Backs charge past Cabot

Saturday, November 17, 2012

— The rematch turned into a second-half mismatch.

Altee Tenpenny and Juan Day rushed for a combined 252 yards and three touchdowns as North Little Rock, ranked No. 2 overall, beat Cabot 28-0 in the quarterfinals of the Class 7A playoffs Friday night at North Little Rock Stadium.

North Little Rock (10-1) will host defending Class 7A state champion Fayetteville in the semifinals next week.

Cabot (7-5) also was beaten 33-14 by North Little Rock in the 7A/6A-East opener Sept. 21 at Panther Stadium.

The Panthers only trailed 7-0 halftime in the rematch, but were overwhelmed in the final 24 minutes.

Cabot managed only 6 totalyards on its first four secondhalf possessions and didn’t record a first down until 4:13 remained in the game.

North Little Rock, after scoring on its first three second-half possessions, led 28-0 at that point behind Tenpenny (18 carries, 136 yards and 1 touchdown) and Day (13 carries, 116 yards and 2 touchdowns).

Leading 28-0, the Charging Wildcats were headed toward applying the 35-point sportsmanship rule until sophomore safety Jacob Ferguson intercepted a pass at the goal line - his second of the game and seventh of the season - with 5:32 left to play.

“I felt good at halftime,” Panthers Coach Mike Malhamsaid. “But, boy, the second half, I don’t think we ever stopped them the first three times they had it. I don’t know if we ever made a first down until that last drive. Basically, they just wore us out in the second half.”

North Little Rock’s other touchdown came on a 6-yard pass from sophomore quarterback Heath Land to senior wide receiver Aaron Adams with 6:28 remaining in the third quarter for a 14-0 lead.

Tenpenny, a senior who has orally committed to Alabama, had runs of 22 and 20 yards on the 12-play, 67-yard drive.

Tenpenny then ran 11 yards for a touchdown with 1:04 left in the third quarter. Day, a junior, followed with an 11-yard touchdown run with 9:57 left in the game.

Charging Wildcats Coach Brad Bolding credited the second-half surge to the team’s offseason conditioning program.

“We push them real hard,” Bolding said. “We probably push them as hard as anybody in the state. We’ve been fortunate enough to have inside looks at some big-time college programs and gotten a lot of good stuff from them that’s helped us. I think the second half, being able to run those backs like we do in and out of there just keeps the wheel churning.”

Day gave North Little Rock a 7-0 halftime lead on a 29-yard touchdown run with 9:53 left in the second quarter.

Cabot’s best chance to score came on its opening possession, but the drive stalled at the North Little Rock 22 after an incomplete pass on fourth down.

Sports, Pages 24 on 11/17/2012