North Little Rock protected its house for the fourth consecutive week.
[HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL SCOREBOARD: Full results + recaps, photos and more]
Alex Day rushed for 165 yards and 1 touchdown on 11 carries and Trey Cox threw 3 touchdown passes in the Charging Wildcats' 49-7 rout of Little Rock Central on Friday night in the teams' 7A-Central Conference opener.
North Little Rock (4-0, 1-0 7A-Central), the No. 4 team in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette's Overall Top 10 and Class 7A Super Six, scored on its first six offensive possessions en route to a 42-7 halftime lead. The Charging Wildcats, who opened the season with victories over Maumelle, Little Rock McClellan and Little Rock Parkview, rolled over Central, outgaining the Tigers 563-193.
In the Charging Wildcats' first four games, they've outscored opponents 166-35 in the first half.
"We're just playing at a high level," Coach Jamie Mitchell said. "It scares me, but we've got a good football team. Our guys are clicking on all cylinders. We've been really good on both sides of the ball. We've been good in the kicking game. Hopefully, we can just keep doing that."
Cox completed 8 of 10 passes for 220 yards. Wynton Ruth had 3 catches for 75 yards and 2 touchdowns and added 38 rushing yards and another score.
Mitchell complemented Cox's play Friday and said that with North Little Rock's solid rushing attack with Day and Ruth, Cox can take advantage of future opponents through the air while they're trying to stop the run.
"He's a very underrated guy," Mitchell said. "Hopefully, he'll stay underrated. People are going to continue to crowd the box against us and he'll light you up if you do that."
North Little Rock took control of its biggest rival early Friday night.
Day's 48-yard run set up Cox's 30-yard touchdown pass to Erion Cooney as the Charging Wildcats took a 7-0 lead with 8:52 left in the first quarter.
Jason Ronnel missed a 40-yard field goal attempt for Central on its next possession, then North Little Rock made it 14-0 at the 3:13 mark on Cox's 60-yard pass to Ruth, who eluded Central defender Devontay Allen.
The Tigers cut the lead to 14-7 with 1:15 left in the first quarter when junior Jacob Howard threw a 31-yard touchdown pass to Terrance Jones over the middle.
Ruth caught his second touchdown pass of the half, this one a 15-yarder, that gave North Little Rock a 21-7 lead with 11:39 remaining in the first half.
Day, who missed the first two weeks with a knee injury and returned last week against Little Rock Parkview, had his longest run of the season, scoring on a 48-yard run down the right sideline to extend the Charging Wildcats' lead to 28-7 at the 9:27 mark.
North Little Rock pushed its lead to 42-7 on Ruth's six-yard run and Darius Austin's 60-yard run. Kalen Turner's 1-yard run in the third quarter capped the Charging Wildcats' scoring.
Central Coach Ellis "Scooter" Register's team went undefeated in nonconference play, but on Friday night, the Tigers ran into one of the top teams in Class 7A, losing to North Little Rock for the ninth consecutive season.
"They were the better ballclub tonight," Register said. "They took it to us early. It's the first time we've faced adversity. We just didn't respond. But they're a really good football team."
Kalen Turner added a 1-yard run in the third quarter for North Little Rock. Savana Melton made all seven of her point-after attempts.
Howard completed 14 of 27 passes for 124 yards and 1 touchdown for the Tigers (3-1, 1-1 7A-Central). Oscar Adaway was held to 40 yards on 15 carries.
Sports on 09/24/2016