Lakeside's 4th-quarter flurry drops Central

Hot Springs Lakeside running back Colt Housley (second from right) is tackled by a host of Little Rock Central defenders during Thursday’s game at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock. Central led 42-30 with 2:33 remaining, but a late charge by the Rams resulted in a 44-42 Lakeside victory.
Hot Springs Lakeside running back Colt Housley (second from right) is tackled by a host of Little Rock Central defenders during Thursday’s game at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock. Central led 42-30 with 2:33 remaining, but a late charge by the Rams resulted in a 44-42 Lakeside victory.

Hot Springs Lakeside trailed by 12 points with less than three minutes remaining Thursday night, but the Rams came back to stun Little Rock Central 44-42 at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock.

"Our kids earned it," Lakeside Coach Jared McBride said. "They fought hard on the field. It was an absolute slugfest. I'm real proud of our team."

Class 5A Lakeside trailed Class 7A Central 42-30 with 2:33 left after Tigers freshman running Oscar Adaday III scored a 48-yard run, but the Rams answered.

Lakeside drove 55 yards in nine plays with senior running back Colt Housley scoring from a yard out to cut the Tigers' lead to 42-37 with 58 seconds left. The Rams then went for the onside kick, and senior Malek Hearnsburger recovered the ball.

It took the Rams only three plays to march down the field, with junior quarterback Fisher Alexander finding Caleb Dean for a 30-yard touchdown pass that gave Lakeside a 44-42 lead.

With no timeouts and the ball at the Rams 49, Little Rock Central quarterback Jordan McCarther was intercepted by Isaac Bodemann to seal the Rams' comeback.

Little Rock Central Coach Ellis Register lamented his team's inability to slow the Rams in the fourth quarter.

"We couldn't stop them," he said.

Alexander completed 19 of 33 passes for 382 yards and 2 touchdowns in his first varsity start. Dean finished with 6 receptions for 178 yards and 2 touchdowns.

Senior running back Richard Hayes led Central with 181 yards and 2 touchdowns on 19 carries. He left the game in the fourth quarter because of exhaustion, Register said. Hayes, who played in his first game after tearing his ACL in Week 10 last year against North Little Rock, scored on runs of 80 and 14 yards.

Marlo Thompson had a 23-yard touchdown run for the Tigers in the fourth quarter.

Sophomore quarterback Caleb Dallimore threw his first touchdown pass, a 30-yarder to junior Thomas Walker with 11:53 left to extend the Tigers' lead to 28-16.

Lakeside pulled to within 28-23 with 8:44 left when Alexander threw a 53-yard touchdown pass to junior wide receiver Caleb Dean down the left sideline.

Central led 21-16 at halftime thanks to Hayes' two touchdowns and a 4-yard scoring run by Adaway.

Lakeside senior Maurice Bradford scored on two 4-yard runs, both in the first half. Garrett Tarbett had a 30-yard field goal.

The Tigers travel to Fort Smith Northside on Thursday night, and Register said he hopes his team can rebound from the disappointment of letting its lead slip away late.

"We have to go to work tomorrow," Register said. "We'll find out about the character of this football team."

Sports on 09/04/2015

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