LITTLE ROCK — Pulaski Academy got one of its injured offensive stars back Friday night, found a suitable replacement for another and its defense forced six turnovers in a 56-0 rout of North Pulaski at Joe B. Hatcher Stadium.
Star tight end Hunter Henry returned after missing last week’s loss to West Memphis with a concussion, but quarterback Lawson Vassar watched after spraining an ankle in last week’s loss.
Sophomore Will Hefley led the Bruins (3-1, 1-0 5A-Central) to touchdowns on his first seven drives and helped them rack up 404 yards of offense and score all 56 of their points in the first half.
Hefley, who played the second half after Vassar got hurt last week, completed 20 of 27 passes for 304 yards and 6 touchdowns, including a screen to L.J. Wallace on the Bruins’ second play that went 69 yards for their first score.
Bruins Coach Kevin Kelley said Hefley was more prepared this week after taking most of the reps in practice. He said his backup quarterbacks rarely get many chances in practice, so Hefley wasn’t ready for much when he was suddenly thrust into last week’s game.
“That’s my fault, philosophically,” Kelley said. “I always say, ‘If we’re going to put in the backup quarterback we’re just not going to be prepared, we’ll do what we can that game and I’ll get them ready the next week.’ That’s kind of what we did.”
Hefley didn’t even need Henry much. The Arkansas commitment didn’t play defense, or much in the second half, but he caught a 5-yard touchdown pass to make it 36-0 late in the second quarter and finished with three catches for 34 yards.
Wallace led all receivers with 7 catches for 117 yards and 3 touchdowns, while Jalen Seals and Lawson Jones also caught touchdown passes before the Bruins pulled back in the second half.
All of the final two quarters were played with a running clock and the teams needed 28 minutes to play the second half.
The Bruins held the Falcons (1-3, 0-1) to 176 yards of offense and recovered six of North Pulaski’s eight fumbles, five that led to touchdowns, including Tyler Colquitt’s 70-yard return after stripping quarterback Steven Farrior to make it 29-0 in the first quarter.
Farrior had 63 yards rushing but was held to 9 of 20 passing for 101 yards.
“I was really impressed with their offense, but I was equally impressed with their defense,” Falcons Coach Teodis Ingram said.
Sports, Pages 27 on 09/22/2012