Rockets ride Bisceglia’s running, 3 TDs to turn back Bears

LR CATHOLIC 38, SYLVAN HILLS 28

Little Rock Catholic Coach John Fogleman looked a little bit like a guy who just walked off a harrowing roller-coaster ride Friday night at Sylvan Hills’ Bill Blackwood Field.

Catholic won the game 3828, thanks to more than 200 yards and three touchdowns from senior running back Brandon Bisceglia.

But it was the Sylvan Hills’ flexbone offense, brought to Sherwood by former Harding University assistant Chris Hill, that had Fogleman and the Rockets defense a little queasy.

“You just can’t give them the ball,” Fogleman said of Sylvan Hills. “The way their offense was going, it’s like playing a run-and-gun team but they’re doing it out of the flexbone.

“I was feeling really helpless at times. Didn’t think we were going to stop them.”

That was the feeling in the second half, for sure, when Catholic’s 31-14 halftime lead dwindled to 31-28 with 1:34 to play in the third quarter.

Sylvan Hills quarterback Emil McCoy got the Catholic secondary to bite on a fake to the fullback, and lofted a pass to senior running back Shajuan Esteen for a 37-yard touchdown play to complete an 8-play, 85-yard drive.

Sylvan Hills (0-2) made a game of it minutes earlier when it stopped Catholic (1-1) on its first drive of the third quarter and scored on a 31-yard pitch from McCoy to Taevion Cunningham.

Cunningham, who finished with more than 100 yards rushing, also scored on a 40-yard touchdown run in the first half.

But Catholic, which blew a fourth-quarter lead against Jonesboro in its opener, went back to basics.

The Rockets gave the ball to Bisceglia, their captain, over and over again.

Bisceglia, who rushed for 142 yards in the first half, scored his third touchdown when he caught a flare from quarterback Will Bowman III on third and goal from the Sylvan Hills 2.

Bisceglia (23-219 rushing) weaved his way to gains of 8, 6, 28, 5, 10, 8 and 1 yard before catching the touchdown pass on Catholic’s 11-play drive that consumed nearly five minutes.

“Good ballplayer,” Coach Hill said. “Good player.”

Fogleman said the Rockets did not come into the game expecting Bisceglia to have that kind of night.

“That wasn’t necessarily our game plan,” Fogleman said.

But with Sylvan Hills racing up and down the field in the third quarter, the Rockets went to what worked in the first half.

“That was a huge drive,” Fogleman said. “Our offensive line., they just did a good job. The defense made plays when they had to …. but it’s tough.”

The Catholic defense and special teams made four key plays, two in each half.

The Rockets recovered a fumble on Sylvan Hills’ first drive of the game, at the Catholic 35, and quickly turned it into a Jason Stith touchdown.

The Rockets led 17-7 early in the second quarter when the defense stopped Sylvan Hills on fourth-and-4 from its 31, and Catholic turned that into another Stith touchdown and a 24-7 lead.

Then there was an onside kick Catholic recovered at its 48 after Sylvan Hills moved to within 24-14 with less than five minutes to go in the first half. The Rockets ate up more than four minutes of clock before scoring with 24 seconds to play to lead 31-14.

“Their first two drives, they fumbled and they had that chop block penalty, but they were really moving the ball,” Fogleman said. “We were opportunistic.”

Hill, the Bears’ first-year coach, said his halftime message was a simple one: Win the second half.

The Bears outscored the Rockets 14-7, but couldn’t stop Catholic when they needed to most.

“We had a couple third downs, couldn’t get off the field,” Hill said.

Hill said he does not regret either of his aggressive firsthalf decisions.

“If we’re this close, we feel like we’re good enough to make it on 4th and 4, 90 percent of the time we’re going to go for it,” Hill said. “We have that much confidence in our running backs and our offensive line.”

Hill also has confidence that the Harding Bisons’ style of football will wear on the competition as the season goes on.

“I think by the time middle of the season rolls around, we’ll be a pretty good football team,” Hill said.

So does Fogleman. “I know their seniors, they’ve been waiting on this bunch,” Fogleman said. “Their offensive line, really physical. … That brand of ball, when they execute it, there are some big plays to be had.”