LITTLE ROCK -- Fayetteville made big play after big play to put up a 53-19 blowout win on the War Memorial Stadium scoreboard over North Little Rock in the Class 7A state championship on Friday.
Not all the big plays were on offense, either.
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The Purple'Dogs' defense bent at times against the Charging Wildcats, but eventually key stops and huge momentum shifts on the defensive side of the ball completely turned the Class 7A title game into a one-sided affair.
"Huge. (Turnovers) was the difference," Fayetteville coach Bill Blankenship said. "There was a stat going for awhile where we had scored on defense or special teams every game except the first Bentonville game. And a trend of when you can score on defense, there's something to that."
Fayetteville (12-1) won it's second consecutive Class 7A championship with plenty of offense, as Most Valuable Player Taylor Powell completed 15-of-26 passes for 265 yards with four touchdowns, and fellow senior Barrett Banister led the receivers with seven receptions for 124 yards and two scores.
The Bulldogs got the offense rolling in high gear in the third quarter after taking a 20-13 lead into halftime. But it was the crucial plays on defense that sparked everything in Fayetteville's favor.
Trey Coulter intercepted a Trey Cox pass after Fayetteville had built a 26-19 lead in the third quarter. Soon after, Powell found Brennon Lewis for a 39-yard touchdown pass for a 33-19 lead with 7 minutes, 37 seconds left in the third.
With North Little Rock (12-1) driving to stay within reach, Daniel Willits and the Fayetteville defensive line put the rush on Cox, forcing a fumble at the Purple'Dogs' 12 yard line. Kester Olson was there to pick the ball up, racing 88 yards for a fumble return touchdown and a 40-19 Fayetteville lead with 2:44 remaining in the third quarter.
"That's what we walked about at halftime," Coulter said. "We had to come out and play more like we had all season.
"The first half we started slow and were missing tackles. So in the second half we focused on being ourselves and making the plays, and that's what we did."
Then to add more salt to the Charging Wildcats' wound, Luke Waller intercepted Cox and scored on a 22-yard return with 6:41 left to play to extend Fayetteville's lead to 53-19.
Fayetteville, with five overall state championships and back-to-back titles with Friday's victory, is often mentioned as an offensive power in Class 7A. And at times against North Little Rock MVP Powell and the offense did shine.
But defense was just as crucial on the big plays and played perhaps the most vital part in the Bulldogs' blowout on the scoreboard.
"I just really think that this defense is special," Blankenship said. "They've been known for offense here for a long time, but that group on defense was very senior-loaded. And I saw them continue to grow and develop and they were just special."
Sports on 12/03/2016