Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Bruins dominate
Pulaski Academy rolled up 579 yards of offense and recovered four onside kicks to defeat Little Rock Christian 64-27 to win its second consecutive Class 5A state championship Saturday. It was the ninth state championship since 2003 for the Bruins.
Pulaski Academy running back Joe Himon didn’t put up the same gaudy offensive numbers Saturday that he did when the Bruins blistered Little Rock Christian 60-28 on Oct. 23.
But the junior was just as potent in the rematch, and that yielded nearly identical results.
The 5-9, 175-pounder accounted for 203 yards of offense and scored four touchdowns to power Pulaski Academy to a 64-27 victory in the Class 5A state title game at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock. Himon carried 16 times for 74 yards and scored on a pair of 14-yard runs as well as a 4-yarder. He also caught 6 passes for 129 yards and 1 touchdown, a 42-yarder that gave the Bruins their second score of the game.
“Great football player, better human being,” Pulaski Academy Coach Kevin Kelley said of Himon, who was named the game’s MVP. “He practices hard, he plays hard, he never asks for anything, he blocks, he runs guys off so we can throw routes underneath him and everything. It gets no better than this guy.”
Himon’s versatility is what makes him a pain for opposing defenses and a luxury for the two-time defending champions.
As a sophomore, Himon ran for 1,300 yards and 16 touchdowns and had 738 yards receiving with 5 scores. This year, he finished with 1,923 yards rushing, 1,052 yards receiving and 34 touchdowns.
“We’d worked very hard all year, through covid and everything,” Himon said. “We just kept pushing and kept pushing the whole year, and we finally achieved our goal. I’ve been playing hard the whole season, just with the help of my teammates and coaches.
“So I think this game was kind of a statement for me.”
A statement may not have been needed from Himon, especially after what he did to the Bruins’ 5A-Central Conference rivals in their earlier meeting.
In Pulaski Academy’s earlier 32-point victory, Himon had 164 yards receiving and 162 yards rushing while scoring 3 times. On Saturday, the lightening quick standout presented the same kinds of problems for Little Rock Christian, and there wasn’t much the Warriors were able to do to slow him or the Bruins’ offense down.
Himon was able to break tackles on several of his carries and very rarely went down on initial contact. On a couple of his receptions, he managed to use his speed out in space to generate separation, which usually meant additional yardage.
Little Rock Christian Coach Eric Cohu said his team didn’t do themselves any favors in helping keep guys like Himon from hurting them extensively.
“They’ve got multiple weapons, they do a million things,” Cohu explained. “You’ve got to play perfectly. We dropped a couple of interceptions that would’ve helped obviously, and [Pulaski Academy] had multiple pass interference calls to help drives. So those penalties and a couple of opportunities to get turnovers. … The bottom line is to compete and to win the game, we needed our offense on the field.”
Instead, if was the Bruins’ prolific offense that spent more than half of the game with the ball, which afforded Pulaski Academy’s top playmaker more chances for big plays.
And now with a second championship in tow, Himon intends to put in even more work to try to help Pulaski Academy end the 2021 season the same way it capped off 2020.
“To be a part of this legacy is very special,” he said. “Just winning back-to-back and knowing next year that we can win another one. I just want to go do that and just do anything I can to help my team win.”