NLR rallies, wins

No. 4 North Little Rock used two quarterbacks and a third-string running back to claim a 17-7, come-from-behind victory over No. 5 Conway.

NORTH LITTLE ROCK 17, CONWAY 7

The North Little Rock Charging Wildcats followed two quarterbacks and a thirdstring running back to a 17-7 come-from-behind victory over Conway at Charging Wildcat Stadium on Friday night.

Junior quarterback Kareame Cotton returned from a three-game suspension to back up junior starter Damon Bell, who led North Little Rock’s first scoring drive midway through the third quarter when thirdstring junior running back Jerrell Rice’s 20-yard touchdown run tied the score at 7-7.

A 34-yard field goal by junior Liam Selhorst gave North Little Rock a 10-7 lead with 16 seconds left in the third quarter.

North Little Rock (3-2, 2-0 7A-Central) held Conway (23, 1-1) to 22 yards of offense in the second half, so its victory was nearly assured when Cotton directed a 12-play, 79yard drive that gave his team a 17-7 lead on Rice’s 2-yard run with 5:53 left in the game.

“We did a really good job in the fourth quarter of finishing the game,” North Little Rock Coach Jamie Mitchell said.

“Right there in the fourth quarter, they wore us down a little bit,” Conway Coach Keith Fimple said. “We weren’t playing quite as fast as we were at first, but that’s a credit to them and Jamie Mitchell. That’s what they do. That’s what they hang their hat on, and that’s what they’ve won a lot of games with.”

North Little Rock completed the game with 354 yards of total offense. Bell and Cotton combined for 109 passing yards.

Rice replaced senior Brandon Thomas in the second quarter. Thomas had carried 14 times for 85 yards when he aggravated some injuries. As his replacement, Rice had his first rushes of the season and carried 18 times for 85 yards.

“Coach said I had a good week in practice all week, and I think he believed in me,” Rice said. “I did what he said he thought I was going to do.”

“I’m really proud of him,” Mitchell said of Rice. “What a half he played.”

North Little Rock had a five-minute edge in first-half time of possession but failed on field-goal attempts of 36 and 40 yards by Selhorst. Junior Markel Wynn dropped what would have been a 29yard touchdown pass from Cotton.

“We missed those kicks and dropped a touchdown pass, but to our credit, I thought we did a great job of not panicking and staying the course,” Mitchell said.

Conway did not begin a first-half drive on North Little Rock’s side of the field and crossed midfield twice. Its final drive of the half began 89 yards from the North Little Rock end zone, which it reached in four plays on four passes from senior quarterback Nick McCuin, the final an 11-yard touchdown catch by senior Mathew Anderson that gave Conway a 7-0 lead with 1:44 left in the first half.

Before that drive, McCuin had completed 3 of 12 passes for 16 yards. He finished the game with 9 completions in 25 attempts for 106 yards. Conway gained a total of 156 yards of offense.

“It was a hard-fought game,” Mitchell said. “I knew it would be a classic 7A-Conference game. Conway is as good as there’s going to be, so I’m just super proud of our kids.”

“Coach said I had a good week in practice all week, and I think he believed in me. I did what he said he thought I was going to do.”

North Little Rock junior running back Jerrell Rice