Touchdown.

It is the last day of high school football in the state of Arkansas.

Two state championship games coming your way.

We start with the four day title between Malvern and Harding Acad at War Memorial Stadium, and it is just a nasty day across the state of Arkansas, to specifically here at Little Rock I'm Wes Moore, our Jayhawk and I can think of about a thousand different days would be better than what we hav It is just miserable out there.

Well, you know, West, we went from the first week in t championships here at one memori where it was beautiful skies.

It was a little cold, but it was playing conditions today.

When you've got, you know, two teams that like to a little bit, run it a little bi but the ball is going to be wet.

There's no way around it.

It's going to be a nasty day her at War Memorial Stadium.

That turf gets a little bit more when the when when it gets wet.

So it'll be interesting to see how the day plays out.

The slickers are out.

The umbrellas, the crowd.

I can see the fans in the stands all bundled up and it's about 50 So it's not terrible.

Terrible.

But the rain and we're expecting throughout the day.

It's going to be a fun game.

Harding Academy as a undefeated you know, looking for their fourth straigh state championship.

Harding Academy moving up in classification this You know, it's really impressive We've seen it throughout these championships.

Schools like Pulaski Academy, Shiloh Christian, now Harding Ac that they moved up in classifica looking for another state champi And if Harding Academy wins today, it's their fifth it's their fifth championship in consecutive seasons.

And, you know, it's really about the coaching s The coaching staff has been toge throughout all these championshi They all came from Harding Unive and they've really set the programs at the standard of what winning is at Harding Ac And Neil Evans has done an outstanding job.

You know, you think about Hardin it's a feeder system to Harding University, but they just keep producing ath whether it be at the quarterback or at the wide or wide receiver These guys are good and it'll be interesting to see how they play The Malvern Leopards enter the g 11 and two, coached by JD Plumlee and they made quite a through the playoffs.

They knocked off Nashville last putting up 56 points on the boar The week before that they went t impressive win to go to Warren and knock off the lumberjacks in Yeah.

You know, Malvern is a little bi different of an offense.

If you if you watch this offense you'll want you'll see that their running ba Dupree is going to line up in front of the quarterback and then they kind of want a wildcat option type of offense But really, Sedrick Simmons, their quarterback, he's a do it all player, has thrown 21 touchd six interceptions, but he's got a completion percentage of 65%.

This is a very explosive offense They play really good defense as I'll be interested to see how the defense of Malver lines up against Harding Academy offense and vice versa.

What would you look at?

Malvern?

This is a team that has two losses on the year.

One came to a team outside the state from Mississip the other came to Arkadelphia in conference play.

Arkadelphia top was the number one ranked team.

That's who Harding Academy beat last week to get here.

All right.

We're just getting started.

When we come back, we'll give you some of the playe to keep an eye on in this game.

We'll head down to the sideline and check in with Mattison Fitzp You are watching the Centennial football championships on Arkans PBS Sports.

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And it also gives people in vari other communities an opportunity to see other schools and other a and have a greater appreciation for not just their own community but the sports that are availabl across the state of Arkansas.

There are so many lessons that s provides, and it's one of the re why it's so important to Phenix generation of athletes and that's why people would come from miles come to ninth Street just to see what it was like.

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We are going to be eating It does work time.

We going to it in this game?

We're just getting started.

Less than 3 minutes to go until the for a state championsh game between Harding Academy and Malvern begins.

The captains are walking out for toss up once more, joined by R.J Hawke.

Let's take a look at some of the key players in th We'll start with Malvern and their quarterback.

Yeah.

Cedric Simmons, a do it al Probably one of the better quart in the state of Arkansas, as talked about a minute ago, has thrown for over 2300 yards, touchdowns, six interceptions.

But really the impressive thing he is a very efficient passer, 65% on the season, averaging 181 yards per game.

But he can do it not only throug but with his legs as well.

He is a real threat for this haunting academy defens If he gets the ball in space, he going to be a dangerous one to w He's a four year starter.

You don't see that often a quarterback in high school, but this kid's been starting since he was a freshman in high Let's go over to Harding Academy and look at their player to watc And it's also their quarterback.

Yeah.

Oh, and Miller, he is the guy that this guy, 328 passing 35 touchdowns but west the most impressive thi only four interceptions on the y now you know I just talked about Cedric Simmons was with efficien on the other hand, 79% completion percentage.

Now they do a lot of dinking.

Don't get the line of scrimmage, but he can also air it out deep and find his receivers.

And Kyler Hoover, Landon Cook, these guys are really electric throughout this ball yard.

Excuse me.

And really electric.

I'm looking forward to seeing wh this offense can do under Owen M And, you know, Miller has led this offense to an avera points per game throughout the y Oh, a sophomore.

Oh, and he wasn't supposed to be the starting quarterback this ye The starting quarterback decided he was going to focus only on ba He's a Razorback, maybe a future Razorback pitcher but oh, and Miller found out in that he was going to be the starting quarterback.

This year he has flourished.

All right.

Let's go down to the sideline and check in with Madison Fitzpa Beautiful day at war, Memorial S Madison, you picked a great week to be down on the sideline.

Now we're going to get that microphone tur You know, we know when it's well everything has a tendency not to work properly.

And we'll get back to Madison here in a moment.

But, you know, going back to both these offense as well, t this is going to be a lot of it'll be interesting how the weather plays a factor i these teams offense is still Madison is going to talk to the before the game and find out what this weather's going to mean to both of the tea Madison Yeah.

So I got to speak to the coach before the game and ask them how they feel like the weather is going to impact their gamepla Coach Neil Evans says they're going to stick to the game plan, which is to throw the ball early and he says that it gets a little more rainy, then maybe they'll adjust the ga But he says he feels confident i players ability to adjust and ad And on the other hand, J.D.

Plumlee said they're going to st their game plan, which is to run He said it's been raining all week at practice so they've been able to practice in the rain and kind of get ready for this w But overall, he said it's a state championshi and the guy shouldn't even feel Back to you.

All right.

Thanks, Matt.

So stay dry if it's possible.

Yeah.

So somebody from PBS get Madison an umbrella.

It's raining right now out there and we just got some really some bad information from the triple-A.

They're expecting a lightning de Apparently, there's some stuff that's pulling up radar.

Oh, wow Yeah.

Radar doesn't look good ri There are some storms coming our way with lightning.

The rule in high school, if there's a lightning strike within ten miles of the stadium, we're in for a 30 minute delay.

And then you have to be clear of during that 30 minutes before they resume.

We are set for kickoff as Malver to kick off and go to Hardy Acad There's a look at your weather r 56 degrees, scattered showers and it's going to be raining off and on throughout the game and t going to be a big part of this g Ball control, we talk about keys to the game.

Every game it is ball control.

It's who can avoid the penalties and turning the ball over.

And today with those wet balls, with the slick field, holding on to the ball is going to be so crucial for both of the What you saw right there was the with a sky kick to start things So, you know, if you're Horning you got to love this because you're going to start fr yard line, great field position to start your first dri here in the state championship g Oh and Miller your quarterback for Harding Aca wearing number six he's got Heat his running back right behind hi Quick pass out to the sideline It is complete right away to Indy McAleer and he pulls it in short gain on first down so I like tha you just a short easy completion to settle down or Miller get that blood flowing a little but not too much out of it.

You're going to see this offense go really fast.

They like to go for wide and at that line of scrimmage, let the receivers do a lot of th Fake the handoff pass right across the middle.

That's good enough for the first Isaac Baker on the reception moves the ball to the 44 yard li You know, part of why, you know, Miller's been so effic is because of those five yard pa You know, you don't have to real the offense a lot.

He can find his open man just at the line of scrimmage.

Miller rolls, throws, completes it to land and He moves the ball inside the 40 to the 38 yard line.

Another little short game, they'll give him six Miller quickly back ready to go pitches it forward Well complete room Darren got the first down and more Tyler finger on the fie technically call it a receptions he picks the ball forward moves the ball inside the 25 right around the 25 they're going to mark him down a yard line and put party candidat ready to go.

They're already over the ball wanting to run another play.

Yeah, they don't take much time off th clock per play, first handoff of That's Griffin with it.

He takes it inside the 25 yard l Griffin came up huge last week against Arkadelphia in the semif He had over 200 yards rushing.

I think he had 3/2 half touchdow in their comeback victory.

They trailed at the half and Gri just put the team on his shoulde And behind that offensive line h second half.

Miller, looking to throw under pressure, the pressure, tucks it in runs, gets the ball to about the 20 ya He'll be short of the first down but I'll bring up a very managea play now.

Now, you know, that's one thing Miller.

He's run the ball 85 times this year for 402 yards He's a pass first quarterback, but if the play breaks down, you'll see him, you know, step up in the pocket, run for f seven yards at a time, third and Miller rolls to his left looking nothing there.

He'll just tuck it and run.

He gets the first down, the ball the 20 yard line inside the 15.

They'll mark him down right at t line.

Well, great job by the Malvern d That time they played more at the line of scrimmage.

It took away that dinking dunk p They allowed for the linebackers to play the pass and it made Mil with the football.

Miller has it handoff up the middle to Griffin breaks a tackle, gets in the ten, he's down to the seven A gain of seven here in this offense moves incredibly fa I was watching the play clock.

They were only taking 6 seconds off the play clock by they got to the line of scrimmag and got the ball up, there was still 24, you know, 23, 24 seconds left on the clock This is the longest they've take between plays second and three.

They get a first down without sc They're going to hand it off to Griffin again.

Griffin inside the five, he's close to the first down, but may have to measure its clos I can't really tell you how they're giving it to him fir And goal boy Jalen Dupree came i to make the the saving touchdown and he just got him at the knee that time and was able to bring running it.

As they get a little closer to t line, Miller and Griffin in the backfi receiver in motion.

They're going to hand it off to Griffin again.

Griffin though, stop the three blocking not much there that time.

You know I saw Malvern play against Ashdown earlier thi and this was the Malvern defense said they were really wo could they or could they defend the pass in the run and they stepped up big down around the goal line pa receiver has it spinning getting to the goal line that's over wit they're going to mark him down at the one for Hardy runs plays we don't even have time to get i but yes, they're back over the b ready to go third down from the Miller and Griffin.

Griffin, no stone right there at the line of scrimmage that deep into one did a great j that time.

There was nowhere to run.

And here comes the kicking unit.

So this is a big win for Malvern It was big, but don't break.

And they let them go down the fi but they hold on at the goal lin and they're going to force a fie from Cal Ferris.

Yeah, and they've done that so m this year.

They, you know, play the middle of the field, allow offenses to But when it comes to getting tou this defense has played really well at the line of scrimmage.

Take this ball is at the one yar and they made the stop very an e kicker 15 of 22 on the season the little chip shot up and it is good so hardy academy march is down they get a field goal and take the lead three to nothing.

We'll come back with more first action.

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13 plays 57 yards Harding Academy first on the board they lead a t to nothing after the short field from Calipari Calipari go into Mississippi State he's an excellent kicker and punter h almost 44 yards, a punt, 53 of 54 on extra points And last week, he set party acad to this state championship game by kicking the game winning fiel it's time expired ball falls off Hold on got to reach it.

Got a little breeze.

I didn't think it was that windy but looking at the flags but just enough to blow the ball off you know, Kyle Ferry told Neal E last week when they played Arkadelphia, that last kick he made to win the game, it was on the right hash and he went over to coach the 11 The coach, you get it in the middle of the I'll kick his to the rock.

And he, sure enough, did notice that that kick was from the righ Yeah, but he nailed that little just so he nailed that kickoff.

It soars through the end zone, almost lands in the stands.

The wind is kind of it's almost blowing east to west.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Looking at the flags at the top of the stadium, not r a north or south wind.

It's kind of a strange wind righ If anything, maybe it's coming a little bit out of the north.

But here come Malvern Leopards.

They're going to be led by a quarterback, Cedrick Simmons and running back Jalen D It's kind of a12 punch right there on the ground.

SIMMONS has over 1000 yards rushing and Dupree ov 2500 yards rushing.

Simmons Since Dupree to his left going to block for him.

Simmons cuts it back the other w and he's able to scramble around pick up four yards of first down You're going to see a heavy dose of running game out of this Malv Leopard team, mainly because Jalen Dupree is so good.

I mean, this is a guy that's nea a thousand yards rushing on the and this offense really kind of through him on the ground now.

Whereas we talk about Cedric Simmons can throw it, but Dupree's involved in so many whether it be a passing play or a running play, he's around the ball almost all Make the handoff.

They're going to throw it on sec Got to receiver wide open.

It is complete running right down the middle.

Donte Cagle, he is going Cagle 76 yards on Ma Second play just like that.

The Leopards strike and they lead it 6 to 3.

Boy, that time you just saw the difference between these receive and the secondary, because I was in there watching and he just outran the corner and got a five yard separation g and you can see how quickly this Malvern offense can get on And that was a beautiful throw by Cedric Simmons Simmons actually had two receivers wide open extra point attempt by Martinez the sophomor puts it up It is good and Malvern takes a 7 so we saw a Ben but don't break Malvern defense.

It allowed Hardy Academy to driv down the field and kick a field and then two plays.

Malvern takes the lead and it's You know, this this Horning Academy defense on they were only averaging giving points a game, but then in the p they were giving up 18 points a game to DeWitt McGee in Arkade You know, the McGee and Arkadelp was really the most points they'd given up all year.

MCGEE They gave up 20 Arkadelphi They gave up 18 in that game.

So you know, they've been tested a lot more in the postsea than they were in the regular se This is a really good Malvern of I talked with the Malvern radio before the game.

They told me that after talking with coach, they thought the ball control was going to be the key for them They want to just run it, run, r run it.

And, you know, just burn time off the clock, limit the number of possessions for Harding Academy and what do second play go with the touchdown on the boa That much ball control right the that was a quick to play drive that took all the 41 seconds off the clock.

Harding Academy returns a kick outside the 30 to the 33 That's where they'll take over their second possession of the g And you also got to remember, We on that last drive for Harding A they started the 41 yard line, so they had a shortened field to Malvern did a sky kick that time you saw they went and They kicked it deep downfield.

