All charged up

North Little Rock rises early, never rests against Cabot

Alex Day of North Little Rock runs away from Cabot’s Dayonte Roberts en route to a touchdown during Friday night’s Class 7A playoff game at North Little Rock. It was one of three rushing touchdowns for Day, who rushed for 190 yards
Alex Day of North Little Rock runs away from Cabot’s Dayonte Roberts en route to a touchdown during Friday night’s Class 7A playoff game at North Little Rock. It was one of three rushing touchdowns for Day, who rushed for 190 yards

North Little Rock, coming off a first-round bye, showed no rust Friday night in its Class 7A quarterfinal with Cabot.

[HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL SCOREBOARD: Full results + recaps, photos and more]

Senior quarterback Trey Cox threw an 80-yard touchdown pass to junior wide receiver Deante Montgomery on the game's first play to get the Charging Wildcats off to a fast start, and North Little Rock never looked back in a 49-19 victory over Cabot at North Little Rock Stadium.

photo

Special to the Democrat-Gazette

North Little Rock receiver Michael Savage is brought down by Cabot cornerback Bryce Billings.

The Charging Wildcats (11-0), the 7A-Central's No. 1 seed, will face 7A-Central No. 3 seed Bryant in the 7A semifinals next Friday. Bryant won at 7A-West No. 2 seed Springdale Har-Ber 23-16.

North Little Rock outgained Cabot (7-5) 465-343 and defeated the Panthers for the second time over a span of three Fridays.

The Charging Wildcats came back from a 21-3 deficit -- its largest of the season -- to beat Cabot 28-27 on Nov. 4 in the teams' regular-season finale.

Two weeks later, the Charging Wildcats had no trouble with the Panthers.

"I just thought we played unbelievably well in every aspect -- offense, defense and the kicking game," North Little Rock Coach Jamie Mitchell said. "We couldn't play much better."

Cabot Coach Mike Malham said the Panthers might have caught the Charging Wildcats during a lull the last time they played, as the Charging Wildcats had already clinched a No. 1 seed.

"I knew we wouldn't catch them by surprise this time," said Malham, whose team beat Bentonville West on Nov. 11 to earn a rematch with North Little Rock. "They were ready to play. We were too, but they got some big plays."

Cox completed 10 of 16 passes for 238 yards and 1 touchdown. He also had a 5-yard rushing touchdown.

Senior running back Alex Day, who missed the first Cabot game with a concussion, rushed 23 times for 190 yards and 3 touchdowns.

Wynton Ruth, also a senior, returned a kickoff 89 yards for a touchdown. Ruth added a 9-yard rushing touchdown.

Montgomery caught 4 passes for 153 yards with 1 touchdown.

Junior Savana Melton was 7 for 7 on extra-point attempts.

Cabot tied the game at 7-7 with 7:42 left in the first quarter on Chase Terry's fumble recovery in the end zone. But Day scored three consecutive touchdowns on runs of 49, 2 and 7 yards to extend the Charging Wildcats' lead to 28-7 with 5:47 remaining in the second quarter.

Senior quarterback Jarrod Barnes, who finished with 91 passing yards, threw a 1-yard touchdown pass to junior Adam Flores to pull Cabot within 28-13 with 56 seconds left in the first half.

Mitchell decided to go for it on 4th-and-1 in the middle of the third quarter from the Charging Wildcats' 25, but Day was stopped for no gain. That defensive stop by Cabot set up senior Easton Seidl's 1-yard touchdown run that cut the lead to 28-19 with 5:02 left in the third quarter. But Cabot's extra-point attempt by Mason Martin was blocked, leaving it a two-possession game.

Ruth returned the ensuing kickoff 89 yards for a touchdown to extend North Little Rock's lead to 35-19 with 5:01 remaining in the third quarter.

Cox and Ruth scored from 5 and 9 yards out, respectively, to cap North Little Rock's scoring in the fourth quarter.

North Little Rock is in the Class 7A semifinals for the fifth time since 2011, but has not reached the state championship game. It's a point of emphasis for Mitchell, who is in his second year at North Little Rock after replacing Brad Bolding.

"We don't want that image," Mitchell said. "We want to be a football team that changes that image and punches our ticket. It's not going to be easy."

Seidl rushed 23 times for 105 yards and 1 touchdown to lead Cabot. Barnes carried 19 times for 63 yards and 1 touchdown.

Sports on 11/19/2016

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