HIGH SCHOOL PLAYOFFS

NLR out to take next step

Alabama commit Altee Tenpenny, pictured running the ball against Cabot, was visited by Arkansas coach Bret Bielema and running backs coach Joel Thomas on Thursday.
Alabama commit Altee Tenpenny, pictured running the ball against Cabot, was visited by Arkansas coach Bret Bielema and running backs coach Joel Thomas on Thursday.

— The road to the state championship in the state’s largest classification almost always runs through the West.

North Little Rock Coach Brad Bolding said it’s time for the Charging Wildcats to become a roadblock, particularly since the school has been known more the past two decades for how it looks on the field rather than how it performs on the field.

“I saw where Coach Patton said something about we would be the best, most athletic team they’ll play,” Bolding said, referring to Fayetteville Coach Daryl Patton. “That’s nice and that’s a good compliment, but it doesn’t mean anything. If you’re the most athletic, then you ought to go out and win the game.That’s something we have really stressed since January - all the little side talking points that everybody’s said about us.

“It’s time for us to take that next step.”

That chance comes tonight in the semifinals of the Class 7A playoffs, when North Little Rock, No. 2 overall, hosts defending state champion Fayetteville, which is ranked No. 3 overall.

North Little Rock (10-1) has authored its best season since Ole Main and Northeast high schools merged following the 1989-1990 school year, but the Charging Wildcats have yet to crack the 7A-West domination, losing in the semifinals in 2006 and 2009 to Fort Smith Southside.

Overall, the 7A-West has produced the past seven state champions and 18 since the fusion of the state’s two largest classifications following the 1982 season.

North Little Rock’s senior-laden team went a combined 2-5 against the 7A-West in 2010 and 2011 but split four meetings last fall.

Bolding said a 2010 season-opening trip to Bentonville (a 45-0 loss) and playing tradition-rich Longview, Texas, in early September were building blocks for a state championship push this fall.

“We have a lot of respect for Fayetteville and Bentonville - our kids do and our coaches do,” Bolding said. “But at the end of the day, we’re focused, really, on how we go out and execute.”

North Little Rock has won nine consecutive games since a 30-14 loss to Longview on Sept. 7. The Charging Wildcats, the No. 1 seed from the 7A-Central, advanced with a 28-0 victory over Cabot, limiting to the Panthers to 150 total yards (all rushing) on 55 plays.

Offensively, senior tailback Altee Tenpenny (141) and junior tailback Juan Day (120) combined for 261 rushing yards and three touchdowns. Senior utility back Rodney Bryson is also a threat, especially on sweeps and reverses.

“Those three are fast and athletic,” Patton said. “Not that the quarterbacks and wide receivers aren’t good, but those three are really, really special.”

North Little Rock has allowed only one touchdown pass this fall and its starting defense, anchored by 300-pound senior interior linemen Gerald Watson and Javian Williams, has yielded only a handful of points since Longview.

Precision passing is Fayetteville’s strength with senior quarterback Austin Allen (3,230 yards and 27 touchdowns this fall), senior wide receiver Cole Harris (58 receptions) and junior wide receiver Jordan Dennis (53). Allen, who has orally committed to Arkansas, has thrown for more than 7,000 yards the past two seasons.

“They obviously can throw it with an SEC quarterback back there,” Bolding said.

Fayetteville (8-3) has won eight of its past nine games, the only loss coming at top-ranked Bentonville (24-17) in the Nov. 2 regular-season finale. The Bulldogs couldn’t hold a 17-7 second-half lead against the Tigers, who meet Fort Smith Southside in tonight’s other Class 7A semifinal game.

Defensive headliners are senior linebacker Brooks Ellis, the 2011 Arkansas Democrat-Gazette Defensive Player of the Year, and senior All-Arkansas safety Alex Brignoni.

“I don’t think North Little Rock has seen a passing team like us or a quarterback like Austin,” Patton said. “Defensively, we’re playing as good as anybody around. We’ve played against good running backs from Bentonville, Springdale Har-Ber and Conway and held our own.”

Sports, Pages 20 on 11/23/2012

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