S starting at the 33 yard line, it's we'll see how long it takes.

Harding Academy get down the fie and see if we have a Ben but don defense out of Malvern this go round and Owen Miller an all alone in the backfield we saw a lot of short, quick pas from Miller until they got down to the goal that was Baker and formation running across and milk goes down the leopards defense t got some pressure and brought hi they put a little pressure on hi on the first drive, but they could not get the sack that Tom Gunnels brings him down Well, Gunnels just beat his man.

He was going up against Lou Alle right guard that time, and he ju look right there, just got split the double and then was able to get in ther and get the touchdown the sack.

you know, Owen Miller was like, where do you where do you come from that time Miller Rolling to the right.

He's going to find a receiver open at the 15.

He's got room to run, but got a chance to go.

Tyler, who will take it to this?

It's 71 yards.

And just like that Harding Academy response, you know, both these teams have weather, rain.

What we don't we don't care abou they're a runner up their offens they're both teams electric here in the early going I mean we're mark in the first quarter got a flag down at the 20 yard l officials are talking about it the Harding Academy receivers I see coach there he was motioni that was against Malvern.

So the celebration continues on the hard personal foul facema that Philly will be enforced on the ensuing kickoff.

There's also the play as the tou must been some of the blocking going on and because there was no one chasing the receiver over, he was wide open.

So that 15 yards will be assessed on the ki Not that Kyle Ferry needs any.

We saw him almost put it into th So I wonder what part of the aca may want to do it.

We got a timeout.

Oh, it's a timeout for the dreaded lightning delay.

Yeah.

And I saw Tommy Kraft, who's our head official, come ou and and signal both teams to bot are going to head back to the lo as Marty Kennedy leads at 9 to 7 They'll come out and kick the ex But we knew that there was going to be weather in You didn't know how quickly it was going to get to us.

But yes, now we've got to wait 30 minutes they will the we've got people from the National Weather Servic looking at the the radar, but we wait a minimum of 30 minutes for anybody to get back onto the And once they give the all go, t what we'll be able to do it.

So that's unfortunate is work.

Both teams had a lot of momentum right here in the first quarter.

We're back again at War Memorial We're about to resume play, knock on wood, more support arou Take two for us.

Take three, really?

I mean, if you think about it, I mean, golly, you just when we we were going to come back and c the rest of this for first quart this bolt of lightning comes and you kind of I saw your eyes and you were lik oh, no, no, no.

But both teams have made their w on to the playing surface here at War Memorial.

And yes, you saw that right just a moment ago, 618 left in the first quarter we Yeah, we had a quick first quarter, three drives.

That's all we've had so far.

Harding Academy got the opening They marched down the field, a lot of short passes.

It was very effective and they got down to the goal li and instead of throwing it on, Miller started handing it of Griffin, their fullback, or the running back and on third he was stopped by the Malvern de right there at the goal line.

They had to settle for a field g to place it.

Malvern scores.

It was a beautiful pass from Cedrick Simmons to Donte Ca 76 yards and Malvern lead 7 to 3, then Harding Academ after a sack their next play Oh and Miller scrambling and it finds Kyler Hoover and whoever catches it turns up the Nobody's there And he goes 71 ya it was 9 to 7.

They were lining up for the extr and that's when we had our first lightning delay.

And it went on and on and on.

And now it's been over 3 hours since our last bit of action.

And here are a few minutes after get through warming up.

We'll have an extra point and then we'll have a kickoff.

You know, I will say that we're about to go down to Madiso but I'm watching the guys on the field right now.

West and Harding Academy kicker Kyle Ferr he's out there warming up right and he still has an extra point but he does lined up from the 50 and kicked one through the uprig at won't in the rain.

It's a driving rainstorm right n here at War Memorial.

Well I got the stats on fairy his long for the season 56 yard and he's the reason they're here one of the reasons why he kicked a field goal with left to beat Arkadelphia last we Here you look at the good look a leopards, 11 and two led by J.D.

Plumlee.

My question is, how do these tea ready for this after a three hou What's it been like in the locke What is this?

How will this delay affect the t Maddison Fitzpatrick is the third member of our crew.

She's down on the sideline and M got to speak with both of the co What are they telling you?

MADIS Well, hopefully this is the last we're going to have to do this.

But Coach Neal Evans says his team is going to come o They're going to focus really ha in warmups and coach JT Plumlee it is what it is.

He told us, guys, hey, this is out of our control.

It's just going to be how we react to this situation, even though it's not our control But he says they're coming in just very calm, very relaxed, and it's going to take a play by And that was one of the keys for Thank you, Madison.

That this is going to be a long We kicked off at 12.

We have a three hour delay in this game now.

It's just in the first quarter, halfway through the first quarte we're looking at another probabl and a half hours.

It will be.

What time is it right now?

I have no clue what time it is.

350.

Yeah.

So this game probably won't be o with until close to well after 6 So it's a 6 hours that these guy been in pads not playing, but, y still trying to stay mentally sh and focused for that long of a t If you think that's bad, think about Booneville and Charl that are sitting out in the bus or on the way here that have just been kind of wait because their game is supposed to kick off at 630.

So either way, hey, you know wha The priority right now is get this game in and it looks we're going to attempt the extra right now after a three hour and 28 minute delay, Kyle Ferry for the extra point to see if he can give Harding Ac a three point lead, maybe snap the whole kick.

It is up and good and we're back We've got action.

And Harding Academy takes a 10 t lead here in the first quarter o state championship game.

Yeah, Kyle Ferry acting like a d What delay?

I'm going to get out here and ju this extra point through and wes you know the momentum we left th with momentum on Harding Academy and you know, Malvin was going b toe to toe.

You just wonder kind of to your point of just sitting ar where does that momentum lie rig Who do who is feeling the best r I talked about prior to this gam that if you're in that Malvern l room, it's a much smaller locker than what Harding Academy has.

Harding Academies usually there in that Razorback locker room here at one memorial And so, you know, so that's why it's a little bit as far as team psyche.

You just condense spaces a littl And if you're just joining us, there was a personal foul penalt on the last play, on the touchdo That's why the kickoff is at the It's not a new rule or anything, but I wondered if they might try kick there, but instead they let kick it into the stands.

I think he made the field goal.

Did it go to the goalpost?

I believe it.

Did he?

I take it he's got a huge leg.

And we talked about prior to he won, he's going to Mississ and you know, he's got family that that are Bulldog fans and so he'll be headed to Missis State to play his college career He's got a big time leg.

So Malvern is on to start their second drive of t They've only run to play.

Their first play was a run by Cedric Simmons for four yards and then he threw a 76 yard touc So Malvern starting their second possession 10 to 7 and Simmons keeps it.

He's got a huge hole.

He's got a first down and much more Simmons out to the yard line That's a gain of 19 on first dow Well Cedric Simmons can do it al He can run it he can throw it.

And really on the ground, he is an electric player.

He reads the defense really, rea And you saw right there just wen that right edge was able to hit Simmons with over a thousand yar this season, 20 touchdowns on th and then his running back mate, Dupree, he's rushed for over 250 this season.

That is going to be Simmons agai He keeps it over that right side very similar play this time Hardy Academy tackles after a ten yard gain.

They're moving the chains first down Malvern.

Well, Simmons is a guy that we t about earlier for your starter h 3000 yards rushing for his caree almost a 7000 yard passer.

And so, you know, there's going to be some colleges lookin warning him to come play for them next year first and ten ball at the 49 Simmons has Dupree next to him Simmons will keep it again same exact play if they can't st keep running with it and Simmons is going to take it to the house Hands in the air.

Touchdown.

Malvern, 51 yards.

Bam, bam, bam.

Touchdowns flying all around the That was the third.

I mean, they ran the same play t in a row or something very simil And Harding Academy just could not get a man over to that right side of the offens And it was just a wide open lane for him to run through.

I don't want an offensive coordi This is look, if they can't stop why not run the same play?

Just keep doing it over and over.

Makes sense.

Martinez on for the extra point kick is up and is good and Malve with a 14 to 10 lead so the only difference in this g so far is the goal line.

Stand by Malvern Defense to hold Harding Academy to a fie Each team has had the ball twice and Harding Academy had to settle for a field goal a driving all the way to the one y You know, the differences in thi in these two programs, Wes, you Harding Academy, they're no stra to the state championship game.

As for Malvern, though, they've to the state title game twice.

They won it 93.

They were here in 2011.

And this is the team that they've struggled over the But they've got JT Plumlee got t They have gotten better and better and better.

And this team is believing right that this is their year and they're not afraid of of of a te and Harding Academy that's been here done that and they've had a really good se Malvern can score some points they put up 56 last week against Nashville in the semifinals and they've got 14 and half a qu high kick fielded by Harding Academy at th And I'm going to hit the sidelin nice little return for Hoover who was already got a touchdown on the night or the day it is.

They kind of feels like we've be So long.

It's close to midnight and it's only 3:00 right now.

Tyler Hoover with the return and Harding Academy will take ov first at ten but the ball at the 32 yard line Well now you know we've seen Harding Academy We've seen him throw it.

You know, the rain is still comi pretty heavily.

So I'd like to see if they if they stick with the running g or stick with the passing game or mix in more of the running ga Oh, with Miller, he's got four w receivers.

He's going to hand it off to his running back.

Heath Griffin and nothing there.

Malvern defense throws him down for a two yard l that time that that defensive li just collapsed.

That right side that defensive l Malvern doesn't get enough credi They have been really, really good this year.

And you just see right there, just for Malvern, big number 67, Leonard Leach, the senior, came in to make the second down and 12th.

Miller, who's got four receivers to his right, one to his left, empty backfield changing the play Malvern trying to communicate on defense Miller gets the play off Will pressure quick wheels wide receiver screen They had something set up but ju And you see that wet ball you see it's raining you got to bring it in.

Gallagher could not bring in the He's already had a couple catche on this game on the first drive.

Yeah, he had just one catch for seven yards on the first dri about 4 hours ago.

And I don't even think that was because the weather and having a wet hands he just turned up fiel before the ball got to him.

1312 chance for Malvern Defense to get off the field.

Miller under pressure, he escapes, rushes to his right.

He's got a receiver at the sidel caught at the 50 to the 49.

Blame the coach.

That's helping the quarterback o Well, once you see the replay on great job by Owen Miller because he was going straight head to head with the defensive that time and he gave a little j to the right and was able to get and make the pass downfield.

That was really all on Owen Mill Miller hands off to Isaac Baker Baker Almost to the first down, he fumbles, ball's out.

Yes, they're calling it a fumble And Malvern has it.

Big turnover for the leopards.

Now, once again, you know, I'm n this is a crutch, but the weathe going to do all kinds of things, The weather on the field, I mean, the the water on the fie makes that ball a little bit a little bit more slick.

And we'll see if we see the repl right here.

It was knocked out of his hands.

That was a nice play from Force Landreth to knock it loose.

Massa Fitzpatrick's down the sid Madison, How would you say the rain is right now compared t Hey, guys.

Sorry I umbrella I'd say it's it's about the same but it's really having an impact but not on the fans.

Everyone's got their umbrellas and their rain jackets and the M base is getting really hype down So the rain is definitely not stopping the fans but it does have a serious impac on the play.

Simmons With the carry on first I think they ran the same play for the fourth time in a row that Tom Hardy kind of made a little bit of an and they were able to make a tac Cole Griffin, the sophomore, you see him right there, only a gain of two on first down for Simmons.

Simmons with Dupree to his right He's going to hand it off this t and he's got room to run.

Dupree Breaking free and the is That's going to be a 57 yard run And Malvern with back to back to takes a 20 to 10 lead for the move he made.

When he got to hook to the lineb he put a left foot in the ground and went right and he was just off to the races He was able to keep his balance was a heck of a run that time by Martinez.

On for the extra point to give Malvern an 11 point lead.

Good snap, but they're going to take off an Malvern gets a two point convers die long.

Carradine takes it in for two.

Everything's working right for Malvern right now and you kn going back to you know was talki those locker rooms and everybody I don't think it's really it's not mattering too much righ for the Malvern Leopards because this is the play of the Watch just boom.

He gives a little shoulder shrug cuts it to the outside for the t And let's go back to that that e because I believe that the holder carried on did n the get a good snap and hold dow And so he just picked it up and ran away with it and was able to get a two point conversion.

I was watching the snap.

I thought the snap was clean.

And then the next thing I see hi take off running.

So we'll see if we can get a replay of that here in a few m Are getting ready for kick off and they've shown us several different versions of th We've had a sky kick.

They tried it once where they kicked it deep and then they had a little pooch that went about 15 yards.

That's what they're going to aga And immediately the Academy signals for the fair They'll take over at the 32.

Let's take a look at the extra p for Malvern that turned into a two point con and gives them a 22 to 10 lead.

Yeah, I think the snap was good.

I think when he went to put the in the tee, he lost control of i And just a heads up play for Dil Carradine to go and take it in f And you saw a little speed from to beat everybody to the quarter Well, corner of the end zone, Carradine is is a guy that's he's got a thousand yards worth this year.

And he's a big time player for this offense.

First and ten Hardee Academy with the ball for 32 they trail by 12 now after the first turnover of the Miller looking to throw he's got a receiver right there in the middle of the field and the boat to tackle coach is still going put the cro midfield he's swung to the groun at the 47 yard line coaches you know he's a big his size it makes him hard to bring down but not only does he have size, he's got a little bit of speed a And so when he was able to get t the outside, you know, you give five yards of space and he's going to pick you up te over and coach the leading recei for Harding Academy Hoover with over a thousand yards receiving Landon coat with 957 He'll be over a thousand here so Griffin with it he goes over the right side picks up about three on the play Looking at the updated stats for this game and coach now has three catches for 48 yar That puts him over 1000 for the So Harding Academy now with two receivers over 1000 receiving on the season second and eight they go hand it off run it again GRIFFIN Not much Malvern defense two yards on the play that rush defense has been good and you know they're showing why that that the defense has helped propel them to a state state tit and they're doing a real good jo stopping the run right now quick pass out to Coach Cote cat it, coach breaks the tackle.

He's down the sideline.

