ALMA -- Little Rock Catholic's defense came through when it was needed most Friday night against Alma.
Catholic forced Alma, ranked No. 5 overall, to punt on its last two possessions of the game as the Rockets held on for a 7-6 victory at Airedale Stadium in the 7A/6A-Central Conference opener for both teams.
"This was an old-fashioned grudge match," Little Rock Catholic Coach John Fogleman said. "Both defenses played really, really good. There's some things we can fix on offense, but Alma was a big part of that.
"We feel good getting out of here with a win. We did just enough."
Catholic took a 7-6 lead into halftime after a first half in which the Rockets suffered two turnovers and Airedales had one of their own.
The Airedales scored first on their third possession of the game, putting together a 71-yard drive that was capped with a 18-yard touchdown pass from senior quarterback Evan Burris to junior wide receiver Heath Friddle, who made a diving catch in the end zone for a 6-0 lead with 9 minutes left in the second quarter.
The drive was set up by a fumble that was recovered by senior linebacker Jake Marrs at the Catholic 29.
It didn't take long for the Rockets (2-2, 1-0) to respond.
Catholic put together a 14-play, 59-yard drive on its next possession that included two fourth-down conversions to take a 7-6 lead with 2:51 left in the half.
Junior quarterback Andre Sale capped the drive with jump ball pass to 6-6 senior receiver Trey Purifoy for a 9-yard touchdown pass.
"It's an advantage to have the height, but you still have to get the blocks and make the throw," Fogleman said. "You see that throw not always made at all levels of the game. We did well on the play."
Sale led the way offensively for the Rockets, completing 13 of 19 passes for 157 yards with 1 touchdown. Purifoy caught 5 passes for 81 yards and 1 touchdown.
The Airedales (3-1, 0-1) were forced to punt on four of their five second-half possessions and missed a 32-yard field goal by Seth Linker. Catholic allowed just 101 passing yards and 49 yards rushing.
"They did a good job hitting us in the mouth," Alma Coach Doug Loughridge said. "They showed why they are a good football team. They had a good game plan, and it just came down to just a few plays in all three phases of the game."
Alma got the ball with 7:40 left in the game at its own 40 and again at the Catholic 40 with 4:46 left, but both drives came up short.
"This was for sure a learning experience," Loughridge said. "I couldn't be more proud of our kids playing a full four quarters, but we had opportunities we just didn't capitalize on."
Alma's defense allowed the lone touchdown in the second quarter and just 73 yards of rushing in the game.
"In that fourth quarter, it just seems like we were inside our on 20 the whole time," Fogleman said. "You can't make mistakes when it's this close.
"Alma had a good game plan and played well."
Sports on 09/27/2014