PULASKI ACADEMY 61,
LITTLE ROCK MCCLELLAN 29
Senior quarterback Layne Hatcher passed for 361 yards and four touchdowns to extend his state record for career passing yards and lead the Pulaski Academy Bruins to a 61-29 victory over the Little Rock McClellan Lions at Rector Field in Little Rock on Friday night.
Hatcher has now passed for 14,411 yards in four seasons with Pulaski Academy (9-0, 6-0 5A-Central).
"Layne's record is a tribute to the past receivers, the offensive line, and the defense for getting him the ball," Pulaski Academy Coach Kevin Kelley said. "I'm really proud of what we accomplished tonight, because I consider McClellan to be one of the best teams overall in the state."
"Layne is just a smart quarterback," McClellan Coach Maurice Moody said. "You have to pressure him to have a chance, because if you don't, he'll pick you apart, and tonight we couldn't do that. A lot of credit has to go to their offensive line."
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McClellan scored on its first possession of the second half with a 35-yard touchdown pass from senior quarterback Bennie Kemp III to senior receiver Kyreek Lair to pull within 41-21.
McClellan had possession with a chance to cut Pulaski Academy's lead to two scores after senior Andre Campbell intercepted a pass from Hatcher, but a fumble recovered by senior defensive lineman Isaiah Woods helped set up a 1-yard touchdown run by sophomore Mason Kolb that gave Pulaski Academy a 47-21 lead midway through the third quarter.
"They made a few mistakes that you just don't plan on having, and those were big turning points in the game," Kelley said. "It's hard for a team to continue to make those kinds of mistakes and get back up. Luckily for us, we took advantage of them."
"Here's the thing," Moody said. "We knew coming in that this wasn't a team that's going to beat themselves. If you're going to beat them, you have to beat them, and we just made too many mistakes to do that."
Pulaski Academy scored late in the third quarter on a 16-yard pass from Hatcher to senior Hayden Cobb.
Junior reserve quarterback Braden Bratcher's 21-yard pass to sophomore Andrew Cobb gave Pulaski Academy a 61-21 lead with 8:06 left in the fourth quarter and started the mercy-rule clock.
Campbell's 65-yard touchdown run for McClellan completed the scoring with 7:30 left.
Campbell led all rushers with 162 yards on 14 carries.
A 4-yard Wildcat touchdown pass from junior wide receiver Hudson Henry to junior receiver Brett Lynch gave Pulaski Academy a 6-0 lead two minutes into the game.
McClellan (6-3, 4-2) responded with an 11-play 48-yard drive completed by Campbell's 1-yard touchdown run. Junior Cristian Hernandez's extra point gave McClellan a 7-6 lead with 4:08 left in the first quarter.
Pulaski Academy scored the game's next 28 points on Hatcher's 1-yard shovel pass to Lynch, a 5-yard run by sophomore Mason Kolb, a 34-yard pass from Hatcher to senior John David White, and a 5-yard keeper by Hatcher that gave Pulaski Academy a 34-7 lead with 6:11 left in the second quarter.
McClellan scored with a 22-yard run by Kemp to cut Pulaski Academy's lead to 34-15 at 4:05 of the second quarter.
A forced fumble was recovered by junior defensive tackle Tarious Morgan at the Pulaski Academy 24, but McClellan turned it over on downs after four plays at the Pulaski Academy 16.
Pulaski Academy scored eight plays later on a 13-yard touchdown pass from Hatcher to Henry to take a 41-15 lead into halftime.
Sports on 10/28/2017