He picks up the first down.

Slippery right there.

Well, great job making yourself get between two defenders and splitting it to be able to pick up the extra yardage her He's a dynamic wide receiver that's twice now Harding Academy He's been able to pick up a first down on third and long Malcolm with the opportunity to get off but just couldn't make the tackl Griffin the fake to him now Mill runs with it He scrambles up the Still got room to run Miller to to the five inside the five good marking down right around t oh Miller can throw it we've tal how good of a passer he is.

But look, he's rushed for 400 ya this season and four touchdowns.

Yeah, you see right here, just t But we never see his legs.

Never stop moving.

And and he was I mean, he was trying to get eve he could to get down to the end But inside the five yard line is bad for a design, not even a des Miller tosses it to his receiver and he gets into the end zone.

Touchdown!

Harding Academy.

They respond.

Back and forth we Wyatt Simmons into the game.

It was just a little tall, sweet It follows his blocker gets in for the scor SIMMONS Another big body and you just see right here, you don't think that he's going to be the running back because he's not played much in and he's able to get to the outside, break a tackle, get for Green for a to Ferrell and for the extra point try to get within 5/1 quarter action And we've already 38 points looking for another an it is good so 2217 Malvern leads Harding Academy four one the longest quarters in Yeah, we've had a ton of points.

How about this West?

Both teams right now have 219 yards of total offense.

Harding Academy's thrown for 160 Malvern 76 rushing yards.

Malvern has run it 143 yards to hardening Academ Once again, I'll go back.

The only difference in this game go one stand for Malvern.

That leads to three points and now a two point conversion instead of a an extra point, he picks it up, runs for the corner of the end zone and we got a five point game nei Well, I guess there has been one defen because of the Harding Academy's Yeah, the one turnover that they on the drive before this pass on kickoff is long and into the end so that'll be a touchback.

Well he has got a big leg.

I know I've said it once but you don't don't see that at the high school level very of And there's a reason why he's got offers to go to the such a luxury for your special t coach to know that he is going to get a touchb most of the time.

You know, I'm looking through these numbers ri Only one leopard has caught a pa and that was Donte Cagle here, that one reception for 76 yards earlier in the game He'd been four receivers for holding Academy Coach Ball t Simmons and Dupree ready to go back to work.

Dupree with it, Dupree finds a nice little hole for he's brought down Take it do and he'll pick up five of first That's now 85 yards rushing for Dupree today on four carries came into the game averaging 195 yards per game, 25 2541 yards on the season, had 34 touc Of course, he has one touchdown So Dupree racking up the numbers along with Simmons second five give it back to the pre the pre to get the first down runs over a defender spinning tackle picks up ten move the cha You know I had I was down earlie and I stood next to the debris.

He doesn't look like a big kid on on the TV screen right there.

But he's every bit of six one, six two and just, you know, you saw right there where he jus runs over defender and he uses h to do that he has a low to bring down the l 30 seconds of the quarter, maybe the last play of the first first and ten ball in the 35.

Ballmer taking their time on off Simmons is going to keep it.

Simmons still moving his feet.

He picks up five.

He picks up si I think that'll be the last play of the first quarter.

Malvern 22, Harding Academy 17.

We got this started at 12:00 or 1210 three.

Our 28 minute delay later, we are finishing the first quart You're watching the Centennial B Football Championships on the Ar PBS Force.

Thanks, George.

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Break through the surface to explore the living, breathing beneath the world in dirt, a new documentary about saving o Watch now at my r pbs.org backsl dir Simmons so deep and he's got his receiver open Malvern inside the 20 They'll mark him down at the 16 What a catch from Donte Cagle and what a throw honestly, from right on the money.

Well, that's another big time catch for Cagle.

You know, he had a 76 yarder ear and now he's just going to add t and he got to go down there at h to pick that one off and was able to get it.

Now, once again, Malvern in a gr to try to get another score.

Cagle has now got two receptions yards.

It's a pretty good day for one quarter and one play Simmons with first and ten at the 16 Simmons following a bunch of blo guarding academy slides in there makes the tackle about a two yar You saw them bring the house ove They had guards pull and running h back in front of him.

Simmons trying to follow those blockers that may h the pre on the direct snap I thought it was was it de Pryor was it Simmons either way Simmons there he's got the pre right beh now Simmons moves so yeah it's going straight to t maybe a false start could be a first flag of the day no healthy personal foul the sec pretty solid first start offense penalty is still figured out.

It only took 4 hours to get the second penalty.

So it's not that bad.

Now, 3 hours and 58 minutes is the official length of the first Yeah.

By the way, just for those that are watching, just got an u that the three day game will kick off at 840 tonight.

So this from the triple play that the three d between Booneville and Charlesto will be begin at 840 tonight.

Settle in.

It's going to be a long day and a long night at War Memorial But we got high school football.

All right.

Second and 13 Simmons look at the pass Has a receiver in the end zone Touchdown Malver They strike again That's Simmons Dupree out of the backfield and he brings it in That's his f receiving touchdown of the seaso I'll tell you what, Simmons put it right on the money.

Just a little wiggle route out of the backfield for Dupree leads him in stride Touchdown Ma And this offense is clicking rig Yeah, they really are.

And for Cedric Simmons, he's now three on the day, 138 yards, two Martinez Extra point is good Malvern 29, Harding Academy 17.

Look at this.

Replay the dove in stride.

Touchdown, Malvern.

Yeah, that is a great job.

And look, I mean, we knew both t had really good offenses coming You just wondered how how good t and with the weather being what But the weather's not affected e One of these guys we've talked a lot about, Simmons, but Mattis Fitzpatrick is down on the sidel and Jalen Dupree's, a guy that she was telling us about before the game.

Jalen is Mattison.

He's been huge for him already in this game.

Oh, yeah, I mean, huge on the fi But his coach just talked about the field a lot as a person.

He said every day before he goes to first period, he comes to the locker room and says hi to all the coaches.

He never misses a day.

He never complains.

He says he's basically the face kicked off from Malvern.

It's going to be a high short ki Not bad, though, drives Harding Academy back to the 11 y following his blockers, cuts it up the middle, and Isaac it to about the 32 yard line.

Well, at this point, well, since he just got to match scores because Malvern has scored on every play, on every possessi that they have, they've had Harding Academy scored on every one, everyone bu And that's why you see a deficit right now.

So you just match and score, poor score at this point.

Cedric Simmons three for three, yards, two and two touchdowns.

His quarterback rating is 706.4.

I've never seen that.

I've never seen that.

No.

No.

All right.

Well, Harding Academy looking to match Miller look at it throw scrambles to hi He has a receiver throws it and a good play I don't know Hoover dropped it Well, now ther so that DB got his hand in there a little early.

I thought maybe he knocked it aw distracted enough to make it inc Flag fall off in 15 yards in the previous That's enough for a first down.

You know, it's got to be obvious when you throw it defensive pena on that sideline because everybody on that sideli Good play.

Good boy.

Good job once.

Watch this right I mean, it was a wobbly throw, but yeah, he just got a hand on right before the ball got to him Very good call.

That time the penalty was on Ramier Bennet the linebacker first and 10th Harding Academy near midfield.

Miller will hold up a little bit We saw the first couple of drive fast, fast, fast pace.

This time a little slower.

They come out, make sure they ha the play they want to it to Grif pass it out quick pass but it's dropped Andy McCall her could not bring it in.

And really Carradine made a good because he was getting blocked o but he just got a hand in there as he was getting blocked to the to really disrupt that play.

Umbrellas and ponchos still out as the rain falls.

Miller looking across the middle he's got a receiver breaks a tac That's coach again caught inside the 30 to the 25 Hardy Academy with another first coach putting up some huge numbe in the first quarter and part of the second quarter.

Yeah, so far he just before that he had 61 yards of offense.

He can give him another 20 right after that nice pitching catch and coax, you know much like Dante Cagle from Malvern Coach is having him himself a day as w Miller was a little toss sweep a still on his feet, running hard out of bounds inside the ten down close to about the seven yard line.

And now all the sudden, Hardy Academy gets it roll.

When you're seeing that, you know, you've got two physica And that time, Simmons was able just to run over a defender and just keep going.

But I think the most impressive how he walked the sidelines as h Good.

Look at the replay.

Simmons breaks one tackle there, that one runs through a third tackle finally brought down he Simmons is giving them a nice breather for Griffin when he comes in Yeah to productive plays that's Griffin with it up the mi nothing falls for picks up a couple of y and you know for Simmons he's he's primarily a linebacker that's his that's his primary po but to get him in here and to be able to run like he's done so far, I mean, h carried it twice now for 22 yards and a touchdown I'd say that's pretty good produ from a backup second and six Miller he's going to keep it.

He's got two blockers.

He picks his way he just eases into the end zone.

Great blocking from Hardy Academy and maybe the easiest touchdown they scored this season.

You got to give the blocking all the credit on that play.

Yeah that was great.

Great job by the really the rece and if you if you look at that left tackle he just sealed off the edge receivers got some great blocks and that was an easy touchdown.

He came in here, sir.

He's a sop They just call him Big.

That's his nickname, Big.

He goes out there and he's ready So bye.

There was nobody there.

Yeah.

Perry's extra point is up.

It is That brings us to the score.

29 for Malvern, 24 for Hardy Aca You're watching the Centennial B Football Championships on Arkans PBS Sports.

Coming up on the halftime show, one of the longest rivalries in Arkansas, high school footbal This year's class of Arkansas, PBS student, all stars and a loo at when Arkansas students spoke to NASA astronauts in spac It's all coming up on the halfti See you then.

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Request a free estate planning booklet from Arkansas P Back at War Memorial Stadium, Harding Academy and Malvern 2924 Malvern Lee to get Malvern four possessions four touchdowns Harding Academy with the touchdo gets them within five heck of a game here at war memor stadium with we had a long first delay it was lengthy lightning d but finally the action is back.

And I got to say that long break did not affect the offense as maybe the defenses, but the offenses are clicking.

Yeah, now they really are.

And this has been an impressive performance by both these teams.

Think about this.

We're not even to halftime yet and we've got 59 points so far scored in the first half.

The triple play may have delayed the start of the second game unt I thought this might be here to Yeah, that's right.

Cedric Simmons and Jalen Dupree and Company back out on the fiel That's Simmons keeping it over t side, following his blockers her Look at that.

He picks up six ya before he was even hit.

That pulling linemen.

I'll get the number on him.

Got to give him credit.

Great job, Paul.

His block.

It almost feels like we're playing seven on seven with the way that both these off are just moving the football loo And Harding Academy's defense has been good.

They've only given up 16 points per game on average.

They gave up seven to the with 20 to McGee at 28 to Arkade and they've already given up 35 at this game.

Yeah.

Now your eyes and you know, I wa looking at total yards for both we've had three or 582 yards of total offense.

Simmons wanted to pass.

He's getting chased.

He escapes, looking, going down He's got a receiver, but short h It can't bring it in.

Tough play right then for Simmon and trying to throw it full spee That's a tough throw right there And he just couldn't get enough to get the ball downfield.

And so that'll bring up the thir I wonder how many third have eve had a third.

Yeah.

Horton Cat or Malvern is not had a third down Harding Academy Three of four.

Yeah.

This is the first third down of for Malvern.

How about that?

They scored 35 points or 29 poin I'm sorry.

And they haven't had a third dow That's crazy.

And it third and about four quick pass out trying to get some blocking and And he's going to be close.

It's going to be very close.

The sideline official have his f right on the 30.

It's going to depend on the spot That time was Cagle again, his t catch of the game.

They're saying it's fourth down.

Yeah, he's just just shy of that 30 yard li If you're if you're Malvern go f I mean they've been able to run at will you would think so let's go for I think this is the call.

I don't disagree with you.

Look, if this is a high scoring where starts, it's like arena fo When you get a defensive stop in football, that's huge.

Yeah, 1%.

Well, Malvern got a stop on defe because of the turnover.

The play clock's down at three.

They're going to call a timeout and discuss this and make sure they're on the sam But I fully expect Malvern to go here.

Yeah, no, and I would agree, you know, go back to letting Sim the football and and be able to pick up the half yard that yo Hey, want to remind you that photos are available of tod Arkansas PBS has the perfect keepsake for the You can download photos at my AA PBS.org Backslash photos.

Malvern is rushed to ball 11 tim for 170 72 yards.

So that's about what, 17, six yards a carry?

Yeah.

Yeah, I would I would feel pretty comfortable going forward on not only this, but Jalen Dupree the football is averaging 13.6 yards per carry.

Sedrick Simmons is averaging 21 yards pe So you're saying if it was fourt and just let him run it?

Here they come.

I see the numbers two and three That's Dupree and Simmons.

So that tells me they're going to go fourth.

There's your center Jack Ball, t He'll be the one that snaps the to Simmons tight formation.

We're seeing a lot of this they' spreading hardening academy out shotgun for Simmons and time out now for Harding Academy this is this is a big play I know it's just a in the halfwa point of the second quarter but you get a chance to get off I thought Malvern may have blown an opportunity earlier when Harding Academy had third a Yeah.

And they allowed the first down conversion.

Well, in the very next play, Harding Academy fumbled.

So they got the stop.

They neede It just didn't happen on third and long from Harding Academy's What about 30 yard line?

Yeah.

So now this is another key play, to get off the field to get that quote unquote turnover from Malv turn it over on downs.

So I understand why both of thes have burned timeouts.

I think that if you're the defen coordinator for Harding Academy, you can it's probably safe to sa they're not going to, you know, throw all your pass de the out on this this opportunity And and so now what are you going to do with your li You're going to cheat them up.

And honestly, you would almost probably cheat a little bit to the outside because every running play that that Malvern had has been someth left or right tackle.

So you almost want to cheat the cheat the corners in and the lin just sell out to the run tight formation.

Simmons and Shotgun, he got stretches forward and jum That's the only way they got that was Jaylen Dupree again taking the direct snap and he does a little Superman st the ball out and it crosses the 30 for the fi But, you know, Harden Academy did a great job because they had a four man fron and then they everybody scrunche They brought the linebacker in.

And right there you saw it for Harding Academy.

