LITTLE ROCK -- Never really connecting on their long passes, Little Rock Catholic used its intermediate game to rally past Fort Smith Northside 24-21 in a 7A-Central conference game Friday night.
And it was their shortest pass of the evening that was the biggest play. A screen pass from Jordan Eddington to Brian Alsbrook turned into a 56-yard game-winning touchdown for the Rockets (4-2, 2-1) with 3 minutes left.
"We came out a little flat and Northside had a lot to do with that,'' said Catholic coach John Fogelman. "They had their backs to the ball a little bit and they played like a hungry team.
"We were flat but I sure was proud of the way the boys played in the second half.
"This was a big win. Now we're 2-1 where as they could have been 2-1. It was a two-game swing."
Alternating quarterbacks Dreyden Norwood and Matthew Hollenbeck, Northside (2-4, 1-2) hit big plays that scored or set up scoring plays. Junior Tyheen Prosise capped the first Grizzlies possession with a 4-yard score. Norwood ran for 19 yards on the drive and Hollenbeck hit J T Thorne for a pair of passes for 21 yards.
After the teams exchanged turnovers -- Northside's Glenn Brewer recovered a fumble at the Catholic 45 but the next play Jacob Pruss made an interception on the 12. From there, the Rockets, aided by a pair of personal foul calls against the Grizzlies, tied the game on a 21-yard run by Alsbrook with 3:48 left. Paul Owens kicked the tying PAT.
Norwood hit Preston Baugh on a 46-yard scoring pass with 7:21 left in the half. Following a 35-yard pass to James Clayton, Norwood rambled in from the 13 and with 1:08 left in the half Northside led 21-7.
The Rockets' offense came back to life on the following drive. Eddington used short passes to reach the Northside 8 but time expired.
In the second half, Owens hit a 22-yard field goal with 5:40 left to time the score to 21-10 and Eddington hit Robert Bavon with a 22-yard TD pass with 1:21 left in the third.
The winning drive was started at the 24 with 4:50 left. On their final possession, Northside managed a pair of first downs until the interception clinched it.
"We came out in the second half and made a stand,'' Fogelman said. "They had some big plays in the first half but other than that the defense played well and on offensive we moved the ball but kept shooting ourselves in the foot. We kinda cleaned that up a little and them momentum got on our sides and we kept going."
Sports on 10/12/2019