By RAY BENTON
Leader sports editor
Panther Stadium was jam-packed. Cabot stands were nearly silent. North Little Rock stands seemed like they could crumble to the earth at any moment. The single biggest snap of the game was about to take place. Cabot quarterback Kason Kimbrell took the snap, turned and handed the ball to fullback Zach Launius for the 44th time in the game. The Panthers had to get 3 yards for two points or the entire season was a failure. It was double overtime and North Little Rock led 42-41. Launius got 3 yards and not an inch more, lifting the Panthers to a 43-42 double overtime victory over North Little Rock, and sending Cabot to its first state championship game since 2000.
The 5-foot-6, 165-pound senior took a huge hit right at the goal line, but not before crossing the plane of the end zone.
Everyone in Panther Stadium wondered what was going on when Cabot coach Mike Malham ran his offense onto the field with his team trailing 42-41 in double overtime. All that was needed was an extra point to send the semifinal game against North Little Rock, 10-2, into a third overtime. It was the safe bet.
Going for two and failing meant an entire season of work, an entire year of expectations, an undefeated march to get to this point, was all for naught. Cabot needed three tries to score from the 5-yard line after the visiting Charging Wildcats jumped off sides on first down. They had averaged less than 1.5 yards per carry on the scoring drive. But Malham felt confident his offense could accomplish the task.
“I just felt like we had some schemes that would allow us to get it in,” Malham said. “They were moving the ball on us pretty good. I just thought it gave us the best chance to win it to try and do it now. It worked out so we’ve got one more to go.”
While nearly everyone else in the stadium fretted the decision through two timeouts, one person who didn’t was Cabot offensive lineman Heath Pledger. He didn’t have time. He had to focus, and focus is what he did.
“That last bit, it’s just give everything you got, whatever is left,” Pledger said. “And remember just one big thing, no mistakes.”
While offensive players were focusing, defensive players were sweating it out.
“Oh gosh, I was just like, it’s 50-50,” nose guard Tristan Bulice said. “We either win or we lose right here. And we’re gamblers so we go for it.”
Defensive end Brian Marshall, who had a sack and a tackle for loss, was less enthusiastic.
“I just went to my knees to pray and to cry,” Marshall said. “I didn’t know what to do.”
When the offense converted the two points, the team stampeded to the end zone for a raucous celebration. Cabot had led for all of about three and a half minutes the entire game. They trailed 14-7 at halftime, and seemed to be taking control of the game when Launius scored from 3 yards to put the Panthers ahead for the first time with 4:09 left in regulation at 28-21.
North Little Rock had not moved the ball well the entire second half, aside from one 40-yard run by Deion Tidwell that answered Cabot’s opening scoring drive and put the Wildcats back up 21-14. But after Cabot took the lead, North Little Rock became unstoppable.
The visitors marched 65 yards in 12 plays; their longest drive of the game, to score with 34 seconds left and tie the game. Malham elected to take a knee from the 27-yard line after the kickoff, and take his chances in overtime.
Cabot, 12-0, got it first and scored on three runs by Launius of 6, 3 and 1 yard. North Little Rock answered by also scoring in three runs. North Little Rock got it first in the second overtime. After an initial false-start penalty, the Wildcats hit a 14-yard crossing pattern, then sent Tidwell up the middle for another score and a 42-35 Wildcat lead.
When Cabot got the ball, North Little Rock jumped again, giving Cabot first down at the 5. Launius then ran for 1, 2, and 2 yards for the score, setting up the huge two-point conversion.
Neither team was able to muster much offense in the first quarter, but North Little Rock struck first on its third possession. Though neither team moved the ball, the Wildcats won the field-position battle, and it paid off. Starting from the Cabot 39-yard line, North Little Rock went for it all on the first play and got it. In one-on-one coverage along the visitors’ sideline, Wildcat receiver K.J. Hill outran defender Jordan Burke, and quarterback Heath Land dropped it right in his hands in stride for a 39-yard touchdown connection with 1:12 left in the opening frame.
Cabot’s next possession started at the 20, and the Panthers finally got something going. After gaining a total of 39 yards on its first two drives, Cabot covered the 80 yards needed in nine plays and used very little time, but it wasn’t without a huge help from North Little Rock.
After three plays gained just 8 yards, Cabot lined up to punt. North Little Rock called timeout, and then sent 12 players onto the field. The punt was a fake and Cabot didn’t make it, but the illegal participation penalty gave the Panthers the needed yardage for a first down and kept the drive alive.
The Panthers quickly faced third and 7, but from that point, Cabot picked up yardage in chunks. Launius carried four consecutive times for gains of 9, 20, 14 and 21 yards, with the last one going for a touchdown up the middle.
The two teams went back to trading fruitless possessions until North Little Rock got Tidwell cranked up late in the quarter.
The Wildcats went 71 yards in nine plays, with Tidwell carrying six times for 61 yards. The key play was a 48-yard burst on a draw play on third and 4. Backup quarterback Peyton Holmes took over the offense when the Wildcats got inside the 10, and kept three times for the last 10 yards and the score. The extra point put North Little Rock up 14-7 with 55 seconds left in the half, and they took that lead into intermission.
Cabot finished with 368 total yards to 321 by North Little Rock. Tidwell finished with 28 carries for 195 yards and four touchdowns. Launius had 44 carries for 243 yards and five touchdowns. Henry finished with two catches for 39 yards, including a 29-yard reception on fourth and 2 that kept Cabot’s last scoring drive of regulation alive.
The Panthers will face Bentonville at 7 p.m. Friday at War Memorial Stadium. The Tigers beat Conway 21-14 in the other semifinal game, and will be playing in their fourth-consecutive state championship game.