That's why Simmons, who he cheat right there on the edge.

If he makes that stop when he co field, it's a turnover on down Simmons to the great job It's ju did a better job of the athletic jumping over him and stretching Simmons with it Simmons hitting the corner that Dupree a on the direct snap I'm going to check these numbers are fool wit with the two in the three but Dupree's been taking some di for Simmons.

Well, this offense, it's almost as if they run the Wildca almost every time, but they some all line Dupree up in front of S Sometimes Simmons will be front And they are they almost equally work is at the quarterback posit you can see right here just a it's an awkward looking f with Simmons it's as a control S want to throw quick pass out in it is caught immediately tackled is doggone on Carradine you know tackle him right around yard line it's a pickup of six and that's a great job by Carrad to make the catch and hold on to because he was hit immediately.

But he got right to the the firs marker to be able to get the fir and keep this drive going.

He did pick up the first down th They move the chains, Malvern taking their time.

They like the clock running.

They want to shorten this game a Hardy Academy's offense off the Look, they're up in this game.

No need to get in a hurry.

Simmons No, it's Dupree again.

The pre over that left side Harding Academy's defense doing a little better job on the And you can pretty much guarante that if Dupree carries it out of that shotgun snap, he's going of left tackle right here.

There's nothing more.

Know a lot of these offenses.

You'll see where he'll get it.

Hold it briefly and go up the mi Every single time they've run th they've made the edge.

And that's why he's been able to to spring some big plays so f One of the few plays where Malvern hasn't had success success picking up multiple yard nothing their second and ten.

So Simmons fakes the handoff.

He's going to keep He goes off that left side.

Not much there.

He broke a tackle but still brou that Dupree again at that yeah they they actually they they had Simmons in at quarterba and they move into the wide rece are they running back position they faked the handoff to him third and eight Malvern taking their time that c see Simmons there in the middle of your screen and Dupree to his right you see bigger Dupree is in Simmons righ Simmons looking quick pass out low but it's caug that going to be enough for a fi they're going to mark him at the So that'll bring up fourth and f They got to get the ball across the 50 to the 49.

So still fourth and five to go.

Another catch by Dante Cagle.

I mean West this might sound cra but they've stupid maybe two to to move the football and now the bring the punting unit on but you know four you knew for a brief moment J.t.

Plumlee was thinking about going I got to say, i think it's the r because Harding academy on this it's done a lot better job at stopping the They've the defense tightened up they did their job force the fourth and five so I see this as a good call there's a snap punt nobody back for Harding Academy.

They're just going to let this b and let Malvern down.

And inside the corner right at the 20 did a little bac So Harding Academy will take over at their 28 with 3 minutes and 40 seconds to go in the second quarter.

And now the Wildcats have a chance to take the lead.

So I'm looking out into the ligh West Looks like the rain is pret just it's almost a missed right here at War Memorial and you know that only helps you game a little bit if it's not ra We go to the sideline and find o Madison Fitzpatrick is braving the conditions down there.

Is it still raining?

It's still raining, but barely.

So I would hope in 30 minutes, maybe it stop completely.

Miller quick pass out to Hoover.

Hoover with some blocking Hoover to the Hoover still going.

One man to beat Hoover to the 40 Hoover is going to go Touchdown Harding Academy one pl that one ghost 80 yards Wow I mean the blocking yeah you want to see it on the r that's you know if you were a leader sc and how to follow your blocks that was it right there.

He he just followed his blocks, cut it back in and then just out ran be another big play this for a state championship Ho sucked the defense in see what I and then bounced it outside.

It makes the last man miss and t Hoover with over a thousand yard receiving this season and Harding Academy' It's still out in the field.

They lead by one, so a two point conversion would give them a thr That's why they're going for it Miller and Griffin in the backfi I think they're going to call Ti They are.

I mean, that was an 80 yard play Promoted Miller to Cuyler Hoover Tyler Hoover, four receptions, 164 yards and two touchdowns tod with the numbers we're putting u wins this game and whoever is going to be elect or selected as the MVP, it's going to be a tight competi I mean, go back to look look at this play right here.

I mean, this play normally only five, six, seven yards, right?

It's not supposed it's not designed to go 80.

And Hoover just made it look eas He's got the Civic speed to beca thought the safety had the angle It was going to tackle him after you know, 25, 30 yard gain.

The safety took a bad angle beca and he just got past the last line of defense got 80 So is that the fourth big play c play this game for a touchdown?

Yeah, it really is.

And I mean I was looking for as Ryan are average yards per compl right now for Harding Academy is 24.4 for Malvern has 25 average yards per rush for Malvern it's 12 and four Har Academy is 4.9 Miller rolling to Miller low pressure, throws it back and completes the for the two point conversion.

Hardy Academy increases their lead to 32 to 29 oh of bil He's out there playing Madden ri It's just you know how you when you're playing Madden, you just kind of run around trying to find a receiver and ma That's what he's doing.

He is he's a gamer and just foun we're in the middle of the end z Good look at Hoover as they come off the field.

Big drive for Tyler Hoover.

You see Miller here on the repla Just wait.

Waiting, looking and throws it b against the green and finds Hoov So Hoover gets eight points on that possession in two plays.

Very the kick so far he's perfec touchback by the way at this rat we've got 326 to play in the sec know we could still get a couple more scores in, right?

Oh, no doubt.

No doubt.

At the rate they're scored, it w surprise me if we had two more s Harding Academy runs a late player on to the fie They were out there with ten.

I don't think it matter for free kick.

Yeah.

You could go out there with two.

Yeah, no one really just let him I mean, just staying out there, kick it in the end zone.

So now what's going to be intere though, is if you're Malvern, you said you've had one drive that didn't go for a4a score, and now you got to get back on t after.

Now Harding Academy's come back and got back on the le and one thing that they they've not done well is they've allowed for the pre t you know, out of that wildcat of they run but they've not let Sim They've been letting two three g And so let's see if they go back allowing the Simmons to run a li Simmons in the shotgun he hands it off to the pre to pr couldn't get quite to the 25 pic four on the play that time they tested the middle we've been seeing them test off in the off the right in and that they went right up the middle and they may have seen an adjust The Harding Academy moved their linebackers out a little b widen their splits on the defens and it took away the outside.

So Malvern, with the adjustment, to run up the middle.

Simmons hands it to Dupree.

I think he wants to throw it.

He does.

He throws it.

It's complete.

Oh, it's knocked out the last se What a great play was that, Simmons.

Dupree?

Yeah.

Dupree took it.

Hayes it off to Simmons, and now it's Jones knocks it dow That was a great play by Alex Jo because if Carradine catches tha that's a touchdown.

Here's a great angle.

Yeah, and well, and really, Jone didn't even touch it.

He went off the back shoulder th and I said It was charity that was actually Donte Cagle.

It just went off his back shoulder and off the handle, her third and six.

So Hardee Academy has a chance to get back to back direct snap throw across the 30 it's completed stillness feet th finally at the 31 yard line.

But that's enough to move chains Nice throw and catch that time Die long Carradine gets the firs Yeah Carradine is a he's a he's been a big player today got that two point conversion ea and you haven't seen him a lot offensively.

You know he he's a guy that came to this ballgame with a thousand yards and hasn't really done just a lot offensively.

So far it's really been Donte Ca on the receiving department.

So that formation, you just real know who's going get it.

Now Dupree moves out of the way.

They toss it to Dupree.

Dupree to the sideline, knocked out of bounds and it's close, but they're not going to throw a I was watching there.

There was a lot of people in that Malcolm sideline, I'm su wanting to get a flag there.

The players like, hey, he was still in bounds when I hi so they're going to give him to on the first down run 693 yards of total offense here with 213 left in the second quarter.

MALVEAUX Running out of bounds.

It stops the clock at 213 to go in the first half.

I think Malvin would love to run 2 minutes and 13 seconds off the touchdown to take the lead at th Simmons with it looking now he's going to take o Now he's got a receiver goes deep down the field He's got the a flag is down it's not going to because donlon care dean scores.

Man, that was a heck of a catch by Carradine.

He just stayed with it.

He had a guy hanging on him, was able to make and take in the end zone for the touchdown.

So that's one of the two big pla that we talked about before that had to miss.

2 seconds to go.

Plenty of time for another score The kicking unit comes down the They're going to get ready to kick the extra point.

Tommy Kraft or head official talking with talking it over.

But we're going to have pass int though the call to the play is a touchd pass interference defense 15 yards away for the kick off Martinez off for the extra point snap it's high but it's down Martinez kicks it up it is good.

So Malvern takes a 36 to 32 lead that increases it to four.

I mean, back and forth we go wes look at this play steps up in th makes a throw downfield and you oh, he's not going to catch this He's got a high guy hanging on h He catches it and then he's off to the races too.

So man, it is if this is what the first half w with a three hour rain delay loo can you imagine what with them going in for 15 minute at halftime and coming out for a half, looks like.

Yeah the question is was the to affect the defense mo yeah the delay they were doing this before the yeah for sure I mean Carter Academy marks down and we'll stop that the goal lin the field goal that Harding Acad or Malvern scored two plays late Harding Academy scored two plays So we've seen this the entire ga before the delay.

After delay, the offenses are ro eight combined points in the fir And you know, you were talking just a minute ago about Sedrick Simmons QB rating.

It's dropped a little bit.

It's now down to three, 67.2.

Yeah, he had a couple of incompl made of ten now.

Well, and here's the thing Owen his grading is 308.6.

He's 11 of 13.

The quarterback putting on a sho Martinez kicks it into the end z So Harding Academy will take ove and ten at the 20 by the way.

So, you know, you and I have talked about a bu about Harding Academy's Wyatt Si That is the son of Paul Simmons, who's the Harding head had that text in a little bit ag and also just got a text from a buddy of mine, Keith Broo who says that, you know, Kyle Fa his uncle Brant was a full back at Harding Academy back in 1994.

So What a lot of lineages going on over here at Harding Ac Miller ready to go again want some points before the half Looking to pass now he scrambles gets up in the pocket he's broug he'll pick up about a yard before the Malvern defense is able to corral him keep him from escaping the pocke Well, that clock is going to con to roll with a minute.

45 left here in the first half.

Miller, quickly back to work, lo to his left, completes it and ba Ball is out.

Now they're going to say incompl it was close that was Indy McGou and think well let's see a replay on that but I thought he made a football move back towards the middle of And that's the case.

It's it would be a fumble.

Now, we do have replay in these championship games.

I don't know if we'll get the re before Matt could request one.

Well, now they're going to slow Todd Harding Academy is ready to run a play, but they're looking over the sid They need to get this one right.

now we got a timeout so we got a chance to review thi We do.

I don't know if they're going to We do.

Yeah.

I mean, yeah, we have a chance to review it.

And here, here it is right here.

So they throw it to the bottom half your screen and he's got the well, he never had Didn't look like I don't think he ever tucked it By the time he got hit, he did make a football move, but he never had full control of the If we can roll it back one more I don't think that if the replay booth's looking at they're saying well he was able to really get a good collar or a good hold of it minute 31 to go in the first hal Harding Academy received the opening kickoff.

So Morgan will get the ball to start the second half.

So it's kind of crucial that Harding can score.

Before halftime, I was thinking, Hey, we're going to stop here.

We got a minute, 31.

We may go get the score and then get the kick off and sc Big point here.

Harding Academy Miller with it.

He's got time to throw now he's under pressure Just heaves deep has a receiver there diving attempt is no good that w trying to make a fantastic play on the ball but could not g has a great delayed rush by Melb linebackers as they you know.

They watched him, they spotted and then took off.

You see right here, look, there' there's a delay, he makes it pas and that time for Malvern it was Ramya Bennett who put the pressure on him to just make it, make him throw Now Harding Academy is going to almost made a fantastic catch he's laying out stretched got his hands on it but when he hit the ground, the ball bounced out very well.

Here's the kick and it's a short one for free, but gets a great h and it'll roll all the way to about the 32 yard line.

Now watch a free kick the ball, punt the ball.

Before the game, he had some spiraling 55 yards.

Or is it just, hey, look like so threw it the way it was spiralin through the air and they're tryi to do a good job to keep these b But, you know, the ball's a litt and he might be a little blue.

I never was a kicker, so I don't I've just heard from other kicke that say sometimes when it gets Like that might be hard to kick and I'll have a minute.

13 here, see what they try to do Simmons into Perry in the backfi That's Dupree this time Dupree cuts it back right up the middle runs over de he's going to be close to the fi going to say short so it's secon and one clock is still ticking.

Malvern gets up quickly.

Who's going to have to pick up t They want to try to get a drive But with Malvern, they're so exp they could score any play.

Dupree with it again, direct sna He goes up the middle, gets the first down, that'll stop the Easy gain of four.

I mean, there wasn't it didn't look like there was mu but he picked up four.

That's a credit to the offensive Right.

And once again, he has such a bi that just by him leaning forward he's going to pick up two yards.

You know, I mean, he we saw earl when he stretched out for the fi he was able, you know, just stre out, got him two and a half yard and he got a time out after the They are after moving the chains they start the clock and Malcolm wasn't quite ready to get the pl so their coaches called a time o from the sideline first ten ball just 25 seconds left in the firs And you're going to have to star throwing the football around just because right now Harden Academy is playing a run.

They know which at this point they know what they're doing.

And Malvern run for 199 yards so far here in the first half.

So you're going to have to start slinging around a little bit if you want to try to get to the because you're still in your own territory.

Yeah, they've not even made it i Harding Academy territory to thi Malvern does have one timeout le So I mean, if you're thinking they're going to throw it, I'm sure Hardy's Academy is thin they're going through it.

So you still could try to bust o with Simmons or the pre.

Yeah they've already shown they could take it back to the h They'll have the ball at the 455 yards to go here.

Simmons Back into the formation.

DUPREE To his right.

Simmons gets it, fakes a handoff He's throwing it to his receiver on the right side.

It was almost picked off.

He was for Carradine.

But Carradine they weren't on the same page.

Yeah, that wasn't the route he was thinking.

Yeah.

And once again, though, you knew Harden Academy knew that they were going to thr and Malvern did that time.

