North Little Rock routs West Memphis

WEST MEMPHIS — North Little Rock shook off a dismal first half Friday night and then exploded for four touchdowns in the final two quarters en route to a 41-0 victory over West Memphis.

The Charging Wildcats (30) held a 14-0 lead at the half, but suffered two turnovers and rushed for just 71 yards in the first half.

“I was happy with the way our defense played, but not at all happy with our offense,” North Little Rock Coach Randy Sandefur said. “We’d do something good on offense and then go backward about five yards.”

North Little Rock’s defense owned the night.

The ‘Cats limited the Blue Devils (1-2) to 25 yards on the ground, 13 yards in the first half and 12 yards in the second half.

Quarterback Malachi Gober shined on North Little Rock’s first possession, taking his team 50 yards in just four plays. Gober’s 34-yard touchdown pass gave the visitors a quick 7-0 lead.

Gober, however, threw two interceptions in the first half, which didn’t sit well with his head coach.

“We turned the ball over and it turned into a dogfight in the first half,” said Sandefur.

Running back Larry Wilbourn ignited the North Little Rock offense in the second half with his 5-yard touchdown to make it 21-0.

Jiquori Stewart then tacked on 1-yard TD with 2:20 left in the third quarter and by that time Gober was a lot more accurate with his throws. Gober completed 6 of 13 passes for 86 yards in the first half, but the offense’s ground attack opened up the ‘Cats’ aerial attack in the second half.

Gober finished 10 of 19 for 155 yards. He connected for a 9-yard TD strike with 39 seconds to go in the third quarter to make it 34-0. Gober’s third touchdown pass of the game with 8:08 to play in the fourth quarter closed out the North Little Rock scoring.