NLR 58, Springdale Har-Ber 28
Charging Wildcats make Sandefur winner in debut
North Little Rock’s Johnny Lewis (1) tries to pull away from Springdale Har-Ber’s Sutton Reeh during Friday night’s game in North Little Rock. More photos available at arkansasonline.com/94NLR.
NORTH LITTLE ROCK 58, SPRINGDALE HAR-BER 28
Friday night marked a new era for the North Little Rock football program.
The Charging Wildcats took the field with new Coach Randy Sandefur, marking the team’s third head man in three years.
The two previous coaches, Jamie Mitchell and J.R. Eldridge, both led North Little Rock to Class 7A state championship games appearances. Sandefur, who’s been an assistant at North Little Rock for the past 38 years, comes in with high expectations.
Sandefur and company got off on the right foot Friday as North Little Rock (1-0) beat Springdale Har-Ber (0-2) 5828 at Charging Wildcat Stadium. A back-and-forth game early, the Charging Wildcats eventually found their stride, relying on the run heavily in the second half. They also tallied four turnovers.
North Little Rock amassed 562 yards, with 310 yards on the ground and 252 yards through the air. It averaged 8.5 yards per play.
“Right out of the gates, it was a heavyweight fight,” Sandefur said. “They were punching at us, we were punching at them. The offense came out hot. Defense had a few misalignments on set and Har-Ber capitalized on it, but the key is, daggum, we just kept answering offensively.”
The Charging Wildcats answered in more ways than one, as six different players — quarterback Malachi Gober, running back Torrance Moore, and skill players Davian Vayson, Jiqouri Stewart, Felix Wade and Johnny Lewis — all scored at least once.
Har-Ber kept the game close in the first half, heading into the locker room down 24-21. It could have looked much different, considering the Wildcats fumbled three times.
The first turnover came on Har-Ber’s third drive of the game, with Braxton Johnson recovering a Hudson Brewer fumble at midfield, setting up a 45-yard touchdown pass on the next play. Two more fumbles in the second quarter, including one with 1:54 left in the half, put a halt to surging Har-Ber drives.
“The point swing in the first half was critical,” HarBer Coach Chris Wood said. “In putting them behind the eight-ball a little bit, we didn’t, but that’s credit to them. They found a way out of it.”
The Wildcats came to North Little Rock after a loss in the Lone Star State 35-28 to McKinney. Wood said after watching tape, it was evident Friday night’s opponent was going to be better in critical areas.
“When you compare them on film, we knew going in the North Little Rock offensive line was a lot better. We knew they were more physical. We knew the quarterback play was better.”
Those areas showed Friday as Gober, who made his first start at quarterback for North Little Rock, had a 16for-26 passing day with 237 yards, 3 touchdowns and no interceptions.
Led by starting offensive linemen Corlis Farmer, Romello Buford, Zephaniah Williams, Lee Shephard and Sam Nieves, the North Little Rock ground game got a push up front as nine different players tallied at least one carry. Moore got the bulk of the touches, finishing with a team-leading 153 yards on 15 carries. He also scored three touchdowns and averaged 10.2 yards a carry.
“He runs angry,” Gober said in reference to Moore. “A dynamic player [who] can catch the ball out of the backfield, but the main thing is he just runs angry.”
For Har-Ber, they were led in large part by quarterback Luke Buchanan, who finished 17 for 34 with 259 yards passing, 2 touchdowns and 1 interception. He and Brewer led the ground game, with Brewer posting 64 yards on 16 carries and Buchanan posting 61 yards on 11 touches.