War Memorial Stadium is nothing new to the White Hall Bulldogs.
They played there Sept. 10, when Brad Bolding and host Little Rock Parkview topped brother Bobby's Bulldogs 13-10.
Playing at War Memorial for a championship will be a whole different story at White Hall -- a story 34 years in the making -- but nothing new to Bobby Bolding, who has a 3-5 record in state finals.
"We've got to understand there's going to be a large crowd, but what goes on between the white lines is what matters, not the other stuff," he said.
Only one other Bulldogs team has played at the summit of Arkansas high school football. It was in 1987, and Tom Ed Gooden's Bulldogs lost to Arkadelphia, 21-6.
White Hall will be the third team Bolding, 55, has coached in a state final. Just as a refresher for his players, he wore two of his three championship rings around the Bulldogs' newly minted fieldhouse earlier this week.
"I don't ever wear them," Bolding said Tuesday, sporting one of his two rings from Pine Bluff (2014-15) along with a gray "Bulldog Athletics" shirt. "I wore my Stuttgart ring [on Monday] and I wore this today. I think our players know what they're playing for. I want them to see a reminder every day."
Bolding first won a championship in the old Class AAAA with Stuttgart in 2002, one year after he came woefully close in his title game debut.
"The thing that's easier is the logistics of it all," he said. "There's a lot of organizational and logistical stuff that goes into playing in a state championship game. I'm pretty experienced at that. I know how to manage it, and I got all that done [Tuesday], by about noon, so I could zone in on football. That's what I did this weekend."
Yet, Bolding and the Bulldogs (11-2) are pretty familiar with Pulaski Academy (12-1), a team that has won nine state titles since Bolding first coached in a final.
PA handed White Hall a 63-28 defeat on Oct. 8, ultimately making the difference in winning the 5A-Central Conference championship. White Hall was the conference runner-up.
"They're going to do what they do," Bolding said. "They haven't changed from Coach [Kevin] Kelley to Coach [Anthony] Lucas. They're going to bring a lot of pressure defensively. They're going to hand the ball to 6 [Joe Himon] and throw the ball around the field, screen you and trick-play you. We're going to do what we do. I think we're better at the offensive line than we were the first time we played them. We'll see what happens from there."
Physical play on the offensive line, however, is expected in the 5A-Central, Bulldogs assistant head coach Jason Mitchell said.
"Week in and week out, you're going to play physical lines, from top to bottom," Mitchell said. "We like that physical brand of football. [Pulaski Academy is] very physical, but it's not something we don't see."
To help in preparation, Bolding is keeping the practice week as normal as possible. He even gathered the players' parents inside the fieldhouse following last Friday's semifinal win over Little Rock Christian Academy to stress the importance of not doing anything grandiose.
"I know they're going to play the best they can Friday," Bolding said. "We don't have to do any motivational stuff for a state championship game. It's about preparation and getting them there and keeping them healthy, fresh and ready to play."
There is one little wrinkle to the Bulldogs' workweek – they'll practice at War Memorial today. Bolding said that is to give the players the full experience of championship week.
He doesn't plan for today's practice to be different from other Thursday workouts. He just wants his assistant coaches to keep the players loose, surmising mistakes will be made in the game.
Mitchell likes the normalcy a significant week like this can otherwise bring.
"Kids are bought in and they're loving it," he said. "It's just another week of football for them."
5A state football championship
Who: White Hall (11-2) vs. Pulaski Academy (12-1).
When: 7 p.m. Friday.
Where: War Memorial Stadium, Little Rock.
Ticket information: General admission $7 each; available at: gofan.co/app/school/AAA (then scroll down to Pulaski Bruins vs. White Hall Bulldogs); no tickets will be sold at gate.
Video: Arkansas PBS (KETS-TV, channel 2) and NFHSnetwork.com (subscription required; search “White Hall High School” or “Pulaski Academy” for game link).
Audio: KTPB-FM 98.1 “The Hog” in Pine Bluff; KABZ-FM 103.7 “The Buzz” in Little Rock.