who ran for 134 yards and three touchdowns and a two-point conversion and also caught a touchdown pass in a 45-41 loss to Huntsville. Swofford, now a junior, is also a force defensively at linebacker.
Tibbitt said Swofford is in better shape heading into this season after entering his sophomore year coming off a torn ACL.
“He’s looking really good,” Tibbitt said. “He’s stronger. He’s faster. He had a real good day over at team camp with Harrison. He’s going to be the workhorse for sure. Hopefully we can try to play him one way, but he’s as good defensively, also. So we’ll see how that goes.”
Green Forest will play host Clarksville in a scrimmage on Aug. 18 before opening the regular season on the road at West Fork on Aug. 25.
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