LITTLE ROCK CATHOLIC 42,
JACKSONVILLE 0
Lightning struck twice Friday night during Little Rock Catholic's 42-0 victory over Jacksonville at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock.
A 1-hour, 8-minute delay early in the second quarter, when the Rockets led 14-0, included lightning of the weather variety.
Two plays after the game resumed, the Titans moved to the Catholic 2 on a 38-yard pass from senior quarterback Shavarris Curley to senior Isaac Johnson, but Catholic's defense held on four plays and its offense took over at its 5.
Catholic lost 4 yards on first down, and then lightning of the figurative variety struck.
Senior running back Samy Johnson, who had been held to 22 yards on his first 10 carries, cut to the sideline on an inside run and sprinted 99 yards to put Catholic's lead at 21-0.
"I thought our defensive line played hard up front," Jacksonville Coach Barry Hickingbotham said. "I thought those guys competed. The Johnson kid's a good running back, but I think we held him good for a while, and then he had that one run."
Johnson completed the game with 129 yards on 16 carries.
[HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL: Click here for more scores, recaps and photos]
"You take away that run, and they did a good job, but that play was a big change in the game," Catholic Coach John Fogleman said. "We made that stop, and that was a great defensive stand. They had the momentum right then, and then we got that stop and then he made a heck of a run."
Catholic had taken a 7-0 lead on a 14-yard touchdown run by junior running back Brian Alsbrook with 3:13 left in the first quarter.
With nine seconds left in the quarter, junior quarterback Cooper Monroe kept for a 38-yard touchdown run to give Catholic a 14-0 lead.
After Johnson's long touchdown, Catholic senior Philip Ball recovered a fumble at the Jacksonville 15 to set up Johnson's 3-yard touchdown run with 55 seconds left in the second quarter.
Monroe's 32-yard touchdown pass to junior receiver Robert Bavon gave Catholic a 35-o lead midway through the third quarter.
After an interception deep in Jacksonville territory, sophomore running back Brandon Bisceglia scored on an 11-yard run to complete the scoring with 3:33 left in the third quarter.
"We made a few mistakes that we'll have to clean up to have a really successful season," Fogleman said. "But his kids played hard, and we'll certainly take it."
Sports on 09/08/2018