Bad weather and the North Little Rock Charging Wildcats dominated.
North Little Rock followed sophomore quarterback Kareame Cotton to a 38-8 rain-soaked, lightning-strewn 7A-Central Conference victory over the Little Rock Central Tigers at Charging Wildcat Stadium on Friday night.
With the approval of game officials, administrators, and coaches from both schools, the game was declared official at the end of the third quarter because of lightning.
"We thought there was some more bad weather coming, and I thought it was a great call to get people out of this weather," North Little Rock Coach Jamie Mitchell said.
The game was nearly settled by halftime. Cotton completed 6 of 9 first-half passes for 88 yards and two touchdowns.
"We didn't have a good week of preparation, but I was super proud of the way we played in the first half," Mitchell said. "I thought we executed very cleanly. We ran it and threw it well."
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Four plays into North Little Rock's opening drive, including a 23-yard run by junior running back Brandon Thomas and a 14-yard pass from Cotton to senior back Oscar Adaway, senior fullback Tyler Day ran in from the l to give North Little Rock (4-0, 1-0), ranked No. 1 overall by the Democrat-Gazette, a 7-0 lead with 8:59 left in the first quarter.
"We couldn't ask for more of Kareame right now," Mitchell said. "We've tried to bring him along slowly, but he's gotten better and better. We're starting to take the training wheels off him, and he's starting to grow a little bit. He's going to be an elite player before it's all said and done."
"I felt like I did what I was supposed to do tonight, but I hope I can do better moving forward," Cotton said.
Lightning was detected near the stadium immediately after North Little Rock's kickoff, and the game was delayed for 36 minutes. Players returned to their dressing rooms, and fans were ushered into the North Little Rock dining hall.
North Little Rock scored on its first possession after the delay on a 15-yard touchdown pass from Cotton to senior tight end Dennin Carroll to take a 14-0 lead.
Central (1-2-1, 0-1) pulled within 14-6 on a 14-yard touchdown pass from sophomore quarterback Lawson Gunn to senior receiver Dajun Brewer with 2:47 left in the first quarter, but North Little Rock scored on its next four possessions to take command.
A 28-yard touchdown run by Adaway gave North Little Rock a 21-6 lead late in the first quarter.
North Little Rock's lead was 28-7 after Thomas' 7-yard run with 9:45 left in the second quarter.
A 14-yard touchdown pass from Cotton to junior receiver Bralin Battles gave North Little Rock a 35-6 lead with 3:21 left, and senior Ethan Allen's 37-yard field goal at the halftime buzzer put North Little Rock's lead at 38-6.
Central sacked reserve junior quarterback Nikkia Davis in the North Little Rock end zone for a safety that completed scoring with 7:33 left in the third quarter.
North Little Rock had 334 total yards. Central had 225, led by Gunn, who completed 10 of 22 passes for 182 yards. He was intercepted twice.
Adaway led North Little Rock's rushers with 82 yards on 8 first-half carries. He also caught two passes for 42 yards.
"Oscar is a tremendous football player, and it really doesn't matter where you line him up," Mitchell said. "He can play running back, wide receiver. It just doesn't matter."
Sports on 09/22/2018