Multiple running backs led by a fullback whose first love is rugby led the way to the playoffs for the Mills Comets.
Senior fullback Boyce Mitchell rushed for 161 yards and 2 touchdowns on 12 carries to help Mills to a 48-20 victory over Heber Springs at Mills Stadium in Little Rock on Friday night.
Mills (6-4, 3-4 4A-2) will play at Joe T. Robinson next Friday in the Class 4A state playoffs. Robinson won the 4A-7 Conference championship and was a 56-19 winner over Benton Harmony Grove on Friday.
Mitchell, 6-0, 240, in his first season of sanctioned football since he was in middle school, scored on a 54-yard touchdown run midway through the fourth quarter to complete the victory after a second-half surge had returned Heber Springs to contention.
"I was just doing what I had to do for the team, and it turned out to be a good thing," Mitchell said.
Mills Coach Cortez Lee said it was hard to miss Mitchell in Mills' hallways.
"I saw him walking around, and they said, 'He hasn't played since the seventh grade,' and said, 'Just look at that dude,' '' Lee said. "More than anything, he's a better person. He's one of my favorite kids."
Despite football, Mitchell said he is eager for a return to rugby.
"I'll be out there as soon as this season's over," he said.
Mill junior tailback Jabrae Shaw rushed for 98 yards and 1 touchdown on 12 carries. Sophomore quarterback Achilles Ringo completed 7 of 14 passes for 142 yards.
"[Mills] is a heck of an athletic group," Heber Springs Coach Todd Wood said. "They have a lot of size and a lot of physical ability, so you have to play to perfection, and we didn't do that tonight."
Heber Springs (3-6, 2-5) scored on the game's opening possession with a seven-play 44-yard drive on sophomore running back Parker Brown's 20-yard touchdown run with 9:18 left in the first quarter.
Brown rushed for 157 yards and 3 touchdowns on 20 carries.
"Parker Brown, I can't say enough about that young man," Wood said.
Junior running back Daniel Brown's 14-yard touchdown run, followed by Ringo's two-point conversion pass to junior receiver Anton Pierce completed Mill's first possession to give the home team an 8-7 lead.
A four-yard touchdown run by Shaw put Mills' lead at 16-7 with 2:07 left in the first quarter.
Sophomore running back Caleb Sain scored on a 3-yard run early in the second quarter to give Mills a 24-7 lead.
After it stopped Heber Springs on downs, Mills failed to score on its following drive. However, Mills took possession on its next, 61 yards from the Heber Springs end zone with 3:00 left in the first half and scored on four plays. The final was an eight-yard touchdown run by Mitchell that gave Mills a 32-7 lead it would carry into halftime.
Mills was held to three plays and a punt to start the second half. After a 22-yard punt return by Brown, he carried 27 yards for a touchdown to put Heber Springs within 32-13 with 10:11 left in the third quarter.
On its next possession, Heber Springs was set at first and goal at the 9, but on third and goal from the 5, a holding penalty led to two incomplete passes from the 17 and turned possession back to Mills.
Lee said he had expected a comeback by Heber Springs.
"Coach Wood had his guys coached up," Lee said. "He had his guys ready."
"My guys have never been quitters this year," Wood said. "They've always fought for the entire 48 minutes. I just challenged them to do what they've done before."