And so they, they backed their safeties off and played it and it was just not a good throw that time.

Yeah, well thankfully it wasn't a good for Malvern Harding Academy would have picked that off.

Their safety was sitting there.

You watch the linebackers gettin they can run it if they want to and that's what they do to pre w to pre run up the middle Dupree the 20 makes a cut to the ten to the five into the end zone.

Dakari Are you kidding me?

They back the safeties up, back the linebackers up and they with the pre up the middle.

Another huge run for Jalen Dupre and that's exactly what Malcolm was wanting to get before the end of the half that I mean another big play by Jalen Dupree and I mean with he's going to be to 200 yards and he's at 191 yar 191 yards rushing in the first h Well, so the average 195 a game he could just take the second ha extra point is up and good Malvern increases their lead 43 They're up 11 with 11 seconds to play Dupre watch is cut Bam Defender slides on the wet turf He smells in the endzone Now another great cut makes the defe and then just out raises the last defender to the pylon and Dupree into the end zone aga Jalen Dupree his second touchdown rushing He' receiving three touchdowns on th That one for 55 yards boy hey I mean, this is this has been a fun first half outside of the four hour lightni It's been all it's been all good because you've got, what, 75 yar total points between the two tea just in the first half.

There's the 75 points make up for the three hour delay How are we?

Good.

I don't know.

They're going it's more you're s a little sour, still need some m And look, we're going to get tha in the second half.

I mean, I can't if we have a defensive performan in the second half, I'll be shoc Hey, real quick, let everybody know as Hardy Acad as it calls for the fair catch.

Halftime has been adjusted due to the lengthy delay.

Halftime will be 15 minutes and then an additional 3 minutes for them to warm up.

I guess they figured, look, you've already gotten a long bre What do we need another one for?

We don't want to be here all nig I agree with this move.

A 15 minute halftime plus 3 minutes to warm up so it won't be your normal lengthy halftime.

I guess they shaved off, what, 5 Normally it's a 20 minute halfti and a three minute warm up perio So they're going to cut 5 minute off of halftime and we'll be back here for second ha 11 seconds to go.

They're just going to take a kne Miller with the snap the knee, and they're going to the locker with Malvern up 11 4332.

What a first half.

We had a little bit of everythin Who knows what we'll have in the second half?

You don't want to see it.

Stick You're watching the Centennial S Football Championships on Arkans PBS Sports, the Electric Coopera of Arkansas, over 2500 team members across 17 local electric distrib co-ops powering homes, farms and industries across Arkansas.

We are the Electric Cooperatives of Arkansas power and people.

Hey, everybody.

David Basil.

Here it is.

Halftime at War Memo That means we are back here at A PBS studios to share with you a little bit of what we've been working on.

In a few minutes, Ed Leon is going to catch you up on the bigger picture, if you will, in Arkansas PBS.

Ashley King is going to fill you on some student athletes who are on the field and, more importantly, in the classro And we're going to take a look at one of the biggest football rivalries in the state.

But first, the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame was established way back in 1958 to honor and me outstanding individuals and to promote legacy and inspire younger generations.

Take a look.

1958 was a year of change in Ame The Hope Diamond was donated to the Smithsonian Museum.

The microchip was invented.

NASA was created by President Dw Eisenhower.

And in Arkansas, deep in the rec War Memorial Stadium, a group of Little Rock businessmen founded the Arkansas Sports Hall The original mission of the Hall of Fame was simple enough to recognize a individuals and teams that have honor to the state of Arkansas.

And we do provide scholarships f athletes.

It's a great place for young peo to get inspired to come here the to walk through and to read thes and think, someday that can be m We inducted our first class in 1 We have over 500 inductees, bask players, football players, baseb players, archery or and sharpsho Trapshooting runners, golfers, horse racing, car racing.

It's a great cross section of wh is for more than 60 years, the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame to honor those most accomplished who call the natural state home for its Hall of Fame selection p Simple but a little complicated.

You can go online and nominate your favorite sport That person goes into a master d selection committee, comes up with those 5 on the voting list.

For each category that is mailed out to the dues paying members, you pick your to Those come back the top two vote getters in the regular category automatically in the top vote ge the senior category automaticall and then the board votes on the remaining inductees.

And then you wait for a call when get the call.

It's a big deal.

You know, when I was inducted to the Arkansas Sports Hall of F or however, when I got received I feel like I've reached somethi being from a small town rural ar which Arkansas has a lot of that And when you get picked for some this prestigious, it has a huge impact on your lif Seemed to me it was the my athletic career.

I just seemed like all the hard have paid off for me.

All the people you meet, all the connections you make, they welco It was remarkable to me the night that I came to be indu because the former inductees, they want you to feel like, hey, you're part of us now.

Clearly, sports in Arkansas isn' all fun and games.

Sports is a common ground that brings everybody together.

And we compete.

We want to see good battle, but we want to shake hands after And if there's a mutual respect everyone that played athletics, you discipline, it teaches you t it prepares you for life.

It got me a full scholarship at the University of Central Ark Eventually, the Hall of Fame had to need a new home, and by early 2007, construction was complete on the almost 14,00 foot Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame Museum, located in what is now Simmons Bank Arena in North Little Rock.

All the committees in the state have an opportunity to make sure their heroes rememb and they do that walk through this whole thing, see a helmet from some small com here, a smaller college maybe than the Razorbacks are je pictures, statistics, all kinds of memorab like a picture of Scottie Pippen standing next to a polar bear.

For some reason, it's just like the milestones of the people who and who laid the foundation.

Their favorite thing is always the bears back there in the car.

The Martin, Martin car.

But they actually get to see how sports in Arkansas started for everybody as they were growi had their favorite sports heroes We preserved those sports heroes for the different generations.

They look here and say, wow, this person overcame this.

They came from maybe an impoverished background or maybe a beginning that wasn't necessarily headed toward sports, but ended up ther We have a great sports legacy he It's a great representation of what this state is about hardworking people who endured, who achieved And so to have that legacy as a in a permanent place here, hope people embrace that.

Hope they come here and enjoy it Look at the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame as motivation and s one day that's going to be me.

Now you know the history.

You can be a part of the future of the Arkansas Sports Hall of F Let's turn now to the student athlete with emphasis on the student par Ashley, what do you have for us?

Thanks, We talked to schools across the Arkansas to find out about those that not only excel on the field but in the classroom too.

Here's the Arkansas PBS student All Stars class of 2022.

We're going to start with our ei honoree, Jackson.

Martin Jackson is a senior quart for the Woodlawn high school Bea He has a 3.5 grade point average He plans to attend college and b a coach or study to be a real es out of to a let's me Luke KING Luke is a senior quarterback and linebacker for the Hazen High School Hornet He maintains a 4.0 grade point average and wants to play colleg and ultimately become a dentist.

Moving on to three eight, you're Sawyer Hoskins with the M High School Bearcats.

This senior offensive and defens linebacker is a four year starte who holds a 4.2 GPA.

He also scored an amazing 33 on exam.

He plans to become a pharm Our foray all star this year is Jalen Dupree.

Jalen, as a junior running back and linebacker for the Malvern H Leopards, he has a 3.5 grade point average Following high school, Jalen pla to play college football major in physical therapy coming around 258.

We have Tavon Haynie of the Park High School Patriots.

Tavon is a senior cornerback and has a 3.5 grade point averag He has received an Outstanding A Excellence Award and has won all conference and all state honors.

He plans to continue playing foo while seeking a degree engineeri or learning a trade.

The six eight representative this season is Hayden Webb, the senior offensive lineman for the Green Wind High School.

Bulldogs maintains a 4.0 GPA and scored a perfect 36 on the e He plans to attend the Universit Arkansas at Fayetteville after g And finally, we wrap up with our all star Abe Owen.

Abe is the senior quarterback for the Cabot High School Panthe He has a 4.0 GPA.

After high school, he plans to go to college and medical school to become an orthopedic surgeon.

Congratulations to this year's h Way to go.

You know, we may see some of the again in April here in Arkansas.

Quiz ball.

Now, if you haven't seen Quiz Bo want to make a note to watch thi Some of the smartest high school students in the state meet up right in the studio and not only for bragging rights, but for some pretty big checks, And it's all live right here on Arkansas PBS.

Speaking of what is on Arkansas, If You're Not a regular viewer, here is Ed Lean to tell you what you've been missing.

Thanks, Ashley.

Hey, we don't want you to miss a here on Arkansas PBS because we're doing a lot from these sports broadcasts that we do every year to the recent statewide politica Two Arkansas stories made just f We have something for everyone.

And of course, our foundation here is education.

Now, this is where the magic hap for Arkansas.

PBS was made for educational tel We want to make learning interes and fun.

It's our mission to build lifelong learners.

And part of that is keeping you well-informed with our current affairs program For almost four.

Arkansas weeks has been keeping informed of the news and issues that matter most.

I'm Christina munoz for Arkansas How huge is agriculture farming here in the state of Ark The stress farmers and ranchers every day can be overwhelming.

These resources are for all of o Arkansas farmers.

Election Day just around the cor and everyone agrees there's a lot at stake.

It's analysis and insight on the you care about.

That's just our effort to make sure that testing contin to be available on Arkansas voters in Arkansas.

We got you.

Your well-being.

It's worth figh Everybody made this sacrifice to make sure I was going to be a So my my biggest thing is to acc rebuild and lives rebuilding com Keeping you informed and engaged That is public media.

And that is what the dedicated p in this building work to do ever All right.

Now, we can't go on without givi a sneak peek at some upcoming pr Watch this important person in U.S. hi And so to do the sculpture, it puts a lot on your shoulders as an artist that you capture the spirit of this amazing indiv I like quality and my mother just making sure that everything was right.

We're all hanging out.

We're all cooking turkeys.

We get an opportunity to help a Have a good Thanksgiving.

They get to Williams, throws it I mean, she just stepped up and nailed the biggest shot righ He was at home with the right ha tie ball game.

When you wake up.

Don't wake up.

When the signal had swung on, look at high field.

He's going back to the warning.

Track it down here.

I would have never known the thi now without that program.

It really helped me advance my opportunity to.

This career field.

There is something for everybody here on Arkansas P It is our mission to ensure that And we want you join our communi scan that QR code on your screen if you're these championship games.

If you appreciated the amount of we dedicated to our debate week before the elections.

If Arkansas stories are importan then sign up and join us.

Become a part of the team.

That QR code will tell you how t and you'll see it pop up throughout these championship ga All right.

I think we've got time for one m Arkansas story.

Right, bars?

Yes, we do add rivalries in Arka We've got some good ones.

One of the biggest pits, two clo knit communities in central Arka against each other.

The game got so big, they had to move it to war.

Memorial Stadium.

Here's a look at the Salt Bowl.

If you've never been around it, it's kind of hard to and hard to understand.

Biggest rivalry in the state of The two are close together.

You don't know when you leave one and enter the other.

Go to the right bet and you go t your bride by the district lines Convoluted, to say the least.

Coming down the interstate.

You really can't tell which one' And Brian, it is 634.

We are here at Big Red.

Here is our annual SoCal show.

We're in Bryant proper, right?

We're in our proper.

Is that right?

A lot of these athletes go to the same church.

They go to the same stores.

They eat out at the same place.

So many families who grew up in County went to Benton, whose kids went to Bryant vise v The rivalry between the two and I think it's because are so close.

I always talk trash.

My name is Loyola and I go to the in school, but my mom went to Bryant school I'm a sophomore in high school.

My mom was a Bryant cheerleader, so obviously I am partial to Bry and the girls are a little a lit more partial to their Panther ma I mean, I like to think that this looks a little more better, we are a true house divided.

I say like y'all are going to lose at the s even though you were on year tea That doesn't mean you to vote fo because they can still be bad stuff and crap.

Give me the first year Benton and Bryant played me this You know, it's good guess.

It was 1970 project or one of th so CW Lewis Stadium where many many a games between Panthers and Bryant Hornets beginning in 1974 were played and they really were the salt bo the 1999 game when you had over 12,000 people and then also up on top of this uh, there were people standing as far as you could see.

I was just dumbfounded.

I remember Mayor Palmer, now mayor, former then coach, fo saying something to me.

He's like, you know, we probably think about doing something diff And we started talking about wha we do to make the game bigger, b We've now reached the point that both schools have outgrown the ability to play this game in our own sta We've got to look at doing something different and why not in all Memorial Stadium quickly became more than just a football game, started a salt bowl t shir That's what started hot dogs that we gave away for f to attract people to come to the That eventually led to big Arkan largest high school tailgate par as we call it.

The one thing I think I'm the most proud of is we also wan to give back to our community.

We've had charity partners in Ar Food Bank.

We've always done a blood drive, and we've had partnerships with the Cancer Society or goodw And so it's always been more than just a game.

People were out there, they got maroon on, they got their blue o One big family because it's abou That's what community is about, is a fa And they're having a great time.

Buddy, when you walk through tha and you take your side, whether it be the Bryant Hornets or whether it be the Panthers side, it's all over because it's where that whistle blows at 7:00 and that kick offs, given it's w and everyone's pulling for their and yelling and screaming and it fully spirited and having a grea But, you know, watch, game's ove People intermingle, get in a par and a family again.

Oh, yeah.

We love a good rivalry What do you guys think?

Oh, there is nothing like the en of a rivalry game.

And the best part about a rivalr there's always next year.

That's right.

It was my favorite part of playi football, especially when we won Yeah.

Now, if you at home want to see your school's rivalry featured, hit us up on s The hashtag a R PBS rival, and maybe we'll be in your town Well, that's it for us on the halftime Now let's get back to War Memorial Stadium for the second right here on your home for the high school football sta Arkansas PBS, the Electric Cooperatives of Arkansas, over 2500 team memb 17 locally electric distribution powering homes, farms and indust Somewhere across Arkansas.

We are the Electric Cooperatives of Arkansas power and people really get under the tarp over t What's the deal?

What's the contraptions at the b at war Memorial Stadium, just watching the rainfall, try to fi what's in a part on the sideline That's okay.

Because nice little tip built up over there.

I bet that's where they got the TV in the off Does or defense goes and watches the replays figure out what's go I'll tell you what's going on.

