Sr. class set it up for Kelley
Kevin Kelley has been one of the state’s best coaches in this century.
His 2017 Pulaski Academy team may have been his best yet.
The Bruins set the state record for most points in a season with 784. That mark topped Junction City’s 747 total in 2003.
Pulaski Academy also won its fourth consecutive Class 5A state championship, coming back from a 13-point fourth-quarter deficit to knock off 5A-Central Conference rival Little Rock McClellan 3736 on Dec. 2 at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock.
Kelley is this year’s Arkansas Democrat-Gazette All-Arkansas Preps coach of the year after guiding Pulaski Academy to a 14-0 record and the school’s seventh state championship.
Kelley’s honor can partly be traced to a veteran group that in eighth grade knew it could be one of the best classes at Pulaski Academy, he said.
Kelley called Pulaski Academy’s senior class — led by quarterback Layne Hatcher, wide receivers Tra Johnson and Brett Lynch, offensive linemen Luke Jones and Allen Amuimuia, and linebackers Brooks Walton and Wesley Wise — a special group to coach. It’s a group that believed that it could win multiple championships in a row, he said.
“That’s what made it fun,” Kelley said. “They were borderline cocky coming in. But they figured it out along the way. It’s a lot harder than we thought it was going to be. Their work ethic never stopped. They came set in what they wanted to do. They really thought they can do it.
“I said, ‘Guys, I don’t think you understand how hard this is.’ But it’s a great group of kids. They’re fun to be around. They knew when to have fun. They knew when to work. They knew when to get people in line.
“They knew they worked so hard to accomplish their goals.”
Pulaski Academy defeated out-of-state opponents Sand Springs, Okla., Memphis Ridgeway and Bossier City (La.) Parkway, the latter televised nationally on ESPNU on Sept. 15. The Bruins went undefeated (7-0) in the 5A-Central with key victories over Little Rock Christian (86-56), Little Rock Parkview (43-40) and McClellan (61-29).
The Bruins also won at 5A-East Conference No. 1 seed Nettleton 50-28 on Nov. 24 in the Class 5A semifinals. It was their first playoff game outside Pulaski County since 2009 at Monticello (the Bruins played at Little Rock Christian in the 5A semifinals in 2015).
Pulaski Academy invoked the mercy rule in 12 of its 14 games in 2017. The state championship game against McClellan was one of the two where the Bruins didn’t. But Kelley has no regrets, especially since the Bruins were able to come out on top of Class 5A once again.
“This made it a more special year, winning the championship the way we did,” Kelley said. “I would have rather us won it easily. But now that it’s over with, I wouldn’t change a thing.”