Believe it: The White Hall Bulldogs will play in a state championship game for the first time in 34 years.
White Hall dug out of a 14-0 first-half hole and ended Little Rock Christian Academy's bid for a fourth straight Class 5A title game appearance with a 24-14 win Friday night at Bulldog Stadium.
White Hall (11-2) will take on Pulaski Academy next Friday night at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock. PA defeated Greenbrier 38-28 in the other semifinal.
The Bulldogs finally graduated – as Coach Bobby Bolding termed it earlier this week – to the title game on their third straight appearance in the third round. They lost a 2019 semifinal to Little Rock Christian and 2020 quarterfinal to Harrison in a five-round bracket designed to allow more teams due to the pandemic.
White Hall last won a state semifinal in 1987, beating Dollarway 3-0 in the old Class AAA, and then lost the title game to Arkadelphia. Newport in 1991 and Batesville in 2011 derailed White Hall's title hopes in the semifinals.
But Little Rock Christian (10-3), which won the 2018 5A title, would not exact revenge on the Bulldogs, who beat the Warriors 14-10 in Little Rock on Oct. 1.
The Warriors recovered from a lost fumble on the game's opening drive and forced the Bulldogs to punt on their first series before going up 7-0 on a 20-yard keeper by sophomore quarterback Walker White, who had 88 yards on 12 carries. The Warriors forced a Bulldog fumble and pounced on it at the White Hall 13, setting up a four-play series ending in a 1-yard White sneak.
THE GAME CHANGED WHEN ...
Mathew Martinez engineered White Hall's first touchdown series, completing 3 of 3 passes and rushing four times for 31 yards. He found Steven Weston in the back of the end zone from 18 yards out with 1:16 to go before halftime to put the Bulldogs on the board, 14-7.
White Hall forced White into three incomplete passes after a second-down conversion to get the ball back with 39 seconds remaining. Little Rock Christian was flagged for pass interference and unsportsmanlike conduct to set up a 39-yard Kyler Barnes field-goal try, but the Warriors blocked it with time expired.
The Bulldogs orchestrated a 17-play series that melted the first 9 minutes of the second half. Martinez capped it with a 1-yard sneak to tie the game.
Rodrico Bowens picked off a deflected pass and returned it 21 yards to the Warriors' 21, and Green scored three plays later from 4 yards out to give White Hall the lead.
A 45-yard run by Green, who ran 11 times for 95 yards, led to a 20-yard Barnes field goal with 3:35 remaining.
Braylon Johnson all but sealed the win for White Hall with another interception off a ricochet.
THE GAME BALL GOES TO ...
White Hall's backfield, which rushed for 255 yards.