It's a lot of offense.

So we're on pace to shatter some state championship records.

4332 Malvern leads at the half 75 total points in the first hal Now think about this wells in 20 Harding Academy beat Magee 7144 to set the all time record in to between two teams.

That's at 115, right?

So that was a 2024 total yards that numbers at 1301 for the rec Now right now we're at 836, so we did 836 and We could blow that record out.

The Outer Gates and and the number of points by was set in 1949, in which Stuttg scored 73 points in a single championship game.

So there's a lot of records that could go down in this one.

Malvern on pace to score 86.

No, these offense can keep up wi but the two teams have already s 75 points, so that's on pace for 150 in the And then, as you mention, the yards in a game, they're on for 672 yards.

You're not going to have much of If we if we get to score in 85 p in the game, ten touchdowns in the first half and touchdowns in the first half Seven of those touchdowns were for 50 yards or more.

Yeah.

Donte Cagle, a 76 yard rec Tyler Hoover, 71 yard reception.

Cedric Simmons 51 yard touchdown Jalen Dupree 57 yard touchdown r Tyler Hoover.

80 yard pass reception for a tou Dillon carried the 67 yard touchdown reception for touched reception Jalen Dupree right before the end of the half a 55 yard touchdown run That's just seven of the games scoring plays for these two team The kick off from Tyler Ferry goes into the end zone onc He is consistently booted through the end zone or into the So Kyle Ferry knocks that one through and it'll be fi and ten from the 20 for Malvern.

Is there a duo, fantastic dynami duo of Cedric Simmons and Jalen Go back to work.

I just got a message from a budd His name's Troy Marz, who he run The chain gang over at Hardy Aca He always says that.

He says when Kyle gets out to kick out, talk about the Hardy Academy kicker, when he gets tha he said, we don't even down.

He said, we just automatically walked the 20 because we always know it's going to be a touchback.

But Batman has to call a timeout Well, let's see if this comes in Something obviously wrong with the way they lined up and they're going to take a time on the first before they even ru So, you know, the coaching staff in the huddle talking with the guys trying to get everything straigh and that's not the way you want but it's better than a penalty t the opening drive of the second So they're going to get everybod on the same page.

I don't know, guys, we got two more quarters to play We haven't done anything yet.

All we're doing is leading by 11 Now Malvern has been stopped one Hardy Academy start been stopped because they had a fumble and they punted once.

So I mean there's this has been total offense throughout the fir I was talking with a former coac at Malvern during the halftime.

He said that's what they went into the game thi We need to get a couple of stops each half.

We can get a couple of stops.

We got a chance to win this thin and they got two stops in the fi Simmons the pre in the backfield it's going to be Dupree with the direct snap.

Dupree Going off that left side.

He's got room to run Dupree just getting going.

Gives a little move and steps ou bounds at the 38 gain of 18 on f That'll put Dupree over 200 yards in the game I mean.

West that time Keelan Donnell made a block to seal off the edg He's a wide receiver and he makes a block off the edg to open that whole thing up.

And hopefully we'll see right th You saw the edge block and he wa to spring it for another ten yar So, you know, everybody contribu right now on the offense first and ten C Cedric Simmons there but Dupre Dupree again tries the left side Nothing there.

This time he gets nothing, no gain.

You don't see that very often.

No gain by hand by Dupree.

He's second time off the memory.

I mean, he, he is at least rattl you know, three or four yards at And that time, Hunting Academy did a great job just getting right there on the of scrimmage and stopping him fo Keenan Harris on the tackle, the sophomore pick 55 kind of sl the block and was just standing waiting for Dupree second and ten.

Simmons in the backfield.

He takes it, fakes a hand off.

He wants to throw.

He does throw looking down the s overdoses.

Receiver had his receiver open but just led him too much.

We've seen care done today and c with some big catches the first This time he just could not conn Yeah, and Carradine's just done a good job of, you know, getting past the corne and getting an open space.

That time is a little bit tighte We had about a yard separation between the two.

Just got over, thrown those numbers for Cedric Simmons I mean, on the day eight of 12 p and three scores third and ten Simmons in shotgun he's got it looking left now loo to the right makes throws incomp Hardy Academy's defense does the they get a stop to start the sec You know, that's what they were all during the halftime.

Come out, get a stop for support Let's get the ball back.

Yeah.

And that was big.

I know that we just started the second half, they've got to get some, some mo about themselves, defense.

They got to get some confidence they can stop this offense from They showed it right there Simmons back to punt for Malvern He does it all for Malvern or a of everything for Malvern, I sho Dupree does a lot to Simmons pun drive wobbler gets a good bounce Another good bounce and they'll continue rolling inside the 15 to the 14.

So that's going to work out really well for Malik.

Yeah.

You can't ask for a better punt to get the roll that they did.

Now you've backed Harding Academ in their own territory for their first drive, and you remember how this game s West Hard they did it.

Scott Malvern did a sky to Hardi and they ended up getting the ba at the 41 yard line off their fi They take it down and score.

Not very often in this game has Academy had to work from deep in their own it into the fi Yeah I don't remember that that was a long time.

That was that was it was like 5 5 hours ago Miller quick throw i this caught that is Hoover with Hoover's pulled backwards he got to about the 20 He'll get a gain of six in the third second down coming up for ten and a half min to go.

The third quarter, great first h No scoring yet.

But just wait Miller.

Nothing there.

He's looking scrambling now under pressure.

Hey, bringing down inside the five yard line forced Landreth the junior his sixth sack of the season Lan he held on to his leg and didn't look at him and then get beat on Grabbed him by the ankle and just brought him to the grou He he was not letting that one g And now Harding Academy's backed in their own in of the field thi rolling right scrambling looking brought down.

They get him on back to back pla two sacks.

What is this call is that defense recipients a kic SMITH This time and a kicker.

SMITH That time was being blocke and he reached out there with the left hand to bring him And just once he grabbed a hold.

No one.

Miller wasn't going anyw Here's a good look at the replay what he did.

He just grabbed him and tossed him to the ground, had a little help, but they get a stop back to back First time we've had that this e so defenses did learn something in the break very at the end of zone puts a boot into it.

You could see the leg look at th spiraling and it's dropped its m Now we're trying to get back on and they do.

That was Carradine who dropped i And the rain is really coming he One more on.

He was having to look way up int for that one.

It was lost the handle on it and was able to get back on top was kicking that from his nine look at that rain coming down we that was a 51 yard punt 52 after the moth net of 52 you saw the leg port fairy right So essentially Melbourne's got the football back where they had it on their last drive when they had a punt it away.

Defense held now Simmons into three ready to go back to w Simmons handoff to the pre up the middle follows the line gets push picks up four picks up five They'll move it to the 44/2 five but we head down to the sideline Meredith Madison.

Fitzpatrick Scuse me.

She talked to both coaches after Madison what did the coaches hav Yeah, well, so Coach Plumlee sai so proud of how his boys came ou after those delays.

He said they were very aggressiv but at the same time he said the is to not get comfortable and realize Hardy Academy will g But the goal is just to slow the And coach Neal Evans says they've got to get better a those two really good backs.

And he said he they've been in t before where they're down.

Oh okay.

Okay.

You're going to be loud from the Malvern fans, but they've been the spark for where they're down, so they're going to need to lean on that in their comfortability in these high pressure situation back to you you that a Cedric with it it's hard to take it or to do anything in this game a replay or sideline report beca they're fast and they can make play after big that time it's Simmons with and Dupree with so many dynamic runs it was Simmons who started the g making the big runs for Malvern and then Dupree took over.

Now Simmons with another big run And that was that was what they got back to at the beginning of the game whe was running off tackle and was a to find big lanes to run through Simmons toss fakes the toss he's going to keep it test the r out off he went down on his own if he kind of slipped when he was trying to cut back but he goes down not much there now mark him down at the 31 so they'll actually lose a yard.

You know when when war memorial in the new turf the in a new drainage system underne allowed for that water that hits the field to drain out of there.

And, you know, the old turf used like a slip and slide when it wa It would rain.

Guys would just slide around all the place.

I'd be interested to see from Ma later in the game how slick it is out on the field he said just to get her to run t Possibly, yeah.

See Dupree off that left side.

Good push from the line.

He'll pick up about four on this on this carry so that'll create third in about They need to get the ball to about just almost the 20 yard li I got to think though, this is t four down territory.

They got more downs to work with You know, it's interesting how this offense, they've got the two backs in the and you essentially have to leav when you go in the hole like tha For Simmons, even for Dupree to run through.

So the first guy picks up a line the second guy kind of seals off anything on the defensive line.

DUPREE Direct snap going over the left side.

He's got Simmons blocking for hi DUPREE To the 15 to the ten to t He's run out of bounds at the 5/ Malvern.

They're knocking on the door aga And once again, you see it.

I mean, he takes it himself.

Dupree does, but he's got two blockers in fro The first blocker.

Watch right h So he comes off that that left s first guy seals off the lineback next guy comes in and seals off the outside receiv and he's got a lane to run throu That's Cagle again.

You mentioned Cagle blocking that was another good block from at the wide receiver spot catche it and blocks 4332 Malvern up 11 looking to increase their lea first and goal from the five Dup with it Dupree follows his block the middle falls forward to about the two gain of three on f and one thing Maverick's doing, you look at that clock, we've go a half a quarter without a score which is unheard of in this game I mean, if this were still the f we would have had three scoops.

It was a coach that told us last it was Brad Bolden said, you look at the scoreboard, we'r If they don't score again, we wi Yeah, that's right.

Well, that's what Maverick say.

Look, we don't have to get in a If Hardy Academy doesn't get man possessions left, they don't sco We win.

And you see the two Simmons and Dupree direct snap.

He's followed with Simmons tryin to get to the outside He does to Malvern Jalen Dupree and again play very rarely west do you see a quarterback line up in that running back spo and lay a big block and you saw there was Simmons he was the out he comes in the defensive end is rushing in he takes it takes and it allows for debris to get You see right here, watch number three, boom seals t And he's able just to walk into the end zone Martinez on for the extra point trying to make it an 18 point ga pick it up and it is good so Malvern increases their lead the leopards feeling good right you're watching the centennial b football championships on Arkans PBS Sports and look at the regional broadcast of this championship game is made possible by the Electric Cooperatives of Over 2500 team members across 17 electric distribution co-ops powering homes, farms and industry somewhere across Ar we are the Electric Cooperatives of Arkansas Power and People local broadcast of Ar PBS programing is made possible by community bakery, scratch mad pastries, cakes, treats and locally roaste served daily at two locations in Little Rock 1200 main and 270 Shackleford Bridge Corporation is a proud supporter of Arkansas PBS Sports, the Arka State High School Football Champ and the Harding Academy.

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Jalen Dupre, 24, carries 245 yards, three touchdowns.

He also has a touchdown receptio So Dupree right now, with four t scored on the night, we may have and see what the rushing record for the state championship game Yeah, I mean, there are a lot of that could be broken tonight as Kick looks like it's going to go out of bounds a that many flags tonight will pla so it'll be a penalty on the kicking unit for Malvern only four penalties in the game very clean.

So now it's pretty simple for Ha Academy.

You're down 18.

You got a score?

Yeah, you're not.

Now you start to think, how many more possessions are we going to get and can't we And that's another big thing because Malvern is put up 50 poi You can't trade score for score.

They got to go down the score, g Well, they showed there on that first drive, they can stop them.

I mean, yeah, they've done it no Three in the game two times in t and they can't stop them.

It's just you got to really defend that th monster Miller finds his receive What a route from Pflueger.

Who pulls it in?

He's down to th They call that the jerk route.

You make the defender look like He starts it like he's going to route.

That stops.

It cuts back outside and just a fantastic route.

He's wide open.

You see the DB that was chasing him right there He thought he was going inside and he puts on the brakes.

Hoover goes outside, wide open reception first down quick pass out to the right receiver catches it, then runs b they're going to give him for pr Or they did until he fought forw and they're going to say he's going to get to the 49.

So a short gain of three on the Yeah.

You never want to run back towards your quarterback, you kn And so no minimal gain right the But another good job by that Mal defense, they were right there a That's What caused him to go bac you know, back towards quarterba Miller rolls to his right quick coach again coach catches it.

He takes it to the 46 yard coach having a good day he' now oh, he's about a yard or two shy of 100 so far for the day.

It's also a yard short, two short of the first down.

So it's third and two, no doubt it's two down territory If they don't get it here, they're going to have to g Quick pass this deflected knocke course Landreth was call his nam you know Landreth he had the big sack on the last for Horning Academy that time almost you know he got both hand and almost was able to get an in but he did knock it down fourth So look, if Landreth on the righ at the bottom of your screen gets to hand up that, too, it's I think he might get both hands fourth into Malvern with a chanc to get a huge stop.

Miller looks over at the sidelin They got 2.5 seconds on the play They get the play off quick pass they get the completion and the first down they go to co Coach, you know, he's kind of been thei he leads team in receptions righ that's now his eighth reception has over 100 yards receiving on he's the second Harding Academy to get over the 100 yard mark to And he also went over the 1000 y mark for the season this afterno MILLER Time to throw still time.

Now he's got a little pressure t and he plays a receiver.

It's almost like a Hail Mary out If Griffin is running back on th and he completes it for no gain, get anything.

But it's better than a sack, I guess.

Yeah.

No, I mean, then, you know.

Griffin Well, he was just sitting over there going, Hey, t I'm wide open.

And he was standing right there at that at that line of scrimmage.

Miller moves, Griffin goes in mo He's under pressure.

He tries to split the defenders and he's pulled down for a sack.

He saw a little there was trying the defenders and scramble out o but he was sandwiched in at a Ke Smith again.

He had a sack earlier and the kicker does it again, th see right there, a kicker just came across and he was able to take him down His defensive line for Malvern i They're playing well right now, third and 14 roll in looking back now, he's coming back to the oth of the field, being chased, heav the field receiver made a great for but it hit the turf they're going to say coach didn't catch it.

That was a great effort to come And coach says he caught it.

He he's trying to plead with the and he's telling the sideline to to review this thing.

