NLR wipes out big deficit to top Bryant, keep streak
7A-CENTRAL
NORTH LITTLE ROCK 34, BRYANT 28
Bryant won the first quarter.
North Little Rock eventually won Friday night’s game and the 7A-Central Conference’s No. 1 seed.
Junior running back Brandon Thomas’ go-ahead 7-yard touchdown run with 4:58 remaining lifted the Arkansas
Democrat-Gazette’s overall No. 1 team, the Charging Wildcats, to a 34-28 victory over the No. 2 Hornets at Charging Wildcat Stadium in North Little Rock.
North Little Rock (9-0, 6-0) trailed 21-0 after one quarter, but went on to win its 22nd consecutive game and 35th regular-season game in a row.
Thomas said the Charging Wildcats believed they could come back and win despite being down by three touchdowns in the first half.
“Keep fighting,” said Thomas, who finished with 90 yards on 14 carries and a touchdown. “Work hard and keep finishing. Don’t let it get to us.”
North Little Rock Coach Jamie Mitchell said he was proud of his team’s resiliency.
“One thing I can guarantee you about our guys is that they’re not going to flinch,” Mitchell said. “You can put us behind the 8-ball. I’m not going to say we’re going to win every game. But our guys will not bat an eye at adversity’s face. They’re not going to.
“We’re not going to panic. We’re going to stay the course.”
As for Bryant (7-2, 5-1), Coach Buck James lamented his team’s inability to finish Friday.
“We didn’t compete,” James said. “We got hit in the mouth. We didn’t play with the fire and intensity that we had. They kept fighting and stayed in the game. When everything went wrong for us, we sort of felt sorry for ourselves and didn’t do what we needed to do.”
The Charging Wildcats tied the game at 21-21 with 8:13 left in the third quarter with sophomore Kareame Cotton’s 35-yard pass to senior tight end Drew Martin.
North Little Rock took its first lead, 28-21, with 9:20 left on Cotton’s 2-yard run.
Bryant came right back, as senior quarterback Ren Hefley threw a 25-yard touchdown pass to junior Jake Meaders to tie the game at 28-28 with 8:15 remaining.
On North Little Rock’s next drive, senior running back Oscar Adaway’s 28-yard run set up Thomas’ 7-yard touchdown run that made it 34-28 Charging Wildcats. However, senior Ethan Lee’s extra-point attempt was wide right.
Bryant had an opportunity to tie the game or take the lead, but the Hornets went three-and-out and had to punt. From there, North Little Rock was able to run out the clock over the final 3:30.
Bryant jumped out to a 21-0 lead in the first quarter with two touchdown passes from Hefley — a 14-yard pass to senior Grant Botti and a 73-yard pass to Meaders — and a 25-yard run by senior running back Latavion Scott.
Leading 21-7, Hefley was intercepted by North Little Rock senior defensive back Sedrick Cain at the Charging Wildcats’ 29. Cain returned it to the North Little Rock 49. His interception set up Cotton’s 14-yard touchdown pass to Martin with 16 seconds left in the half to pull the Charging Wildcats within 21-14.
For North Little Rock, Adaway rushed for 125 yards on 18 carries and also had a 49-yard touchdown catch in the second quarter. Senior fullback Tyler Day had 93 yards on 15 carries. Cotton passed for 130 yards and 3 touchdowns.
Hefley threw for 228 yards and 3 touchdowns for the Hornets.
Scott finished with 82 yards and 1 touchdown on 20 carries.