Alma rallies behind Dotson, Brigance

Quarterback Noah Dotson passed for 147 yards and 2 touchdowns and running back Landon Brigance had a 98-yard touchdown run to lead Alma to a come-frombehind 27-16 victory over Little Rock Catholic at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock on Friday night.

Dotson also rushed for 95 yards, but threw 2 interceptions. Brigance rushed for 129 yards, and had a 35yard touchdown reception on a pass from Dotson. Dotson’s other touchdown pass was 23 yards to Heath Friddle.

Catholic (1-3, 0-1 7A/6A Central) scored twice in the first quarter, once on a 20-yard pass from Taylor Price to Thompson Olaimey after a short drive after intercepting a Dotson pass, and a 14-yard run by Lance Harville-Thomas, thanks to an Alma fumble.

But after the shaky start, the Airedales (3-1, 1-0 7A/6A Central) did just a bit more right. Brigance’s long touchdown run came a play after back-to-back interceptions, and Alma slowly dug its way out of the 14-0 hole.

Catholic led 14-13 at the break and got a safety on the first play of the third quarter, but couldn’t get a rhythm going.

Alma strung together a few long drives, trading punts with Catholic, until backup quarterback Alex Beneux capped a 17-play, 84-yard drive with a 1-yard touchdown run in the third quarter.

A few minutes later, Dotson threw the touchdown to Brigance to cement the Airedales’ lead. Alma ran out the clock with a long drive in the fourth quarter that ended in a fumble but left the Rockets deep in their own territory with less than two minutes to play.

Both teams made plenty of mistakes. The Rockets were penalized 8 times for 55 yards, and quarterback Taylor Price was intercepted once. The Airedales were penalized 5 times for 31 yards, and turned the ball over four times, including two fumbles.