Junior utility back D.J Brown rushed 5 times for 87 yards and 2 touchdowns - all in the first half - in Little Rock Catholic’s 49-0 victory over Little Rock Hall in the 7A/6A-Central opener Thursday night at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock.
The Rockets (2-2) led 35-0 at halftime to invoke the Arkansas Activities Association’s sportsmanship rule, and a continuously running clock, in the second half.
The Warriors (0-3) have lost 20 consecutive games, including 15 in conference play. Catholic Coach John Fogleman, a 1988 Hall graduate, cleared his bench in the second half.
Catholic outgained Hall 286-18 in the first half and had as many interceptions (three) as Hall had first downs.
Brown, a major-college prospect, scored on a 28-yard run out of the Wildcat formation with 3:54 left in the first half, then ran 18 yards for a touchdown at 2:28.
Senior place-kicker Andrew Hugen made it 35-0 with the extra point after Brown’s second score.
Aaron Hamaker, a 255-pound senior tight end, caught a 5-yard touchdown pass and ran 5 yards for a touchdown in the first half, the latter coming at tailback.
Senior tailback Joe Mariani ran 14 times for 82 yards and a 6-yard touchdown in the first half. Senior quarterback Zac Pinter completed 7 of 8 passes for 105 yards and 1 touchdown in the first half.
Catholic’s other first-half score came on a safety with 56 seconds left in the first quarter when junior linebacker Anthony Smith tackled senior quarterback Daniel Brown in the end zone.
Brown suffered a leg injury on the play and didn’t return to the game.
Junior free safety Cole Moore had two first-half interceptions for Catholic, which led 8-0 after one quarter.
Sports, Pages 22 on 09/27/2013