Catholic silences Barnes until fourth quarter

CABOT -- Senior quarterback Jarrod Barnes ran 11 times for 110 yards and two fourth-quarter touchdowns in Cabot's 35-10 victory over Little Rock Catholic on Friday night at Panther Stadium.

[HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL SCOREBOARD: Full results + recaps, photos and more]

The Panthers (4-0, 1-0 7A-Central) led 14-10 early in the fourth quarter before breaking the game open behind the elusive Barnes, who had been held to minus-20 yards rushing to that point. His total included a 16-yard loss in the first half on an errant option pitch.

Cabot's first touchdown -- a 49-yard run by junior halfback Adams Flores with 3:01 remaining in the first quarter -- came on another option pitch as Barnes was going to the ground.

"He does so many fantastic things, but I try to tell him he can't do it all," Panthers Coach Mike Malham said of Barnes. "It's hard to tell him not to, but he believes he can do it. Most of the time, he does."

The game quickly turned after senior defensive tackle Chris Jones recovered a Catholic fumble at the Cabot 40 with 50 seconds remaining in the third quarter.

Five plays later from the Catholic 40, Barnes took a Shotgun snap toward right end, accelerated into the secondary, broke out of a scrum at the 20 and hurdled a defender at the goal line for a touchdown with 11:13 remaining.

Barnes stretched the lead to 35-10 while tight-roping the Catholic sideline on a 56-yard touchdown run with 3:41 remaining in the game.

Senior fullback Braxton Burton had given the Panthers a 28-10 lead on a 3-yard touchdown run two minutes earlier.

Burton ran for 80 yards and 2 touchdowns on 17 carries. His 2-yard touchdown run with 2:08 remaining in the second quarter gave Cabot a 14-3 halftime lead.

Cabot, which has won 15 consecutive regular-season games, finished with 428 total yards, including 411 rushing.

Catholic finished with 289 total yards.

The Rockets (1-3, 0-1) were led by sophomore tailback Samy Johnson, who rushed 24 times for 170 yards, including a 51-yard touchdown on Catholic's first play from scrimmage in the second half.

After a goal-line stand late in the third quarter, Catholic was poised to take the lead, driving to the Cabot 38 before the lost fumble.

Another Catholic scoring threat ended at the Cabot 8 on an interception by senior linebacker Cody Nabors with 44 seconds remaining in the first half.

Catholic opened the game with a 13-play, 52-yard drive, capped by junior place-kicker Christopher Elser's 30-yard field goal with 6:44 remaining in the first quarter.

"Really proud of our defense," Catholic Coach John Fogleman said. "Unfortunately, I don't think the score indicated how close the game was. Barnes made those two incredible runs at the end of the game. He's a special athlete."

Sports on 09/24/2016

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