5A-CENTRAL

PA separates from LR Parkview in second half

Little Rock Parkview went toe-to-toe with Pulaski Academy in the first half, trailing 31-27 at the break and set to get the ball to start the second half.

Then the final 24 minutes of the game happened.

The Bruins (6-2, 4-1 5A-Central) outscored the Patriots (3-5, 1-4) 37-7 in the second half to claim a 68-34 victory at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock on Friday night.

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The second half started with the Bruins recovering an onside kick, and an avalanche followed. Less than half a quarter later, the Bruins had scored 30 points.

"We do different things, and when they are not working, everyone thinks I'm an idiot, but when they start working you see the game change like that,'' Pulaski Academy Coach Kevin Kelley said. "I mean, it changes quickly.

"That's why we do all that. They are game-changers. And at the same time, our kids get energy from that. You saw the way we played after that."

Kelley said the Bruins are 119-5 when they recover an onside kick.

Sophomore Joseph Himon broke a 34-yard run for his third touchdown of the night, and Braden Bratcher ran in the two-point conversion.

After a second onside kick recovery, Bratcher hit Mason Kolb on a 39-yard touchdown pass. Clay James kicked the extra point to increase the lead to 46-27 less than two minutes into the second half.

James grabbed an interception on the Bruins' 12, and two plays later Bratcher and Cooper White connected on a 73-yard TD pass. Merritt Jones scored on the two-point conversion. Less than three minutes into the second half, a one-score game had turned into a 54-27 rout.

With 7:34 left in the third quarter, Bratcher and Jones hooked up on a 9-yard touchdown pass, and James' extra point made it 61-27.

On the final play of the third quarter, Bratcher scored on a 46-yard run.

"Parkview is a very good team, and they showed that in the first half,'' Kelley said. "They've lost some very close games, but when we come out and do the things that we ask these guys to do in practice, when we put it all together with our kickoffs, you feel like it is an avalanche for the other team.

"It's our version of playing make-and-take."

The Patriots never led but made a game of it in the first half.

Kolb scored on a 1-yard run to give the Bruins a 6-0 lead. After a TD was erased by a holding call, Parkview scored with a 37-yard field goal from Giovanny Revuelta.

Himon returned the kickoff 79 yards for a score to make it 12-3, but the Patriots trimmed that to 12-6 on Revuelta's 28-yard field goal.

Mayle Marotti grabbed a 24-yard touchdown pass for an 18-6 Pulaski Academy lead, but Erin Outley grabbed a 20-yard pass from Landon Rogers to pull Parkview within 18-13.

Kolb grabbed a 36-yard touchdown pass from Bratcher, but the Patriots answered with Rogers scoring on a 38-yard run. That made it 24-20.

The half ended with Himon scoring on a 73-yard run, and Outley catching a 39-yard touchdown pass from Rogers.

Sports on 10/26/2019

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