North Little Rock used a sterling defensive effort to move on in the Class 7A playoffs.
The Charging Wildcats limited Fort Smith Southside to 86 yards in a 38-0 victory in the first round Friday night at Charging Wildcat Stadium in North Little Rock.
North Little Rock , the No. 2 seed from the 7A-Central Conference, will host Little Rock Catholic on Friday. Catholic was off Friday after its first-round opponent, Bentonville West, forfeited its spot because of multiple covid-19 cases in its program.
The Mavericks turned the ball over twice and were held to 48 yards passing and 38 yards rushing, to the delight of North Little Rock Coach J.R. Eldridge.
"Our defense got after it," Eldridge said. "I felt like our defense really prepared well. We made good adjustments and flew around to the football. It was a great defensive effort by our defensive coaches and our players."
Kareame Cotton completed 10 of 14 passes for 174 yards and 2 touchdowns, and also added 12 rushing yards and a touchdown on 3 carries -- all in the first half -- to lead the Charging Wildcats, who led 28-0 at halftime.
"He's been playing well for us," Eldridge said. "I'm thankful I get to coach him. He's done a great job and look forward what else he can do the rest of the season."
Felix Wade caught 5 passes for 127 yards and 2 touchdowns for North Little Rock.
Aaron Sims had as many rushing yards as Southside had total on offense, finishing with 86 yards and a touchdown on 11 carries. Damon Bell added 66 rushing yards
Ricky Reed returned a fumble by Southside quarterback Parker Wehunt 48 yards for a touchdown to give the Charging Wildcats a 7-0 lead with 9:18 left in the first quarter.
The Charging Wildcats made it 14-0 with 2:48 left in the first quarter when Cotton threw a 82-yard touchdown pass to a wide-open Wade over the middle.
Reed intercepted Wehunt with 4:37 left in the second quarter, which led to North Little Rock's third touchdown.
Sims' 26-yard run and a 23-yard reception by Chris Jefferson set up Cotton's 10-yard touchdown pass to Wade for the Charging Wildcats' 21-point advantage with 4:14 left before halftime.
With 51 seconds left in the second quarter, North Little Rock went for it on fourth-and-one at the Southside 10 and the decision paid off as Cotton ran along the right sideline for a 10-yard touchdown to extend the Charging Wildcats' lead to 28-0.
In the second half, North Little Rock added a 19-yard touchdown run by Sims and a 47-yard field goal by Liam Selhorst.
Wehunt was held to 11-of-22 passing for 48 yards and an interception for the Mavericks (2-9).
Kim Dameron was hired at Southside's coach in early June. The University of Arkansas graduate and former college football coach looks forward to a full offseason with the Mavericks.
"I got there about halfway through [the offseason]," Dameron said. "The coaches did a fantastic job of keeping this thing going while they were doing the search. I can't wait to get back to work with these guys and start from ground zero and start building this thing through a complete year and see what kind of football team we can put together for 2021."