In the closing minutes it was nice for Little Rock Catholic to have senior quarterback Andre Sale back on the field. In overtime it was nicer to have a few big plays from their defense.
Sale hit senior Justin Temple with a 10-yard touchdown pass on third down in overtime as the Rockets (2-4, 1-2 7A/6A Central) rallied to defeat the Russellville Cyclones 31-24 on Friday night at War Memorial Stadium.
Then the Rockets' Noah Black-Ocken came up with a big second-down sack and defensive back Peyton Adams broke up a pair of passes to preserve the victory.
"We built a lead, a big 14-0 lead and just gave up two big play on the fade routes and it like we shut down,'' Rockets Coach John Fogleman said. "We came out in the second half and played with a lot better urgency.
"Our kids just made better plays. They got behind us in the first half and we were where we were supposed to be in the second half."
The Cyclones (1-5, 0-3) forced overtime when junior Nate Turner drilled a 20-yard field goal with five second left.
The tying field goal became necessary after the Rockets had taken a 24-21 lead with 2:12 left on a 2-yard run by Lance Harville-Thomas. On that drive Sale, who had missed three games with an elbow injury, passed for 50 yards and ran for 9. Sale finished 16 of 25 for 224 yards. He hit 8 of 10 passes in the second half or 110 yards.
"He made some good plays with his arm and with his feet there at the end," Fogleman said. "I think more importantly they had him to look at in the huddle and see his leadership. I think that was big."
The Rockets built a 14-0 lead on their first two possessions. Monroe McKay scored on a 17-yard run for the first score and Sale hit Thompson Olaimey for a 42-yard score on the second. Lefty Christopher Elser kicked both extra points.
The Cyclones hit their groove and scored on three of their next four possessions, all on passes by junior Cale Fulsom, who was 17 of 25 passing for 303 yards. Fulsom hit junior Caleb Stokes, who caught 6 for 138, on 51 and 55-yard TD passes that tied the score after Turner's extra points.
Russellville took the lead on a 34-yard scoring toss to James Woods.
Catholic's Elser hit a 29-yard field goal for a 21-17 halftime score.
SILOAM SPRINGS 26,
VAN BUREN 24
VAN BUREN — Siloam Springs overcame two lost fumbles in the fourth quarter and more than 100 yards in penalties to end a two-game losing streak. Leading 26-17 in the fourth quarter, Siloam Springs (4-2, 1-2) had two chances to put away the game but lost fumbles on each drive.
Van Buren (2-4, 0-3) turned one fumble into a Jordan Barlow touchdown with 4:15 left to cut the lead to 26-24. Siloam Springs moved the ball into Van Buren territory on its final possession and converted on fourth and 11 with 25 seconds remaining when Jordan Norberg threw a 31-yard pass to J.D. Horn to secure the victory.
The Panthers finished with 353 yards of total offense, including 216 rushing yards. Ricky Hughes finished with 19 carries for 164 yards, while Norberg completed 13 of 16 passes for 137 yards.
Sports on 10/10/2015