Senior quarterback David Chapple ran for three touchdowns and threw for 171 yards in unbeaten North Little Rock's 49-23 7A-Central Conference victory over Fort Smith Northside on Friday night at Charging Wildcat Stadium.
North Little Rock (8-0, 5-0) had 572 total yards en route to its 24th consecutive regular-season victory and 18th consecutive conference triumph.
The Charging Wildcats rushed for 401 yards, but that gaudy total was tempered by injuries in the game's final 13 minutes to junior fullback Tyler Day (shoulder) and junior tailback Oscar Adaway (ankle).
Day rushed 7 times for 43 yards and 1 touchdown (2 yards). Adaway carried 13 times for 169 yards and 1 touchdown (23 yards).
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"These two guys tonight, man, that's the worst situation possible," North Little Rock Coach Jamie Mitchell said, adding he wasn't sure whether either player will be available for next week's conference showdown at unbeaten Bryant.
Sophomore tailback Brandon Thomas added 108 rushing yards and a 13-yard touchdown on 14 carries for North Little Rock, which led 28-13 at halftime and 35-20 after three quarters.
Chapple ran nine times for 58 yards, including touchdowns of 1, 1 and 19 yards, and helped loosen up the defense by completing 14 of 21 passes.
"I thought we showed great diversity tonight in the passing game," Mitchell said. "Yes, we want to run the football. But we certainly have the capability to throw it."
Northside junior quarterback Deuce Wise ran 13 times for 60 yards and 1 touchdown and caught a 6-yard touchdown pass on the Grizzlies' first possession of the game.
Junior tailback Eli Bolton ran 12 times for 90 yards, including a 58-yard touchdown to make it 28-13 with 2:37 remaining in the first half.
Northside (2-6, 1-4) was within 35-20 following Wise's 4-yard touchdown run with 4:34 remaining in the third quarter.
But North Little Rock stretched the lead to 42-20 when Chapple capped a nine-play, 93-yard drive on a 1-yard run with 9:48 to play.
"We're an extremely young football team," Northside Coach Mike Falleur said. "We had some guys tonight that got hurt and we had to put guys in there, 10th-graders. I'm proud as all get out of them. They fought hard. That's a good football team."
The Grizzlies finished with 311 total yards, including 252 rushing.
Sports on 10/21/2017