CABOT -- Brandon Thomas compiled the yards and David Chapple racked up the touchdowns as North Little Rock completed an unbeaten regular season with a 38-21 victory over Cabot in a 7A-Central Conference game at Panther Stadium on Thursday night.
Thomas, a 5-11 sophomore, ran 25 times for 189 yards, setting up four touchdown runs for the Charging Wildcats' senior quarterback.
"I took advantage of Brandon's runs," said Chapple, who ran 10 times for 55 yards. "I was kind of wondering why we kept running quarterback sneaks so much, but I got it done."
North Little Rock (10-0) completed its second consecutive unbeaten regular season. The Charging Wildcats have won 26 regular-season games in a row and 20 consecutive conference games. North Little Rock's last regular-season loss came on Sept. 25, 2015, in a home game against Cabot.
[HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL SCOREBOARD: Thursday night's results + recaps, photos and more]
"I've been doing this for a long time and in the 29 years I've been coaching I've never had back-to-back unbeaten [regular] seasons," North Little Rock Coach Jamie Mitchell said. "That's just incredible. ... Our kids have done a good job of buying into what we've been doing. It's unreal. 10-0, 10-0 and in a heckuva conference. It doesn't come easy."
Chapple's touchdowns came on runs of 10, 1, 2 and 1 yards. He also completed 5 of 10 passes for 85 yards. He was intercepted once.
"Going undefeated, that means the world to us, especially to do it two years in a row," Chapple said. "It's just amazing and we love it."
North Little Rock earned a first-round bye for the Class 7A playoffs and will host a quarterfinal game on Nov. 17. Cabot (5-5) will host a first-round game next week against either Rogers or Springdale.
Cabot was limited to 132 total yards through the first three quarters as North Little Rock built a 35-7 advantage. The Panthers picked up scoring runs of 28 yards by senior Noah Sorrell and 89 yards from junior quarterback Tommy Oaks in the final 6:53. Oaks led the Panthers in rushing, running 18 times for 138 yards.
North Little Rock finished with a 357-297 advantage in total yards. The Charging Wildcats did not commit a penalty, were forced to punt only once and scored on seven of their 11 possessions.
Senior kicker Savana Melton kicked field goals of 26 and 28 yards.
Thomas broke off runs of 41, 34 and 29 yards in the first half. He did score one touchdown -- a 2-yard run that capped North Little Rock's first scoring drive with 6:56 remaining in the first quarter.
After an interception by Panthers senior safety Justin Nabors, Cabot tied the game at 7 on a 51-yard pass from Oaks to John Wiens with 1:51 left in the first quarter.
North Little Rock scored the next 28 points.
Leading 20-7 at the half, Chapple started the third quarter with a 48-pass play to senior Aaron Griffin (four catches, 70 yards). Five plays later, Chapple scored from the 2.
"We saw that they had their eyes on our backfield," Mitchell said. "I told our guys at the half that if we could just get one more [score] we'd have them out of their element. ... That [pass] play was huge for us."
Sports on 11/03/2017