Samy Johnson ran 4 times for 153 yards and 2 touchdowns in the first quarter, carrying Little Rock Catholic to a 34-17 victory over Jacksonville on Friday night at Jan Crow Stadium in Jacksonville.
Johnson finished with 19 carries for 218 yards and the 2 touchdowns for the 7A-Central Rockets (2-0).
Johnson scored on the second play of the Rockets' second possession after quarterback Jake James was sacked for a loss of 13 to the Jacksonville 49.
His last score came after the Rockets recovered a Titans' fumble at the Jacksonville 43.
[HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL SCOREBOARD: Full results + recaps, photos and more]
Johnson's scoring run, from the 30, came after a 5-yard penalty for false start, an incomplete pass, a 2-yard run by Luke Schildknecht, and a 16-yard pass to William Plafcan.
"Samy is always going to be our main man, but we have to have some others step up," Catholic Coach John Fogleman said. "It was an ugly game there for a while. We had a couple of turnovers that put them in a good position each time."
Jacksonville (1-1, 6A-East) got its offense going in the second quarter when Shawn Ellis scored on a 17-yard run on second and 10.
The Titans stopped Catholic on a fourth down then forced a punt from the Rockets' 11 on the next possession. The kick traveled 18 yards, putting Jacksonville in business at the 29.
Ellis got 16 on second down, but the next two plays lost a yard each and HD Martin threw incomplete on third down at the 15. Bobby Smith kicked a 32-yard field as time ran out, giving Catholic a 17-10 edge at the half.
The Rockets scored on their second possession of the third quarter, James passing 14 yards to Corbin Weaver for a touchdown and a 24-10 lead..
Jacksonville was forced to punt on its next possession and a good return by Plafcan put the Rockets at the Titans' 48. James passed to Plafcan for 13 yards and a first down at the 35. Johnson picked up 30 on first down, then got 2 yards on the next two carries.
Schlidknecht took it the last 3 yards for the score and a 31-10 Catholic lead.
On Jacksonville's next possession, Martin lost 9 yards on first down, but Ellis got five of it back. Martin passed to Xavier Scott for 50 yards, but a penalty put ball at the Jacksonville 40.
Ellis ran for 14 yards on first down, then an offsides penalty against Catholic put the ball at the 40. Martin took care of the rest, scrambling and weaving through the Rockets' defense for 40 yards and a touchdown.
Catholic forced Jacksonville to turn the ball over on downs on the first possession of the fourth quarter then rode Johnson and Schildknecht to the Jacksonville 23 where Chris Elser kicked his second field goal, this one from 40 yards out and a 34-17 score. His first field goal a 35-yard kick on the Rockets first possession.
Sports on 09/09/2017