Trip to War Memorial Stadium old hat for PA, new experience for White Hall

The Bruins will face off against White Hall, a 5A-Central Conference foe they took down 63-28 in Week 6.

By Kyle Sutherland | Photo by Jimmy Jones

On Friday evening, Pulaski Academy will make its annual early-December trek nine minutes east from its campus to War Memorial Stadium to defend its current reign at the top of the mountain. 

The Bruins have won seven of the past eight Class 5A state titles, including the previous two. Head coach Anthony Lucas has been on staff for the previous eight trips, but this will be the first time as a head coach after replacing longtime Bruins legendary head coach Kevin Kelley, who left his post in May to become the head coach at Presbyterian (S.C.) College.

“It is a very different feeling as a head coach, but I am so excited and happy for our players,” Lucas said. “The things that is keeping me a little relaxed is that we’ve been here before, but emotions are all over the place.”

The Bruins will face off against White Hall, a 5A-Central Conference foe they took down 63-28 in Week 6. The score was tied 21-21 at halftime, but the Bruins’ offensive attack was too much for the Bulldogs’ defense, scoring 42 points in the second half, a game Bulldogs head coach Bobby Bolding mentioned was a tough pill to swallow when “your butt gets handed to you.” 

This will be the first of six state championship games that will kick off Friday night at 6:30.

White Hall, who last made a trip to War Memorial Stadium in 1987, is looking to win its first state title in school history after finishing as a semifinalist in 2019. Bolding has helped three teams to state titles — Stuttgart in 2002, then back-to-back with Pine Bluff in 2014-15.

In the other 12 games combined, the Bulldogs have benefitted from nine returning defensive starters having only given up 91 points. It is a senior-laden group.

“Our defense has been great this year with the exception of two quarters (against PA),” Bolding said. “I am a defensive-minded coach by trade, so we place a heavy emphasis on that side of the ball.”

The Bruins’ offense lit up the scoreboard in the regular season but only once in the postseason looked like that offensive juggernaut that is among the most potent offenses.

PA pounded run-oriented Magnolia 63-25 in the quarterfinals, but in other postseason matchups with Harrison and Greenbrier they scored 36 and 38, respectively. The semifinal game against Greenbrier was a little too close for comfort as the Panthers erased a big first-half deficit and only trailed 35-28 late, when Bruins senior kicker Vaugnh Seelicke drilled a 25-yard field goal to seal the win.

In most cases, a team that scores 35-plus points will secure a victory but one would have to imagine it will play in White Hall’s favor if the Bulldogs are able to keep it close in the second half, something it failed to do in the regular-season game.

Lucas also understands that White Hall will make proper adjustments, which PA successfully was able to do against the Bulldogs previously. 

“We challenged our kids to play harder and execute better,” Lucas said. “Offensively, we made some adjustments to the plays we felt we could have success with, and the kids responded well.”

Pulaski Academy is known for its reputation of onside kicking, and a successful recovery to start the second half at White Hall was a tone setter. 

“Getting that onside kick right out of the gates was huge," Lucas said. "It changed the momentum from that point on.”

Seelicke, a college prospect, has had 11 of his onside kicks successfully recovered (3 in the playoffs). 

As they do routinely, Pulaski Academy is making noise in the offensive national ranking lists, including first in passes completed as well as second in total yards gained, passing yards per game, and averaged points scored per game. 

Senior quarterback Charlie Fiser, who has been offered a preferred walk-on spot at the University of Arkansas, split time with Nolen Bruffet last season, leading the Bruins to the school’s ninth state title, but this year it has been his show and Lucas has been pleased with the progression his senior leader has made. 

“Charlie has grown tremendously since splitting time with Nolen last year,” Lucas said. “He gets about 90% of the reps in practice now, and it has truly helped him recognize things better on defense. If we have a play called and he thinks that it may not work, he has the green light to check to what he feels will be the best call.”

Fiser ranks in the Top 10 nationally for every major passing category.

Northwestern commit Joe Himon, a senior running back, is possibly the state’s best all-purpose back and he has been excellent as expected, totaling 2,355 yards and 38 touchdowns, which ranks first nationally. 

“I love coaching Joe because he is going to do whatever you ask,” Lucas said. “He is the epitome of selfless and will go down as one of the best running backs to play at PA as well as in this state.” 

Along with Himon, the Bruins have a vast supply of weapons through the air in Jaylin McKinney (1,245 yards, 13 TD), Charlie Barker (707 yards, 12 TD), John Mark Charette (659 yards, 8TD), and Kenny Jordan (631 yards, 6 TD).

Bolding knows his team realizes the talent Pulaski Academy has in its arsenal, but that does not change the approach. 

“We want to stop everyone, that is our mentality,” Bolding said. “Having said that, our players understand the other team also practices, is well-coached, and will execute, so we cannot panic.”

Though not as flashy, White Hall boasts a very good run-first approach with aggressive play in the trenches that has averaged 233 yards on the ground this year. 

Senior quarterback Matthew Martinez has accumulated 1,992 total yards and 23 touchdowns with a 14-2 TD/INT ratio, and Bolding describes him as a reason “why you coach” after overcoming more adversity than any kid should endure. 

When he was in ninth grade his mother passed away, and then his father during his sophomore season. He also has battled a shoulder injury. 

“I cannot name many players in 24 years as a head coach that are as mentally tough as Matthew,” Bolding said. “You will not find many young men who can handle what he has with the class, toughness, and fortitude that he has shown.”

The complements to Martinez who have filled out the stat sheets are senior running backs Zaire Green (840 yards, 6 TDs) and Durren Cain (752 yards, 14 TD).

“They are both very unselfish,” Bolding said. “They each bring special traits to the table and know what each other’s strengths are. There have been plenty of times where one has told the other to go ahead and go in on this down because the other may be better suited for that particular play.”

Though they play each other once a year, Lucas says that White Hall’s style of play is different from what they normally see and can be difficult to prepare for. 

“I think part of the reason for that is we are not the biggest up front, but one thing we do well is play hard and scheme with a lot of pressure in different gaps,” Lucas said. “Our defense is unpredictable because you never know what is coming next.” 

The Bruins’ defense has surrendered 21 points per game in conference and postseason play, putting up sneaky good numbers while boasting five players with double-digit tackles for loss and 32 total sacks. Defensive back Josh Cady has snagged seven interceptions (second in the state) and Patton Whicker’s three picks helped seal the 36-21 victory over Harrison in the first round.