Cabot merciless on Catholic

Cabot quarterback Jarrod Barnes (2) runs with the ball during the first half of the Panthers’ 62-14 victory over Little Rock Catholic on Friday in Cabot.
Cabot quarterback Jarrod Barnes (2) runs with the ball during the first half of the Panthers’ 62-14 victory over Little Rock Catholic on Friday in Cabot.

CABOT 62, LR CATHOLIC 14

CABOT -- The Cabot Panthers set the pace early, then picked it up Friday night.

Cabot scored quickly on two big plays in the first quarter and rolled to a 62-14 mercy-rule victory over Little Rock Catholic at Panther Stadium.

Kolton Eads scored on a 58-yard touchdown run on the Panthers' first offensive play and defensive back Jake Ferguson scooped up a fumble and ran 73 yards to make it 14-0 in the first quarter. While the Rockets cut the lead briefly, the Panthers (1-1) kept up the big plays.

"Maybe we got something here, I don't know," Cabot Coach Mike Malham said of the resounding victory that followed a narrow loss at Conway last week. "One game don't make a season."

The Panthers finished with 432 yards, 404 on the ground. Eads gained 95 yards and scored one touchdown while Jalen Hemphill gained 96 and scored three times and quarterback Jarrod Barnes led with 118 yards and scored twice.

"We got something we never had before, a couple of difference makers," Malham said.

Catholic (0-2) got within 14-7 when Trey Purifoy took Andre Sale's pass for a 39-yard score with 5:49 left in the first quarter.

The Rockets cut it to 28-14 when Sale plunged in from the 1, following a Cabot turnover, with 6:38 left in the half.

Otherwise, the first half was all Cabot. Hemphill made it 21-7 with a 46-yard touchdown run with 3:35 left in the first quarter and Barnes scored on a 30-yard keeper with 23 seconds left in the period for a 28-7 lead.

Barnes kept again on a 59-yard touchdown run in the second quarter. Hemphill turned in a 12-yard touchdown run, after Tristan Bulice intercepted a Purifoy pass, to make it 42-14 with 3:50 to go in the first half.

"Jake, he scooped and scored on one," Malham said. "Jarrod, I don't know how many yards he had. He ran the option great."

The Panthers had a chance to trigger the mercy rule before halftime when Ferguson intercepted another Purifoy pass, but Cabot could not capitalize and was content to run out the first-half clock.

The mercy rule, which kicks in once a lead of 35 points is established, went into effect when Cabot capped its second possession of the second half. Hemphill scored on a 7-yard scoring run to make it 49-14 with 5:38 left in the third quarter.

Cabot's Jess Reed added a 5-yard touchdown run while teammate David Morse scored on a 32-yard run.

Sports on 09/13/2014

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