NORTH LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — When it comes to the winningest programs in Arkansas high school football, you don't have to go far down the list to find North Little Rock.
Since 2004 the Charging Wildcats have won 165 games. Which according to the latest Hooten's Arkansas Football magazine, puts them at number 20 on that list.
No stretch was better for NLR than making it to four straight state titles from 2017-2020 and being crowned champions of the 7A in 2017. But lately, it's been rough sledding.
Last year, North Little Rock won just three games, which marked its lowest win total since 2007.
"This isn't the North Little Rock way," said second-year head coach Clint Reed. "We got a lot of pride and tradition on being really good and competing each and every year. We're just going through a slump right now."
Senior De'Marcus Williams agreed with his coach. He explained how it isn't the standard for them and went on to identify what went wrong last season.
"A lot of times it's like we all wouldn't be on board. Half us would be on, half of us would be off," Williams added.
After the season ended in November with a 44 to 6 loss to Rogers in the first round of the state playoffs, there was an exodus of players from the program. Some expected, others not so much.
According to Reed, North Little Rock saw 26 seniors graduate and 14 juniors transfer to other schools.
The player that might've hurt the Charging Wildcats the most was quarterback Tyson Bradden who transferred to 5A Central foe Joe T. Robinson. Bradden passed for 2,076 yards and 21 touchdowns in 2023.
Reed explained how his program does things a certain way. Some people don't like it and won't want to be a part of it.
"Football is hard at North Little Rock and sometimes people don't want that. They want it easy, so they go where it's going to be easier or where they can win right now," he described.
For North Little Rock, like many teams at this point, the page now turns to 2024 and Reed's attention has been fully on the guys he has in his program.
"We got a brand new group of kids. Can't really worry about last year. You just got to worry about what we're going to do this year," Reed said.
For the seemingly select few seniors that did stick around, like Tony Wilkins and De'Marcus Williams, they can already see this year as being a much-improved team because of their unity.
"[It's a] different culture, different brotherhood. Our brotherhood is way tighter than what it was last year," Wilkins shared.
"It's a few of us seniors, but we got a lot of young guys and I feel like this year, we really all getting on board with each other," Williams added. "Like we all coming in, coming as one. It's up to us to, you know, keep coaching them up and keep them on board with us."
This new team unity, which seemed to be missing in 2023, is something Reed agreed with as well.
"They're not doing it for me or not doing it for a coach, but they're doing it for each other," Reed said.
The Charging Wildcats will begin their season at home on Friday, August 30, 2024, against Rogers. It will be a rematch from the 2023 state playoffs when the Mounties ended their season.