Central Arkansas Game of the Week — North Little Rock 29, Bryant 7

NORTH LITTLE ROCK — After a rocky start to the third quarter, North Little Rock exploded for 14 points in 27 seconds to cruise past Bryant 29-7 Friday night in the VYPE Central Arkansas Game of the Week.

North Little Rock’s Tim Johnson fumbled the opening kickoff of the second half, and Bryant took over on the Charging Wildcats 31-yard line trailing 14-7. However, the NLR defense stiffened, sacking Bryant quarterback Jimi Easterling on fourth down.

“The sad part of that is we had the momentum,” Bryant coach Paul Calley said. “The third quarter killed us.”

Three plays later NLR quarterback Isaac Kelley hit Johnson on a 67-yard bomb, to extend the lead to 22-7 after Devonte Rich caught the two-point conversion pass. Bryant fumbled the ensuing kickoff, and North Little Rock recovered. Three plays later senior running back Michael Tillman scored on an eight-yard run to extend the lead to 29-7.

“The defense came up big for us holding (Bryant) after we fumbled the kickoff,” North Little Rock coach Brad Bolding said. “They’ve been consistent for us all year.”

The Charging Wildcats held BHS to 162 yards of offense. Bryant senior star running back Chris Rycraw mustered just more than 60 yards, well below his average, but did break the school’s all-time rushing mark in the second quarter.

“They just beat us up front,” Calley said. “They are big and strong, and we didn’t do anything right all night.”

Johnson led the Wildcats with 167 total yards and three touchdowns. Kelley completed 6 of 14 passes for 151 yards and a touchdown.

The win secures North Little Rock at least a share of the 7A-Conference title. If NLR beats Van Buren next week, it would share the title with the winner of the Russellville/Cabot game. If Russellville beats Cabot, NLR would earn the No. 1 seed in the playoffs by virtue of head-to-head tiebreaker. If Cabot wins, they own the head-to-head tiebreaker against NLR. It’s been 16 years since NLR last won a conference crown.

“There’s been a cloud hanging over the program, a cloud we wanted to get rid of,” Bolding said. “Our goal is to win a conference championship. We are going to focus on Van Buren and not worry about what we can’t control.”