Pulaski Academy has collected so many state championships the past 20 years that it's starting to bat around.
A 51-19 victory over White Hall in the Class 5A final Friday night at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock marked the Bruins' 10th state title recognized by the Arkansas Activities Association.
Per custom, Pulaski Academy overwhelmed an opponent with a quick-strike offense that amassed 654 total yards on 73 plays. Directing this domination was first-year offensive coordinator Adam Thrash, who was the starting quarterback on Pulaski Academy's first state championship team in 2003.
Thrash was named MVP of the Class AAA state championship game – a 64-32 victory over Rivercrest at War Memorial Stadium – after completing 21 of 42 passes for 313 yards and 6 touchdowns.
Almost 20 years later, it was Thrash's star pupil, senior quarterback Charlie Fiser, who was named MVP after completing 17 of 36 passes for 386 yards and 3 touchdowns and rushing 13 times for 67 yards and 2 touchdowns.
"Isn't that nuts?" said Thrash, previously Pulaski Academy's defensive line coach. "He's a special young man. Smart. Like he runs our offense. He's just in control. You can call anything with him out there, even if it's risky, and he's smart enough to know, 'Hey, it's not there.' For a play caller, it's huge, because we can open it up and if it's there, great. If not, he's smart enough to know, 'No, not this time.' "
Pulaski Academy (13-1) never trailed in the rematch with its defensive-minded 5A-Central rival. The Bruins won the first meeting, 63-28 on Oct. 8, after being tied 21-21 at halftime.
Conversely, Pulaski Academy led 30-7 at halftime in the state championship game, gaining 361 yards on 45 plays. The Bruins' 10 explosive plays – runs or passes of 15 or more yards – netted 271 yards.
Fiser scored on touchdown runs of 1 and 5 yards in the first half and completed touchdown passes of 33 yards to senior wide receiver Charlie Barker and 24 yards to junior wide receiver Jaylin McKinney.
"I feel we just came out and executed," the 6-1, 200-pound Fiser said. "We kind of knew who White Hall was. To come out here and play such a good team like that, you have to play your best game. I feel like we had a good mindset coming into it and that helped us out a lot."
The big-play theme continued in the second half as McKinney turned a short reception into an 80-yard touchdown and senior tailback Joe Himon, a Northwestern oral commitment, punctuated his brilliant career on a 19-yard touchdown run with 46 seconds remaining in the game. None of Pulaski Academy's seven touchdown drives (80, 45, 84, 67, 65, 87 and 84 yards) lasted more than 3:36.
"We ran some of the same plays tonight that we did in 2003, several of them," Thrash said. "I tell you this: When we played White Hall at White Hall, I felt like I was outcoached and I started that next morning, thinking we were playing White Hall in this game. We put and practiced on about 12 different plays from that point forward and then when we got to this game, it was just like, 'OK, these plays we put in for them, let's do it.' "
The Bruins did. Again.