NORTH LITTLE ROCK, Ark — In the early 2000s, Central Arkansas Christian carved a contender out of the hill where 430 meets the interstate.
However, for the last two seasons, Mustang Mountain has served as a mere road stop while other teams continued on a path to success.
“We were young last year and had a lack of experience,” CAC quarterback and Arkansas commit Grayson Wilson said.
Ryan Howard took over a Mustang program that won just two games each of the last two seasons.
“With Coach Howard, it's kind of a new start,” Wilson said.
And the transformation started at the beginning of the season with a simple message.
“Coach stated very early on in the season that this is gonna be a different type of team," Sophomore Damien Wicker said.
Howard was asking a young team to buy into something completely new.
“There's always a challenge to it," Howard said. "What they were being asked to do was different than what they were doing in the past."
And what exactly was being asked of the Mustangs? Wilson said they want to go fast.
“That’s our advantage," Wilson said. "Our advantage is speed.”
You can see it everywhere, from the FastStangs hashtag on social media to the style of practice.
“We have the music turned up," Wilson said. "It's fast-paced and pretty fun."
Wicker agreed with the new mindset and practice format.
“It gets you hyped up," Wicker said. "You just can’t let the hype get to your mind. You have to stay focused, but you can let the energy push you and keep you going."
And the wins have come just as fast.
After four wins the last two years combined, CAC averaged 48 points a game and won eight regular season games, including the Conference 4A-4 title this year.
The Mustangs' only two losses came by three points or less. Howard credits Wilson for being able to rally his teammates.
“Anytime you have a good quarterback, you’re always gonna have a chance to win the game," Howard said. "That's what he does."
Central Arkansas Christian will host Nashville in the second round of the Class 4A playoffs on Friday at 7:00 p.m. Central.
Despite not having much playoff experience, Wicker feels CAC is ready.
“The coaches have always instilled a playoff mentality," Wicker said. "We’ve been practicing going to the playoffs since, I don’t know, May?"
Now, the Mustangs hope their mountain is just an on-ramp for their own trip to War Memorial Stadium, but Wilson and the team are taking it one game at a time.
“We just play every game like it's our last and hope to come out on top," Wilson said.