BENTONVILLE 38, LR CATHOLIC 31
BENTONVILLE -- In a game few expected to come down to the wire, a gutsy fourth-down call late in the fourth quarter sparked Bentonville to a 38-31 victory over Little Rock Catholic on Friday.
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Bentonville now moves on to face Fort Smith Northside on the road in a quarterfinal game next week.
Facing 4th and 6 at the Rockets 35, Tigers quarterback Canaan Ross hit tight end Tyler Johnson for a 30-yard gain to the Catholic 5. Bentonville scored two plays later on Jacob Clark's third rushing score of the night, giving the Tigers a 38-31 lead with three minutes, 22 seconds to play.
Clark said he was battling a bum knee, but wasn't going to let it keep him out of the game when his team needed him the most.
"That was for the team. I wasn't going to let them down," said Clark, who rushed for 186 yards on 23 touches. "I just had to do what I could do. I wish we would have started (playing well) earlier but I'm just glad we got the win."
Clark's first score, a 30-yarder, came in the first quarter and tied the game at 21. He then came up big for the Tigers in the fourth quarter, rushing for 38 yards to tie the game at 31. Clark also scored the last time for Bentonville from 1 yard out to set the final score.
"We feed him the ball a lot and he gets beat up every game," Bentonville Coach Jody Grant said of Clark. "This was a physical game for us. I hope we came out pretty clean and the injury list isn't too significant because we need all hands on deck for the Northside Grizzlies. They're a great football team."
Following Clark's final touchdown run, the Rockets threatened to tie and had possession at the Bentonville 6 in the final minute. Catholic was whistled for a false start, backing it up to the 11. Backup quarterback Jake James then saw his final two passes fall incomplete and Bentonville took over on downs with less than 30 seconds to play.
The Rockets, who will finish the season 3-8, played without quarterback Taylor Price and running back Samy Johnson for most of the night, but didn't seem to miss a beat offensively. Johnson rushed for 172 yards and two scores before leaving the game with a right arm injury in the second quarter. James filled in honorably, tossing a 91-yard touchdown pass.
"Don't ever let a win feel like a loss," Grant told his team after the game. He then challenged his group to make adjustments in practice next week.
"As you go into week 11 of the season, your expectations are to play clean football and (play) with more effort and motivation, and that's what we have to get fixed," he said. "I hope our guys learn from this, and pick up their practice habits as we progress through these playoffs."
"I'm proud for that team over there," Grant said of Catholic. "Coach (John) Fogelman is a friend of mine and he got his guys ready to go."
Sports on 11/12/2016