Little Rock Central’s Logan Moragne rushed for 228 yards and four touchdowns Friday to lead the Tigers past El Dorado 35-27.
El Dorado led 10-7 at the half but Central (2-1) opened the third with a 12-play, 73-yard drive, capped by Moragne’s 12-yard touchdown run, which gave the Tigers a 14-10 lead with 8:16 left in the third.
El Dorado (0-3) answered with a scoring drive, capped by Clayton Waldrum’s 42-yard touchdown pass to Daedraques Harris. Trent Harter’s extra put El Dorado back on top 17-14 with 6:10 left in the third.
El Dorado’s Bijhon Jackson tipped and intercepted Cooper Westbrook’s pass and returned it to the Central 10, but the Wildcats could not cross the goal line.
Jaqualoyn Willis ran for 8 but the Tigers held firm, forcing Harter’s 20-yard field goal with 4:18 left in the third.
Central responded with a 78-yard drive that ended when Moragne scored on a 2-yard run. Wesley Walls’ extra point put the Tigers up 21-20 with 1:35 left in the third.
Central made it 28-20, driving 68 yards in 12 plays before Moragne scored on a 1-yard run with 8:17 left in the fourth.
Central stopped El Dorado and went back on the offensive. Moragne ran for 5 and then 16 and then 17. Finally, Westbrook scored on a 1-yard run with 2:15 left in the game to take a 35-20 lead.
El Dorado drove 91 yards, scoring on Harris’s 50-yard touchdown caught with 41 seconds left.
Central’s Dalvin Simmons recovered the onside kick to seal the victory.
“I thought El Dorado played hard and our kids played hard,” Central Coach Scooter Register said. “This was football. This was like it was back in the El Dorado days. It was a great game. We were fortunate to win. I thought both teams played hard. There was a lot of effort out there tonight.”
Sports, Pages 27 on 09/21/2013