Class 4A State Championship Review: Pulaski Robinson 56, Shiloh Christian 28

CLASS 4A CHAMPIONSHIP STATISTICS

TEAM STATISTICS

ROBINSON SHILOH CHRISTIAN First Downs 18 22 Total Offense 57-469 79-456 Rushes - yards 31-195 34-137 Passes - yards 17-26-274 28-45-319 Fumbles Lost 0 1 Interceptions Thrown 1 4 Fourth Down Stopped 3 4 Penalties 11-71 6-70 Punts - Average 2-36.0 2-43.5 Big Plays (10+ yards) 14-383 14-334 Zero or Less Plays 14-(-15) 28-(-21) Sacks By - yards lost 6-(-19) 1-(-3) 3rd Down Conversions(avg to go) 2 of 9 (10.7) 4 of 14 (7.4) 4th Down Conversions(avg to go) 2 of 5 (9.5) 2 of 6 (6.8) Punt, Int, Fum Returns - yards 5-113 2-6 Average Drive Start own 47 own 30 Points Off Turnover 27 0 Possession Time 23:19 24:41

Class 3A State Championship • 2019 • War Memorial Stadium H HARDING ACADEMY 51, OS SCEOLA 26

Attendance 3,143 • Cloudy 48 degrees • Kickoff 6:30 • Time 3:40

DECEMBER 14, LITTLE ROCK —

The Harding Academy Wildcats won the final state championship of the decade and was the only team of the year to win 15 games.

Harding Academy wiped out a onepoint halftime deficit with a four scores in the third quarter in a dominating half to win the Class 3A title with a 51-26 win over Osceola at War Memorial Stadium.

The state championship is the seventh for the Wildcats but just the second to go 15-0 along with the 2002 team.

“This is only the second time in Harding Academy history to go 15-0,” said Harding Academy head coach Neil Evans. “We’ve had some 14-0 teams and some other undefeated teams, but this is only the second 15-0 team. It’s pretty special.”

Evans is the fourth head coach to guide Harding Academy to a state title along with Bill Barden, Tommy Shoemaker and Roddy Mote.

“I’m in a long line of people that’s led these guys to this type of heights,” Evans said. “I’m blessed to be surrounded by great people.”

The Wildcats did it behind a stout third quarter, gaining 165 yards of offense and scoring 24 unanswered points.

Ben Sloan capped the opening drive of the third quarter with a 24-yard field goal for a 24-22 lead with 10:42 left in the quarter.

Stone Sheffield ran 25 yards for a touchdown with 4:55 left in the quarter, quarterback Caden Sipe added a 1-yard scoring run with 3:28 left in the quarter, and Ty Dugger, usually a star on offense, returned an interception 63 State Championship Numbers 7

State championships for Harding Academy

763

Points scored by Harding Academy, which is the third most in state history in a season

12

Rushing touchdowns in the playoffs by Stone Sheffield

yards for a touchdown and a 43-20 lead with 1:04 left in the quarter.

“It was across the board, there are some guys that are going have the stats and some guys that were talked about all year, but this game goes to the offensive line in the second half,” Evans said. “That was the message at the half; to establish our run game in the second half. We did.”

Harding Academy managed just five yards rushing in the first half on 11 carries. In the third quarter, the Wildcats had 14 carries for 96 yards on the ground and had 314 yards in all in the second half.

“They came out and hit us on the outside with jet sweeps,” Osceola head coach Robert Hooks said. “We missed way too many tackles. We had some unfortunate events to happen. We just didn’t finish. That’s part of learning how to be a championship team. We’re still on the brink of us learning how to do it. Hopefully ,we can bounce back and get back here.”

The clincher, though, was Dugger’s interception return with Osceola driving near the end of the third quarter.

“The pick six, that was huge,” Evans said. “That was vital. That separated us.”

Dugger, who was the game’s Most Valuable Player, caught a 21-yard touchdown pass from Caden Sipe in the second quarter and an 82-yard touchdown pass in the fourth quarter. His interception return, though, was the biggest of his three touchdowns.

“Once I got that ball, I can’t be tackled now,” Dugger said. “I’ve got to go all the way.”

After a scoreless first quarter, the two teams combined for six touchdowns in a harrowing second quarter with both teams scoring three times.

Osceola led 7-0 on Dan Newson’s 61 -yard touchdown run, and then 14-13 on Stefan Coleman’s 53-yard touchdown catch from Don Littleton, and finally 2019 on Littleton’s 21-yard scoring toss to Newson with just six seconds left in the half.

“They were really resilient,’ Evans said. “We knew that. You don’t get to this game without some grit, and they certainly displayed it.”

Harding Academy finished with 522 yards of offense and had 2,570 yards on 197 plays in the five playoff games for an average of 514 yards per postseason outing.

MOST VALUABLE PLAYER Ty Dugger ■ WR ■ Harding Acad

BURLSWORTH AWARD WINNERS Aaron Snow ■ OL ■ Harding Acad Kenyon Troupe ■ DL ■ Osceola

HARDING ACADEMY OFFENSE QB Caden Sipe JR RB Stone Sheffield SR WR Connor McGaha SR SR Ty Dugger JR LT Aaron Snow SR LG Jacob Breezeel SO C Alec Rush SO RG Chase Brown JR RT Adam Fager JR SR Isaac Miller SR WR Carter Neal JR PK Ben Sloan SR OSCEOLA DEFENSE DE A.J. Harris SO NM M.J. Vance SR DE Chris Littleton JR OLB Dennis Davis JR ILB Brandon Johnson SR ILB Dontaven Littleton SO OLB Jabari Person SO CB Greg Hooks SR CB Jaden Brown SO S Dan Newson SR S Trayveon Moore SR P Jacob O’Kane SR OSCEOLA OFFENSE QB M.J. Vance SR RB Brandon Johnson SR WR Greg Hooks, Jr. SR SR Stefan Coleman JR LT Jacob O’Kane SR LG Kenyon Troupe SR C Bill Estell SR RG Chris Williams SR RT Chris Littleton JR SR Dan Newson SR WR Trayveon Moore SR PK Jacob O’Kane SR HARDING ACADEMY DEFENSE DE Levi Mercer FR DT Keaton Chapman SR DT Carter Miller SR DE Gavin Sparks SR OLB Braden Oliver SO MLB Eli Wallis SO OLB Jeffrey Mercer JR CB Isaac Miller SR CB Ty Dugger JR S Parker Golden SR S Andrew Miller SO P Ryan Fox SR