No. 4 Cabot 34, North Little Rock 3
Cabot running back Adam Flores (center) is taken down by several North Little Rock defenders during Friday night’s 7A/6A-East Conference opener. The Panthers scored the game’s final 27 points to keep the Charging Wildcats winless on the season.
Cabot’s Dead-T offense typically lends itself to long, methodical drives of short runs that forces the defense to watch a ticking clock.
The Panthers took control of a 7A/6A-East game Friday night at North Little Rock thanks to two big plays separated by less than two minutes made by a pair of brothers.
Jarrod Barnes darted down the right hash for a 74-yard touchdown run on the second play of the third quarter and, five plays later, Holdyn Barnes returned an interception 40 yards for another score to spark Cabot to a 34-3 victory over North Little Rock.
Jarrod Barnes, Cabot’s quarterback, added a 23-yard touchdown run on an option keeper later in the third quarter and finished with 133 yards on six rushes and his one completed pass went for 55 yards on a second-quarter scoring drive. Holdyn Barnes’ interception return was his fourth touchdown this season, all on defense or special teams for the Panthers (4-0, 1-0), who have started the season with four consecutive victories for the second time in three seasons.
“The Barnes boys, they’re both good athletes,” Cabot Coach Mike Malham said. “Probably as good as we’ve had around here in a long time.”
North Little Rock (0-4, 0-1) couldn’t keep up when it stalled in the red zone.
Five times the Charging Wildcats got to the Panthers’ 20 or closer, and they managed only a 34-yard field goal by Austin Bilon in the first quarter. On the other trips, the Charging Wildcats missed a field goal, and turned it over on downs three times.
“You know, just couldn’t be more disappointed,” Charging Wildcats Coach Jamie Mitchell said. “It seems like we just can’t get out of our own way right now.”
Cabot took a 7-0 lead on Kolton Eads’ 7-yard touchdown and led 7-3 when North Little Rock had a chance to take the lead. Trey Cox and Alex Day helped drive the Charging Wildcats to the Panthers’ 15, but Cox threw incomplete passes on third and fourth down to turn the ball over.
The Panthers then marched 85 yards on five plays, the big play being a Jarrod Barnes 55yard pass to tight end Austin Nguyen, then Barnes scored on a 1-yard run to make it 14-3 at halftime.
Jarrod Barnes’ 74-yard run made it 20-3 and Cox’s pass into the flat was picked off by Holdyn Barnes to make it 27-3. Jarrod Barnes later went 23 yards around the right end on an option keeper to make it 34-3.
“He’s an electric dude in open space,” Mitchell said. “It’s next to impossible to hem him up.”
Eads added 78 yards rushing for Cabot, which had 362 yards of offense. North Little Rock got 101 yards from Day, but was held to 241 total yards.
“The thing I love about our defense tonight is we didn’t give up the big play,” Malham
said. “If people have to earn their way down the field, I feel like our front seven is pretty tough.”