Let's we'll see the replay of it because I don't know if I don't if it did not that video board up here played And the Hardy Academy fans are screaming that he caugh I think it hit I think it hit hi I couldn't tell there.

And that's the thing with instan in high school, it has to be cle And obvious.

Yeah, they're going to review it on th and give us an opportunity to look back a It's the same angle we had just a second ago.

Just see if he's able to get his under the ball.

There's no doubt it kind of boun but it's his offices hate his ha I think it was just he may have caught that off his It kind of bounced and he trappe against his chest in his hands.

It did.

You saw when he rolled the ball did kind of touch the turf a lit But I think you seeing that repl the second time, he may have got And we show it one more time for for those watching at the house it's just with that angle, it's so far you don't have anyth that's like right there on top o Here's a different view of it.

See what just a great effort from Miller.

I just you can't tell if the ball was b I think that first angle that we that was from behind the quarter I that might be the best one but you just don't know if the ball gets in between his hands and touches th I don't see the ball hit the tur I think it hit his hands.

He bounced up and he caught it.

So here's the replay from back behind the quarterback.

And and how about the throw, by I mean, great throws.

He's being taken down.

So I think I got it.

I got it.

I think, you know, seeing that that right there and here's the you know, they're just going to keep going And once again, it's got to be c and obviously it clears off.

Sure.

Are you sure he called it, I think right there.

You got to say that.

He did.

I mean I mean, here we go.

The officials have got the word and they're about to announce it After further review, the ball w We have to put it on low.

Hey, Mike, it got to be the line Al Gore 3 to 3 for the champions game for instances just like that, because, I mean, a tough play on the on the offic to call that in real time and fo to replay it like that and get i which they've done pretty much the entire championship so far.

I fully support that call.

I'm pretty sure he called.

Yeah, All right.

Person Tim Miller, he's going to take it and run it and he's got some room to run across the 20 to the 15th He's hogtied brought down at the yard line right at the ten.

So another first down for Hardy Wildcats, back to back big plays I think that does a great job be you know, I want to say that was set up fo but he saw the whole he said, I' just gonna take off and run with MILLER Ready Quickly following this, blockers across the ten to the five, he's at third down again that one loo he fell awkwardly laid there for but he's up and seems to be okay Boy, he has taken some big hits and how he's been brought down.

he is he has had a heck of a day C Griffin.

The running back is out of the g and they bring in Simmons and we've seen Wyatt Simmons run the ball down here on the go he scored earlier and Simmons takes the pitch.

He's going off the left side.

Malvern was ready for it t Simmons has been in a couple of They tried that goal toss to him He scored once in another time, picked up a big chunk a yards.

But that time, Malvern Defense r They were ready for it.

They throw it for a loss.

Angel Perez was the one in there to get the loss.

And now that brings up a third d for Harding Academy.

Perez leads Malvern in tackles coming into the game 109 this se third and ten balls on the ten.

So it's third and goal.

They cannot get a first down without scoring a touchdown Miller coming back looking big c and brought down Melton's defense does it again and guess who that was with a hu Jalen Dupri are you kidding me?

He's doing everything.

The guy's run for 250 yards, scored four touchdown and just came up with a huge sac Now, I mean, do you go after the points less?

I mean, no, because you've got a long fourth And I think there are going to b let's do the math you're down 18 goal makes it 15 yeah that's a two possession gam that's that's a smart play and when you got a kicker like Ferri don't want to jinx hi but you got to feel good.

Ferry on the season is 16 of 23.

He's already made one field goal in this game.

Good snap and whole kick is plen It was spooky and it's no good.

He hooked it, right?

Perry thought he made it.

He's got his hands on his head.

He's he thought he made it.

He was running off the field cel Yeah.

And you know, the official on that for Pylon, he was watching he looked straig you know the upright and it just right on the right side of the Malvern gets another stop.

That's exactly what they need.

And you look up 2 minutes left in the game, Melvin's lead stays Well, that is a big, big start for this defense for Malvern.

Well, in the sacks you think about it back to back to force the fourth and long.

And really that was the right ca It was fourth.

And what was it, 24th and goal from the 20?

I now expect a lot of running fr and Simmons to Perry over that left side tes Not much there.

He'll pick up a couple of ten ri You know, at some point you're j to see Malvern just slow it way Yeah.

You know, they're still going to be aggressive and they know t they've got to score because I d if 18 points right now is enough I don't know.

50 is enough.

Yeah.

That with this Hardy Academy off they're capable of scoring three touchdowns in the fourth q You know what's crazy is I was just looking back quarter and in the first quarter we had total scored.

Second quarter we had 36.

And so far this one, we've had s Fake the toss Simmons keeps he's got two block He gets across the 25 to the 26.

He'll pick up about four on the that hurts him.

Third and four coming up for Mal Play Clock is it 28?

You see they're just taking thei looking over at the sideline.

I'm with them as well.

Work because there's no need.

It's written that you got to wai until the fourth quarter and sta the clock.

Now I just believe that clock as much as possible.

Per Malvern.

But I agree with you.

I don't know if an 18 point lead is enough.

Simmons hands it off to the pre.

He's got two blockers.

He gets across the 30, gets the across the 34 yard line that'll move the chains What a well-designed play you got to pre with two blockers in front of him and I thought for a second that could go all the way but the Harding Academy defender block shed it and made the tackl excellent play by the defender that that p essentially going to give Malver all the way into the fourth quar because they're going to lure aw the rest of this clock off as we're at 50 seconds down to 14 on the play clock.

I bet my mind Malvern throws abo or three more passes the entire Yeah, it's going to be a steady of running the ball.

There's another run coming over the right side across the 40 to That's a gain of seven on first That'll be the last play of the quarter of Malvern chooses.

I don't see any reason why they another play.

The game clock's at 18 seconds left play clock's at 25.

No, they're not going to run ano They're all standing around.

They're fine.

And content with taking an 18 po lead to the final quarter.

Malvern 50 Hardy Academy 32/4 quarter action coming up your watching the centennial Pen Football Championships on Arkans PBS Sports.

Thanks, George.

Appreciate it.

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Look for new episodes on second Friday of each month a Wherever you get your podcasts, getting set to start the fourth of the four day state championsh Malvern leads Harding Academy 52 Here's how we got here.

Harding Academy.

Oh, and Miller passes it out to Kyler Hoover and he takes off down the sideli for the score.

Harding Academy led 10 to 7 at t but Malvern came right back.

Sedrick Simmons keeps it.

He goes over that right side.

Nobody there, 50 yards.

Malvern leads it 41 to 10 Maveri defense did well got a couple of stops Jaylen good three then takes ove That's a 57 yard touchdown run A increased their lead to 22 to 10 They weren't done.

Sedrick Simmons He's done it wit and he's done it with his arm.

That's a big pass completion for 43 yards and Malvern leads it 50 to 32 as we start the fourth quarter o The four championship game 12 minutes away from their second state tit The last one came in 1993 and there was a pretty good runn back in that game for Malvern Ma He's got to be proud of what he' Jaylen Dupree do tonight.

Yeah, you know, that's a pretty, pretty rare error whenever you y your name is in there with Madre as far as all time greats it had Malvern put the head down, follow that big offensive line and Simmons close to a first down did not get it.

It'll be third and one but once you're once again Wes, I mean you're just going to they've got to get one yard and they could bleed this, you know, theoretically, if they just keep going over rig tackle or right guard pick up three or four yards, they could bleed this thing down seven or 8 minutes.

They're not going to get in any that's for sure.

10 seconds left on the play cloc Third down.

Here's your snap there.

Let's go.

Simmons is going to ru It comes up with the left side.

He's got the first down makes a so on his feet Simmons to the 35 to the 30.

Does he have enough speed to get to the end zone?

Yes, sir.

Touchdown, Malvern.

Adding to their lead, Cedric Simmons taking it to the house cramping up, giving it all that You see him down the end zone working out that cramp.

Sedrick Simmons There's nothing there's nothing worse than taking it in the end and your whole leg locks up because you're cramping up.

But how about that run, though?

Look at this.

I mean, you think, okay, well, c where they're going to get bottl here, give a shoulder shrug, com all the way across the field, br a tackle, and it's just off to t I mean the kid is he is unbelievable how good he i 57 yards and right there it hits You see him go down with the Simmons now on the night has 156 yards rushing on just eight carries He's averaging 19.5 yards per ca Dupree and Simmons have combined for ov yards rushing 413 yards between They're the only two that's run for Malvern.

35 carries 413 yards rushing.

Extra point is up.

It is good Malvern right now running away with it literally on the ground, doing what they want to do against this Hardy Academy defen Now it's go time for Hardy Acade They've got to score.

Yeah and and you going back to S you talked about and he's rushed for 150 yards he's also thrown for 224.

I mean the guys he's thrown for or he's he's got what is that about 370 380 yards of total offense just in o he's done for three touchdowns.

Now he's run for two touchdowns.

Here's another look at that run.

And I mean, that's just impressi You get ball up one side, cut it then have to cut it back all the across the field for the touchdo And boy, he is he's a fun player to watch Malvern ready to kick off 57, 32, 25 points so that is now a four game for Harding Academy short punch kick call for the fa catch caught at the 25 Hoover elects to fair catch it and that's where Harding Academy will take I don't know if we've announced it, but they have set the game time for the three eight championship that has been delayed.

It's not going to kick off at 630 obviously, since it's already 543, we've got about a full quarter t But the eight game will kick off Boonville and Charleston, a rema from a conference game earlier t But they're here.

They're ready They want to get that game in.

T Miller fakes a hand off, looking nowhere to throw it.

So he comes back to the other si he completes it, picks it up, cr about the 41, but they're going to mark him down at the 40 yard How about Miller that time?

Just patiently scanning the fiel looking, looking.

And finally he found Andy McAlee for the first down.

Yeah.

And now he's.

AJ Miller's a very impressive quarterback he He'll play somewhere the next le Miller quick throw out cook for catches it down to the 45 five yard gain there your total yardage is for both t I mean, it's just been an offensive onsl so far in this game between both But look at that.

Look at the rushing yards, 413 for Malvern and only 74 for the clock stopped when coach stepped out o And actually, they're looking at over here, a little delay the play game there's a flag down at the 40 on the far side there is no foul.

Okay.

So they're going to pick it up, wave it off, no foul.

They said I think they were had thrown it for a substitution infraction wi they were looked at and talked over it.

So no infraction.

So it's second and five.

Miller In the back row alone, he's got four receivers to his l That's where he's going.

Rolls left.

He's wanted to throw it, didn't want to run it.

Now he just steps out of bounds.

And I bet that draws a flag.

There it is.

Miller was hit out That'll be 15 yards and of the f mistakes Malvern has made tonigh Yeah.

And you know, we've talked so mu how, how good Owen Miller is.

He's only a sophomore.

I mean, he's going to be back for two more years after this year, another flat or there's the call and the flag While he's getting ready to anno that, let's head down to the sid no foul ball late hit out of bou as the defender was pushed into by an opponent.

It will be third down.

Okay.

So down to the sideline checking with Mattison.

Hey, guys.

So something I've noticed down h that you might not be able to se from all the way up there in the is body language, which is huge Going into the fourth, Malvern was heading over to their sideli They're pumping up their crowds, they're waving to their fans are waving to their teammates.

They seem really excited.

And on the other hand, Hunting A was kind of slumping over to the So I know Malvern is going to wa that momentum going, that Malvern defense does it aga They slam Miller to the ground.

That's been the story in the sec The pressure that they've been able to get on that is now, what, three sacks?

Yeah.

Here the last two drives they have been able to up Pep Miller running around not in the pocket they've got the pressure on him another big play for the defense That's now the fifth sack of the for this Malvern D or six excuse his stuff that is six sac so far for the Malvern defense.

Three in the last two drives that was Angel Perez and more pr But Miller is able to scramble o He's wanted to throw it deep.

He heaves it deep, has no one in that area The receiver cut off the rail and Miller was thinking he may head deep instead and go Miss the Miss that will bring up fourth and 14 And Harding Academy is going to Or at least they're sending out the punting Yeah.

This Malvern defense has only go as this game has gone on and oh and Miller's slow to get to the he took a hard shot on that side on that far side and.

He's he's making his way back ov very gingerly.

He's taken a lot of hits tonight Harding Academy is scrambling to get the punt team out there, getting getting the right person out there.

Actually, they're not.

That's they had to bring in a ba quarterback right now.

That was fourth down there.

They went for I'm sorry I lost track it down so Malvern takes o more running for Malvern you're going to see a lot more of that in the last 9 minutes of 57 seconds.

No reason to throw it now.

So Jalen Dupree, right before th had 257 yards of offense, picked seven there.

You know, he he's closing in on 300 for th and he may end up with 300 yards because I feel like they're going to just keep handing him the ball or direct snapping to h when he needs a break to let Simmons run it.

You see them all, both of them in the backfield.

That's Dupree direct snap over the right side.

Now he's coming back to the left makes one man miss to the 20 sli he picks up the first down.

He didn't want to go out of boun So move the chains, set the chai and start the now pretty smart that's a heads up decision by th yeah and you know think about this he can on you know we talked about the you in this game with Owen Miller but Jalen du Preez Hoya Junior I mean he's got another year to Yeah.

When I talked to one of their former coaches at h he said the exciting thing.

So many of these players from Al are juniors and sophomores.

Yeah, I mean, they're going to lose Simmons, a four year starter at quarterba That's going to hurt.

But I'll look at their offensive Junior, sophomore, junior, sophomore, junior.

There's another run for Malvern to the 15th slide down again.

I mean, he's not one to take any contact at t Let me just get down, stay inbounds and keep that cloc The Dupree 272 yards rushing before that won se more yards.

He's at 279 for the game on nine on 30 carries.

The great thing about this offen Dupree gets a little tired.

You know what, Simmons?

You take over yeah.

You got this I mean Simmons is run for 156 to looks like Simmons wants it he's going to take it.

Simmons just picking his way.

He gets it across the 20 or the 15 to the 14 yard line and they're just content.

Keep the ball in the ground, run it a little bit run that clo They're looking at the clock.

