Little Rock Catholic hangs on to top Southside

FORT SMITH — For more than 43 minutes, Little Rock Catholic dominated Fort Smith Southside, but almost lost the game in the final four minutes.

The Rockets needed an onside kick recovery and a late first down to run out the clock and survive with a 24-20 7A-Central win Friday night at Jim Rowland Stadium.

The win does secure a 7A playoff berth for Catholic (62, 4-1 7A-Central).

Catholic led 17-0 after a Brook Alsbrook 3-yard run with 8 minutes, 3 seconds left in the game.

Then things went haywire

as the Mavericks (1-7, 0-5) scored three touchdowns in a 2:22 span to suddenly get back into the game.

After Southside blocked a Catholic punt, Parker Wehunt’s 6-yard touchdown pass to Josh Hannan with 2:33 left made the score 24-20. In offand-on rain showers, Wehunt finished 15-of-31 passing for 138 yards and two scores.

The onside kick failed as Collins Olaimey recovered for the Rockets. With a fourth-and-one at the Mavericks’

44, Catholic drew an offsides penalty on Southside for a first down with a minute left allowing the Rockets to run out the clock.

Alsbrook finished with 102 yards rushing on 20 carries and a touchdown.

Jason Stith added a 53-yard touchdown run with 4:44 left to give Catholic a 24-7 lead.

But a 65-yard kickoff return by Jay Washington led to a 6-yard pass from Wehunt to Jake Tyler kept the Mavericks in the game at 24-14 with four minutes left.

Catholic led 3-0 at halftime, and the defense opened the second half by stopping Southside on a fourth down sack by Noah Perry at the 40.

The Rockets then marched 60 yards in 12 plays, capped by a 1-yard quarterback sneak by Jordan Edington for a 10-0 Catholic lead with 3:48 left in the third period.

In the first half, the Rockets limited the Maverick offense to just 5 first downs and 77 total yards.

Southside’s defense was also solid, holding Catholic to 9 first downs and 117 total yards.

The lone points in the first half were on the opening possession of the game. The Rockets marched from their 16 to the Maverick 20. Paul Owens then kicked a 37-yard field goal for a 3-0 Catholic lead with 6:27 left in the first quarter. The Rockets converted three of four third downs in the drive.

Southside did have one scoring chance in the first half. In 15 plays, the Mavericks marched from their 9 to the Rockets 15. But Parker Wehunt’s fourth-down pass was incomplete thanks to pressure from the Catholic defense, ending the scoring threat.

FOUR DOWNS

• Southside leads the overall series with Catholic 10-4. This was the Rockets; first win over the Mavericks since 2016.

• Washington’s fourth-quarter touchdown ended a 7-quarter scoreless streak for Southside. Before that score, the last time the Mavericks had scored was in the second quarter against North Little Rock two weeks ago.

• Since Northside and Southside were in the same conference together, this is the first time that both teams started 0-5 in the same season. Since Northside moved down to Class AAAA in 1981, there has never been a playoff without either Northside or Southside.

• Next week: Southside travels to Little Rock Central while Little Rock Catholic hosts Conway.