To the House eyes Bruins' run to title

One of Arkansas' most successful high school football programs is once again on the national scene.

Pulaski Academy's 2019 Class 5A state championship run is featured on the Overtime series To the House, which debuted last Saturday with the first of 15 episodes on Overtime's YouTube profile, Overtime SZN.

The second episode will air at 11 a.m. Central on Sunday, which will be the new time and day, according to show producer Steve Raum.

Overtime, a digital sports network, filmed Pulaski Academy from August to December. The Bruins went on to win their fifth state championship in six seasons and eighth overall, avenging a 2018 title-game loss to Little Rock Christian in December in the Class 5A state championship game at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock.

Thanks to Coach Kevin Kelley's high-powered offense and never-punt philosophy, Pulaski Academy is no stranger to being profiled nationally. During Kelley's tenure at the Little Rock private school, the Bruins have been shown on ESPN, HBO and NFL Films.

When Kelley was approached by Marc Kohn, the head of programming at Overtime, about having the Bruins featured for an entire season, he agreed to do it. But he wanted to make sure that the network's motives were good.

"I want our state to look good," Kelley said. "Sometimes, people will stereotype Arkansas. I'm not into that.

"But if they're coming in here to get a real story, I want to promote our state and our school."

Kohn had previous experience working with Pulaski Academy while he was at Bleacher Report. Pulaski Academy's 2016 game against Sylvan Hills was broadcast live on Bleacher Report's Facebook page.

Overtime sent Raum to Little Rock to produce the show. Raum began working at Overtime in August after spending two years at Sports Illustrated. The Pulaski Academy project was Raum's first at the New York-based company.

Raum said Kohn's experience with the Bruins was instrumental in getting them on board for a season-long show.

"Overtime was looking for more high school football coverage, a more series-style type of show," Raum said. "Pulaski Academy had a good, unique style of football. They were a perfect fit."

When Raum first met with Pulaski Academy's football team, he said he was surprised by the lack of size. Kelley said only four players on last season's roster weighed more than 200 pounds.

"I didn't see a lot of big players," Raum said. "Is this the right team? Is this the team that has won state championships? But when you dive into it and spend some time with the coaches and players, you understand why the program is where it's at."

Raum lived in Little Rock for the four-month production of the show. He commuted to and from Pulaski Academy's games and practices, admitting that it was the first time he had driven himself to work because he has lived in the New York City metropolitan area and takes public transportation.

"I had lived in a bubble," he said.

Kelley said that after a couple of weeks, having a camera crew -- which included Raum and two other cameramen -- follow his team around became natural.

"You forget that they're there," Kelley said.

Interviews with several players -- including then-senior quarterback Braden Bratcher and his classmate, wide receiver Jayden Kelley -- were done after the season was completed. Raum flew back to Little Rock in January and February to do the interviews, a move he felt was best for the production of the show.

"We decided to wait," Raum said. "We wanted to capture the moments. But we didn't want it to be staged. I'm happy we went ahead and did it that way."

In the first episode -- which has received at least 100,000 views as of Friday, according to Overtime -- the show looked at Pulaski Academy's season-opener against Springdale Har-Ber. The first half was aired in the first episode. Pulaski Academy won 84-68, thanks to Bratcher's national-record 900 offensive yards (764 passing, 136 rushing) and 10 touchdowns (9 passing, 1 rushing). Kelley said he was impressed with how Raum put together the first episode, which was 13 minutes, 30 seconds.

"That was two weeks of video they had shot," Kelley said. "That's a lot of hours to get 15 minutes for a web TV show. I was going in hoping it wasn't going to be bad, or boring.

"But they did a good job."

One of the key storylines for the show is Pulaski Academy's rivalry with Little Rock Christian. It was Little Rock Christian that ended Pulaski Academy's four-year run as Class 5A state champions in December 2018. For Raum, while doing a show on Pulaski Academy was going to happen regardless of what had happened the year before, seeing the Bruins come off a season where they had lost to their rival in the biggest game of the season proved to be important for the show.

"I didn't realize how big the rivalry was," Raum said. "I realized, 'Wow, they lost to their big rivals in the state championship. They just don't like each other.'

"I saw there was a massive chip on their shoulders. You don't expect kids that young with that big of a chip. But as football players, getting back and winning a state championship was all that was on their minds."

Throughout the 2019 season, a motivational tool for Kelley was showing his team pictures of past Pulaski Academy football players.

"It was a common theme," Raum said. "They were pictures of guys who had won state championships. Players thought that after seeing the photos, they wanted to be one of those players to make a great impact."

Raum said the coronavirus pandemic had no effect on the show's post-production schedule, with the show debuting in the spring. However, Raum said he still has post-production to work on for later episodes of the series.

He said the show has given football fans something to watch in a time without live sports.

"We feel like we hit a home run here," Raum said.

Sports on 05/16/2020