It's just now at 30 seconds left on the play clock.

They know they can milk this just play keep away because with their lead of 25 points in a four possession game, now they're in great shape.

Simmons has Dupree right behind Now he gets out of the way.

Dupree tests that left side hits towards the Dupree down in bounds at the nin He picks up the first down and gets down in bed.

That's got to be something they and that's hammered home yeah ha either that or coach J.D.

Plumlee right before they went o he stressed do not go of bounds you know you can stress that wel and that goes out the window yeah that's something that you have to hammer home throughout a year and practice all time because it's just that you can tell it's seco Yeah.

He gets to where he wants He's not running out of bounds.

He's going to slide down to the Simmons fakes the toss.

He's going to run, though, test the left side.

Simmons fighting forward, trying to get a couple of yards.

Not much there that time.

SIMMONS And it's just the clock is rolli I mean Malvern is playing extremely smart football run him between the tackles bounce it ou take up as much time as possible and you know they can't get a fi the only thing they can get righ go is a touchdown.

They Run that clock.

Yeah.

That's all they really care abou They.

They'd love another touchdown, but hey, look, that clock keeps That's fine.

We're 6 minutes away from winnin Simmons gets out of the way.

It's going to be Dupree.

Dupree pick picking his way, but nothing there.

He picked the wrong hole.

It closed quickly.

Part of the Academy's defense ge They need it.

I don't know if you go, you kick it here or not.

Honestly, here.

Kicker's been perfect on the nig And you're what, at the eight ya So it would be a long field goal They may just choose to keep it on the ground and run it, keep it more in the middle of th So it's not not that bad.

On your kicker, Simmons hands it off to the para Dupree bobbled it for a second.

He hits the corner, tries to get the end zone.

Touchdown Dupree again.

He did that.

His fourth rushing touchdown of That may put him over 290 yards on the day.

I mean, it's just we did we look to see what the record i rushing yards in a game for a single player.

We'll have to find that out.

I have to to find that out because he's a 291 now on 33 carries a great look at the replay the effort to get into the corner of the en The extra point is up.

It is good Malvern, 64 points in championship game.

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If you want the full 6 hours of this game has taken, you can get copy at M&M Productions.

It's all of the state championship games are on hard copies through M&M Productions.

All you have to do is go to M an production dot net to place your Yeah.

If you're going to if you're going to replay this o you guys, you better sit down for a full 6 and, and watch it at home on a r Certainly we can edit out the ra right?

Yeah.

You would probably.

Yeah.

Oh yeah.

Rain to the trucks telling us rain that rain delay not include Yeah.

Okay we don't, we don't want to relive that eve 6432 Malvern Doubling Up Harding A great second half for this Malvern defense.

Yeah, they've gotten the job and then the offense just poundi running the ball, eating up just chunks of clock time.

Harding Academy will take the ki run it past the 30 yard line and now I'm being told this is t 348 Kenneth Dixon, the strong, strong 348 yards rushing through I mean he's so Jaylen Dupree's 50 yards from and his second all time yeah so I mean so right now Jaylen Preez So he's essentially 50 yards awa from getting the record.

There's 5 minutes left.

He may have to double check.

I mean, read the finger sees us MILLER Look at the pass under pressure and he's going to take off and n gets rid of it finds a receiver That's Andy again.

He's been a good outlet receiver He's done a great job on the scr drill, helping his quarterback o He picks up the first down.

The sophomore Andy McAleer Yeah great job right there by Ow Not giving up on the play receiv didn't give up on the play and he was able to find somebody in Get into Malvern Territory that moves the ball to the Malve and he comes off the field head, off up the middle.

It's all to the right side.

Plenty of room to run that'll pi a first down They get the ball to the 26 as Heath Griffin with now you got Malvern kind of back playing the safeties deeper, the corners are playing off.

They're just trying not to give up the big play.

So they hit them right up the mi with the run.

GRIFFIN tries it again pounding He gets the ball to the 21, carry the senior, want to find the end zone one mo before his playing career is ove and second and six after a gain of four Miller is right fakes the throw he's going to keep it He gets to about the 20 before he goes out of bounds not a first down bring up third it's tough to throw when you got everybody just backing up ba There's just nothing there.

I mean, I will say, boy, I'm looking forward to seeing Owen Miller in years t You know who forced him out of b Yeah, but now, I mean, Owen Mill we talked about only a sophomore he's got two more years of high football left.

And if he's this good as a sopho I can't wait to see what he look like next year and the year afte Time out.

These guys have given all you can see coach walking ar He's got a limp.

We saw Miller earlier.

He was he was hurting now Malver down on the field he's looks like cramping up.

Are they stretching him out?

Yeah.

We've seen Simmons with a cramp He's got I mean, when you're running around and making all th kind of plays and these yards and touchdowns, you just get wor That's exactly what you see.

The Malvern defensive linemen come off the field.

That's Leonard Leach.

So you were trying to read finge through the window on the record So Kenneth Dixon in 2011 ran for three 4348, Ron Johnson 1996 had the second most at 266.

Okay.

So Jalen Dupree's name is at num right now in the record books, 349, 48, 57 yards away from tying and not to mention Ron Johnson.

And we'll tell that to play Mill pass to whoever whoever gets the the ten so Ron Johnson did it on 44 towns right to get that record or the second place to 66 now Jalen Dupree's at 33 now the question you know what's more impressive Kenneth D from strong in 2011 he did it on attempts, two pretty good yards Yes, it is middle looking to his right rolls to his right under pressur Now a try to avoid stepping out That would have been an unbeliev but his toes were out of bounds, so they blew the play dead.

He was trying to stop, jump and to a receiver in the end zone.

He connected with his receiver, but you'll see on the replay he just stepped out of bounds.

Could not stop right here.

Yeah, he's out of bounds right t You know, I'm looking through the record book right no You know, we talked about Modera in that 1993 game.

In that game, Madre Hill ran 34 for 243 yards in that game.

Yeah.

Miller across the middle has his receiver ther and it has caught Touchdown Harding Academy That's Hoover wi Hoover another touchdown for him Well, at this point, it looks like they're going to s on for the extra point.

You don't think they would just try to go for two point con to get as many points as they ca but they're going to bring Ferri for the extra point.

At this point, I don't think the difference between one point to I agree.

Miller with time to throw that t he has a receiver wide open, puts it on the money and Hoover brings it in for the Ferris Extra point is up and it so makes it 64 to 39 307 to play Sure Harding Academy will try an here try to get the ball right b Kickoff team is already on the f They know their mission.

Come up with the ball, whatever it takes, get the ball.

And then the drama will be if Malvern recovers this good the pre break one yeah or a coup you told me 348 is the record.

348 he's at 291 right now so he needs 57 yards.

Yeah.

Well with the onside kick they may not have 57 yards to go No.

You would think they would r around the 50 and probably only have about 50 yards of potential win.

Just think which he probably he has no idea but would it stin if he showed he ended up like th shy of the record.

Are they gonna kick a date?

It's maybe kind of a waving the white flag and realize, look, we're we're still down 25 points and there's only 3 minutes left.

It's still a four possession gam Even if you recover the onside and score, it's still a three po game.

Now, I'll tell you what, he's got a c He's got it with the ball at the They've got 80 yards or so.

What you're saying is he's got a he's got a chance if he's got anything left in the Yeah, but he was out there playing def so I got to think he's got something left in the tank.

Well, this is a state championsh play to the final whistle.

You got plenty of time to rest after this game.

There's Simmons and that is going to be the pre following Simmons.

He's going to lose a yard.

He's going the wrong way.

As far as the record is concerne This guy, you know what?

He just he was stretching it out to the and he just want to go down and keep that clock rolling.

You see a bunch of them looking up at the clock.

Yeah.

They're just like they're turnin looking at the clock.

Where are we all?

They're gettin of getting rained on.

They've been rained on for 5 hou They don't care about the rain n And Plumlee coach Plumlee doesn't care about getting wet e Yeah, that does the does the Gat mean as much when you just yourself so yeah it's going to feel good to 20 to go Dupree there won't be much block they might as well just snap and because there was Simmons that didn't seem like he wanted take much interest in that lane, that big block right there.

And so Dupree immediately went d in the breeze coming out of the I think he's had enough.

Yeah, he.

What an effort.

What a game from Jaylen Dupree.

He exits with 291 yards rushing on 34 carries.

He caught a pass a touchdown pas for 19 yards on the will route.

Five touchdowns tonight so over three yards of total off Simmons looking up at the play c he's letting it tick down.

3 seconds, 2 seconds.

They take That'll be the first Malvern leo not named Dupree or Simmons to run with the ball tonight.

Tavon Clegg was the one who took one, too.

And it's kind of not seeing one of those two guys carry it because on the day, I mean, it has been an impressive 445 ya between those two.

Just got a text go leopards from a proud leopard major.

Yeah yeah that's you know that when everybody gets back to the Hill, he'll be given some congra congratulatory text and well, Taylor Dupree had a moderate heel type 3 to 35 attempts, 287 yards.

That'll be his final total for t They're going to take a timeout for a minute or 53 seconds left in this game.

They're getting the Gatorade rea They got to get that ready for C Plumlee.

Yeah.

And you know, saying that that Jalen Debris had a madre Hi type night he had a than a madre type night I mean, Madre Hill ra yards in his state championship and the junior will be back next Yeah, yeah, yeah.

I've just been handed a note.

You care to guess who the MVP of the state curious it's going to be?

Yeah.

Jalen Dupree, 35, carries 287 yards for touchd on the ground, 8.2 yards per rus Second, most yards in the champi game.

One catch 19 yards and a touchdo Oh, by the way, play defense five tackles, two sacks.

Oh, yeah, yeah.

We just add to it right?

Yeah.

And look nothing is be taken awa This Harding Academy team, they are a good football team.

This is Malvern.

But look, they they've been good know, Malvern, it's been good al And it's just the testament to w you know, just think about this was just a few years ago this was not a very good Malindi and they're going to just let it Real quick, before we get to the last posses part of the academy, I say Vinny Donovan Woodson, Jack Boulos, Davon Sanders, Quentin Cooper.

That's your offensive line for M They deserve a big pat on the ba because they were opening up tho and running lanes for Simmons in the parade, those and I'm trying to read my writin but I think all five are back ne It looks like junior, sophomore, junior, junior sophomore.

Yeah.

That's, that's why they're excit in Malvern about the future and with the pre junior this thi feels like they're going to be a for another year.

Yeah, my riding is right.

I was checking on Sanders.

He is They lose Cagle.

He's a senior, said Simmons.

Sen And everybody else that we called on offense tonigh Yeah, Carradine is back, Janelle Perez is back.

And you know, you gave the offen a shout out, the defensive line from Malvern.

You've got Forest Landreth Junior, Keir Smith, a junior, Le Leach, a senior, then a Davion Jenkins, the defensive tackle.

He's a senior as well, and they played their hearts out Tonight, the defense got it done in the second half.

They held the Harding Academy a late touchdown and your Malvern Leopards are ce they are the four a state champions when JT Plumle gets a little bit of a Gatorade and they are celebrating their second state title, the first since 1993, Gordon Melton gets it done in the playo They scored 64 in the championsh game and 56 in the semifinal gam How about that 120 points in their last two gam All right, Coach Conley, first of all, congratulations.

Your first win since 1993.

Your second overall, how does it It's unbelievable.

This is Levi Mercer.

He's pro these guys and his coac And they made it seem like been for two weeks the way and we cam man just made a really good foot team and man, this is surreal ri I mean, it'll be thinking maybe in the morning when I wake up that what we just in a manner unbelievable job by coaches and just super proud of our guys.

Talk to me about Dupree.

He had a standout game.

Well, yeah, you saw him.

I mean, golly, that's why call him Super Deuce and around and man, unbelievable.

And then defensively stepping up some big time plays.

And, man, that's why he's been o He got us here and but he's he's surrounded by some pretty good players, too And that offensive line, man, su those guys up front, you you I mean, it was kind of a They won three super champions.

You stopped them from getting a In what ways are you most proud of your guys?

I think by just blocking out all the noise.

I mean, they really didn't care about an stats all year, you know, and about what they've done.

They're just like, you know, we're Marvin, you know, and and so they just they believe in And man, belief and confidence takes you a long Congratulations, Coach.

Go celebrate with your team.

Tha Back to you guys.

Thank you, Madison.

You know, I've seen some of the on social media about Dupree throughout the year and some of the huge numbers he And I knew he was a very good ba But how impressed were you with Jaylen Dupree tonight?

Oh, I mean, look, when you've got a kid that can not only do it by running the football, by catching it out of the backfi but then you said it.

I mean, playing defense as well.

I mean, he had five tackles, two sacks in the game.

I mean, that's the most impressi is he's not just doing it offensively, but he's doing on the defensive side of the footba And man, I tell you what, he is him and Cedric Simmons, those tw if they combine for a really let on this Malvern team and when we started this game, it was pouring down rain, we said turnovers, taking care of the ball would be Malvern tonight, no turnovers.

And really on the other side, you know, Jordan Academy only ha but it was a crucial one, you kn I mean, it was that was a crucia that kind of flipped this game.

And, you know, I think that fund from Malvern, they did everythin Low penalties.

They didn't turn the football ov And they and they played their g They ran the football they ran the ball today for 440 and they threw it for 224 now.

And how do you academy played th 393 yards passing.

They ran it for 80 yards, but that's their game.

You had 1137 yards of total offe between these two teams and one I'm looking at seven sacks.

Yeah, that Malvern defense got after Miller in the second h and some very big crucial sacks that set them behind the chains and ended some possessions.

And that defense, how about only scored in the second half?

I say only now 28 points.

But in the first half it was sco spree back and forth, back and f Malvern Defense gets it done.

The offense was spectacular.

We will be back here in a bit.

Boonville in Charleston.

They will kick off at 840 for th eight title, not the original 630 start because of the three hour lightning delay we had or maybe in 15 minutes, b So we got to clear the stadium and clean the locker rooms and make way for the three eight We'll be back in a couple of hou great for a game.

You got to see the three eight g This is the Centennial Bank Stat Football Championships on Arkans PBS Sports.