North Little Rock got off to a slow start but finished with a flurry in shutting out West Memphis 35-0 at home Friday night.
Although the Charging Wildcats led 14-0 at halftime, West Memphis (1-2) won some of the statistical battles in the first two quarters.
The Blue Devils had 40 offensive snaps to North Little Rock's 22. West Memphis also outgained the Charging Wildcats 145-142.
North Little Rock Coach J.R. Eldridge said it got loud in the locker room at intermission.
"I'd say it was a tongue lashing," he said. "We feel like we still haven't played our best football yet. We're trying to play our best football every week, but West Memphis had a great game plan. They ran the clock and didn't let our offense on the field."
North Little Rock's Fredrick O'Donald broke the scoreless tie on a 1-yard touchdown run with 4:44 left in the first quarter. North Little Rock (3-0) took a 14-0 halftime lead after O'Donald's 14-yard touchdown with 1:54 left before half.
After starting the game emphasizing the aerial attack, Eldridge ordered his troops to quicken the tempo on the final drive and overpowered the Blue Devils in the trenches.
"We weren't playing up to our potential," Eldridge said. "We wanted initially to get some things going on the perimeter so we could open up the run game. Our offensive line got better as the night wore on, and our running backs ran hard."
West Memphis moved the ball on offense, but never got inside the red zone, running out of downs on three consecutive possessions inside the North Little Rock 30.
It was all North Little Rock in the second half. Jordan Owens intercepted a Bryson Jenkins' pass and returned it 53 yards for a touchdown with 4:26 to play in the third quarter.
O'Donald scored just over a minute later with his third touchdown to make it 28-0.
Damon Bell capped the scoring with a 7-yard touchdown with 10:34 left in the game.
"I thought we really picked it up in the second half," Eldridge said. "There was a series there in the second half where I felt like offense, defense and special teams were really working together. And that's where we want to get to."
North Little Rock held West Memphis to 63 yards on the ground in the second half while the Charging Wildcats ate up 127 yards rushing in the final two quarters.
Jenkins, a junior, completed 8 of 20 passes for 83 yards for West Memphis.
O'Donald gained 123 for North Little Rock.
"The only thing I can say about the first half is we've got to start faster," Eldridge said. "We've got to have more energy in the first half."