HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL PLAYOFFS

NLR's Tenpenny measures up on field

North Little Rock running back Altee Tenpenny jumps over Cabot defensive back Jordan Burke during the Charging Wildcats’ 28-0 victory in the Class 7A quarterfinals Friday night in North Little Rock. Tenpenny, who rushed for 141 yards in Friday’s victory, was penalized on the play for hurdling. The Charging Wildcats will begin their first season without Tenpenny tonight after Tenpenny graduated and signed with Alabama.
North Little Rock running back Altee Tenpenny jumps over Cabot defensive back Jordan Burke during the Charging Wildcats’ 28-0 victory in the Class 7A quarterfinals Friday night in North Little Rock. Tenpenny, who rushed for 141 yards in Friday’s victory, was penalized on the play for hurdling. The Charging Wildcats will begin their first season without Tenpenny tonight after Tenpenny graduated and signed with Alabama.

— Picture a slender high jumper using an old-school scissor-style technique to clear a height of maybe five feet.

Now picture a chiseled 212-pound running back, in full pads, cradling a football in his left arm, trying to do the same.

Altee Tenpenny has seen the picture and simply smiled Monday night in North Little Rock’s field house when describing his breathtaking takeoff, flight and landing — captured on several digital images.

“When I see this, it’s just having fun on a Friday night,” Tenpenny said.

These are fun times for Tenpenny, North Little Rock’s prized senior tailback and perhaps the state’s top recruiting prospect.

Tenpenny, who has orally committed to play at Alabama, has rushed for at least 100 yards in his past five games, including a 141-yard output in Friday night’s 28-0 victory over Cabot in the quarterfinals of the Class 7A playoffs. He had runs of 22 and 20 yards on one touchdown drive and scored on an 11-yard run after diving to reach the pylon with the football clutched in his right hand.

Still, it was one carry in the third quarter that had the crowd really buzzing at North Little Rock Stadium.

Tenpenny swept right end and reversed field toward the North Little Rock bench, where junior defensive back Jordan Burke was waiting to make the tackle.

Tenpenny didn’t try to run over or around Burke, who is listed at 5-8. Instead, Tenpenny tried to jump over him.

What immediately went through Charging Wildcats Coach Brad Bolding’s mind? “Wow!” he said.

“You see guys leaping over guys that are down here,” Bolding said, pointing to the ground. “It was amazing.”

Tenpenny said he instinctively jumped because he believed Burke was on his way down and aiming for the lower legs, but Burke remained on his feet and Tenpenny’s right leg — roughly five feet off the ground — ticked the top of the defender’s helmet.

“I missed clearing him by maybe an inch,” Tenpenny said. “I barely hit him. I probably jumped my height, which is 5-11.”

Tenpenny said that in the air his thought was not to try and stick the landing but to protect himself and “go limp,” per Bolding’s previous instructions.

Tenpenny landed on his back and was promptly flagged 15 yards for hurdling, a personal foul penalty under National Federation of State High School Association rules and a point of emphasis (safety) in 2012.

“It threw me off,” he said. “I was shocked. I didn’t know hurdling another player wasn’t legal, but the official’s call is the final call.”

Tenpenny’s leap of faith was a snapshot of what makes him such a coveted prospect.

He was a member of North Little Rock’s Class 7A state championship 400-meter relay team last spring, has been electronically timed in the 40-yard dash at 4.42 seconds, bench presses 325 pounds, power cleans 320 pounds, squats 510 pounds and has a 37-inch vertical jump.

Bolding said Tenpenny’s lower body, the motor for his explosive power, is “probably more developed that most college running backs.”

“He’s still got some work to do in his upper body, but his lower body is amazing,” Bolding said.

Tenpenny said he believes his performance on the field this fall has helped shed his image of only being a “combine guy” after finishing second the past two years at Nike’s prestigious SPARQ National Championship, which tests many of the nation’s top recruiting prospects in events like the 40-yard dash and vertical jump.

“I’ve heard it,” he said. “You can’t stop people from saying what they want to say. You just have to go out and prove them wrong, and this season I feel like I’ve shut a couple of people up.”

Tenpenny was the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette Metro Sophomore of the Year after rushing 147 times for 1,121 yards and 15 touchdowns but missed the 2011 season after breaking his ankle in a preseason scrimmage.

He returned in August in a scrimmage against Conway, and his first carry resulted in a 42-yard gain. Tenpenny said the play “knocked off a little rust” and reinforced that his ankle was 100 percent.

“I’m head and shoulders better now,” he said.

Tenpenny has helped North Little Rock (10-1) reach Friday’s semifinals against defending state champion Fayetteville by rushing 181 times for 1,328 yards and 19 touchdowns.

Jonesboro Coach Randy Coleman said Tenpenny’s combination of size and speed stamps him an elite player.

“His lower half is so big and strong,” Coleman said. “He’s tough between the tackles, and then we he gets out in the open he’s very, very good.”

So good that might try to hurdle a defender — again.

“Nine times out of 10, I’m probably going to jump,” Tenpenny said with a laugh. “But if he’s not coming too low, then, man, I’ll just try to run through him.”

Sports, Pages 19 on 11/21/2012

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