Pulaski Academy authored another signature performance.
Sophomore Layne Hatcher threw a 10-yard touchdown pass to senior wide receiver Zack Kelley with 1:20 remaining to lift the Bruins to a 50-42 victory over DeSoto Central of Southaven, Miss., in the championship game of the 11th annual Shootout of the South passing tournament Saturday afternoon at the Mighty Bluebird Complex in west Little Rock.
Pulaski Academy finished the 20-team tournament 10-1 en route to its second consecutive Shootout of the South title and fifth in six years.
Hatcher threw five touchdown passes to Kelley in the 26-minute championship game (40, 9, 40, 3 and 10 yards) and two to senior Tre Bruce (14 and 13 yards).
The teams matched touchdowns until the Bruins broke a 42-42 tie by scoring on a sprint-out pass -- their signature offensive play in regular football and 7-on-7 -- in the closing seconds.
Needing a touchdown to avoid losing possession on downs, Hatcher rolled left and found Kelley, the son of Pulaski Academy Coach Kevin Kelley, on a quick out at the goal line for the game-winning score.
Pulaski Academy burned approximately a minute on a successful two-point play, with Hatcher hitting a wide-open Bruce on another sprint-out pass.
"You've got to have something you can go to in life, and that's our go-to play," said Kevin Kelley, who led the Bruins to the Class 5A state championship last fall. "We run it extremely well. They start that in the fifth grade. In the fifth grade, I go down there and coach those kids because that's our fall-back plan. If nothing else, we'll just go back and forth with the different sides of the field."
Hatcher, who helped lead Pulaski Academy's junior varsity team to an unbeaten season last fall, won the Top Gun Award as the tournament's outstanding quarterback.
Zack Kelley was named the tournament's outstanding receiver. Kelley is already one of the most prolific receivers in Arkansas high school history (155 catches for 2,666 yards and 41 touchdowns in his career).
Two of Kelley's touchdowns in the championship game covered the length of the field (40 yards), helping the Bruins to a 35-28 halftime lead.
"It's years of catching the football, starting at the age of 1," Kevin Kelley said. "I know that sounds crazy, but he started off like standing on the couch and I would throw it away from him and he would fall over the couch and catch it. He's turned out to be good. I'm really proud of him."
After finishing 5-1 in pool play Friday, Pulaski Academy reached the championship game with lopsided victories over Bald Knob (62-7), Central Arkansas Christian (36-14), Little Rock Christian (46-14) and 2007 Shootout of the South champion Oklahoma City Heritage Hall (42-28) in the semifinals.
DeSoto Central beat Pulaski Academy Blue (junior varsity team) 44-22 in the semifinals.
Pulaski Academy's varsity team (Gold) won eight consecutive games after having its 76-game 7-on-7 winning streak snapped by Searcy, 37-35, in pool play.
"The kids immediately responded," Kelley said. "It was, 'Hey, let's start another winning streak.' "
Greenbrier beat Conway Christian 56-28 to win the consolation bracket.
Junior Keshaun Abrams of DeSoto Central was named the tournament's outstanding defensive back.
Pulaski Academy also won the Air Raid and Ouachita Baptist tournaments earlier this summer and will compete in a national 7-on-7 event July 10-11 in Washington, D.C., Kelley said.
Sports on 06/21/2015