Rockets top Tigers, headed to playoffs

7A-CENTRAL LITTLE ROCK CATHOLIC 33, LITTLE ROCK CENTRAL 7

Following a 33-7 victory over Little Rock Central on Friday night at War Memorial Stadium, Little Rock Catholic Coach John Fogelman gave his Rockets a history lesson.

It was 2016 when the Rockets almost upset Bentonville in their first round playoff game, falling 38-31.

“It went down to the last play against Bentonville,” Fogelman said. “It ended in the end zone. So you never know, it is a new season. I just told the guys it is a new season for everybody, so throw the records out the window and you will never know what happens. It is a one-game season.”

The Rockets ( 2- 8, 2- 5 7A-Central) will play at Rogers on Friday in the first round of the Class 7A playoffs.

“We had the exact same record we had this season,’’ Fogelman said, referring to the 2016 team.

On Friday night, the Rockets methodically put away Central (0-10), which finished winless for the first time since 2009.

Junior linebacker Sam Sanders blocked the Tigers’ first punt and the ball rolled through the end zone for a safety less than 2 minutes into the game.

The Rockets followed with a 40-yard scoring drive as Prescott Scott connecting with sophomore Brooks Ward for a 21-yard pass with 6:52 left in the quarter. Anthony Zores added the PAT and made it 12-0 when he booted a 24-yard field goal.

Joseph Smith scored on a 1-yard run with 4:20 left in the half and Zores kicked it 19-0, which was the halftime score.

“We came out really good in the second half,’’ Fogelman said. “We had some opportunities to put it away at the beginning. I thought our defense played really well the first half and our offense kind of sputtered at times. Our quarterback missed some guys, but we came out and had a good second half.”

Scott hit Anthony Stephens on a 12-yard touchdown pass midway through the third quarter and then passed to Nathan Peacock for a 11-yard touchdown. Zores added both kicks for a 33-0 lead with 1:56 left in the third quarter.

Central put together a 64yard scoring drive, just the Tigers’ fifth touchdown in the conference play. Westley Johnston added the touchdown with 3:24 left on a 37-yard run.

“We’ve played better the last four weeks, we won two of them and the other two we played better,’’ Fogelman said. “We had some injuries and some guy got hurt but that early schedule was brutal for us.”