ROGERS -- The pieces were scattered among two teams and a few others weren't even on the field for Friday night's Navy-Orange spring game. But Rogers Heritage football coach Perry Escalante believes they might all fit together nicely in the fall.
The Navy defense tackled Orange running back Joel Brackett short of the goal-line as time expired for a 14-13 victory in an exciting ending to the two-quarter varsity scrimmage.
Escalante, who watched the action from behind the line of scrimmage, liked what he saw on many fronts, but noted quarterbacks Trey Kitterman and Jake Qualls both had good moments.
"I liked what I saw because there was a lot of good things," Esclaante said. "Jake threw the ball well. Kitterman threw the ball well. Dylan Qualls looked good catching the ball. David Zamora showed some speed. I'm pleased. The whole spring was good. Each day we got better and better and better.
"It was competitive and the kids were excited. Every time there was a big play. Our kids have had two good weeks of practice. It was a good night overall."
Kitterman, a rising sophomore who guided the Navy team, threw a 70-yard touchdown pass to Zamora in the first period, then ran for a key first down on fourth-and-8 near midfield on his team's second scoring drive. He finished 4-of-9 passing for 88 yards with an interception to go with his touchdown. The 6-foot-1, 205-pounder also ran for 38 yards on five carries.
Cameron Moss scored from 3 yards out to cap a 12-play drive for the Navy's second score with 2 minutes, 42 seconds left in the second quarter and Colton Gonzalez nailed his second PAT that proved to the game-winner.
Heritage offensive coordinator Darren Hotelling, who guided the Navy team, said Kitterman missed the first week of spring practice, while playing with the War Eagles baseball team in the state tournament and got only two full days of practice this week.
"He retained pretty good information from last fall," Hotelling said. "We didn't put too much on his plate. He looked good out there. We think he's going to be a good quarterback and looking for great things to happen for him here. He's got some size to him. He's strong."
Qualls, who led the War Eagles to a playoff victory at Little Rock Central last season, finished with 170 yards passing and a touchdown for the Orange. He completed 13 of 24 passes and guided his team down the field in less than three minutes to get in position for a game-winning score.
Qualls completed fourth-down passes twice to rising senior Cannon Strickland in the final drive. He threw a 7-yard touchdown pass to Collin Christian on fourth down for the Orange team's first touchdown. Brackett scored the other on a nice 7-yard run, leaping over a defender and into the end zone.
The War Eagles did get a little bad news on Friday as Mason Gray, the returning starter at tight end, underwent knee surgery to repair a torn anterior cruciate ligament and will be lost for the season, Escalante said.
Sports on 05/23/2015