Watson Chapel didn't get off to the best of starts Thursday night, but the Wildcats made amends with a remarkable finish.
A pair of Wildcats defenders knocked away a fourth-down pass from Little Rock Parkview junior quarterback Landon Rogers in the end zone with one second left in the game to preserve a 44-40 victory at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock.
"Trust the process," Watson Chapel Coach Jared Dutton said. "That's what we've been talking about. You don't want to start your best, you want to finish your best."
[HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL: Scores, photos, stories, rankings + more » arkansasonline.com/arpreps/]
The Patriots hit the Wildcats with some big blows in front of their homecoming crowd. Parkview (3-3, 1-2 5A-Central), which beat Watson Chapel by four touchdowns a year ago, had seven plays of at least 20 yards. The Patriots led 27-20 at halftime and held a 14-point lead early in the third quarter. But Watson Chapel (4-2, 2-1) followed the lead of senior quarterback Devin Curry to rally.
Curry carried 16 times for 119 yards with 4 touchdowns. He also completed 9 of 21 passes for 150 yards, including a pivotal 32-yard strike to senior wide receiver Tekhi Urquhart on what turned out to be the game-winning drive. Senior running back Ricky Farver added 156 yards rushing and scored on a 3-yard run for the Wildcats, who piled up 530 yards of offense.
"Those two seniors have worked extremely hard all offseason," Dutton said of Curry and Farver. "They got their butts in gear and got in shape to have the kind of games that they did [Thursday]. They are simply the heart and soul of our team."
The Wildcats turned the ball over on downs at Parkview's 26 late in the opening quarter, and with eight seconds left in the second quarter, Parkview senior defensive back Demetrius Feemster intercepted Curry in the end zone after Watson Chapel had first and goal at the Patriots' 5.
[GALLERY: Click here to see photos from the game » arkansasonline.com/1011parkview/]
Parkview took a 7-0 advantage with the game barely 11 seconds old after junior linebacker Montaivous Goins returned a fumble by Watson Chapel's Kevin Compton 30 yards for a touchdown on the game's first play.
The teams traded scores on the next two possessions before sophomore running back Trent Bennett's 16-yard scoring run finished off a 6-play, 49-yard march that gave the Patriots their halftime lead.
Parkview pushed its margin to 34-20 on Bennett's 8-yard touchdown with 9:04 to go in the third quarter. Watson Chapel then scored on its final three possessions, two of which occurred after Patriots turnovers. Rogers, who finished with 123 yards on the ground, sandwiched a 19-yard scoring run between 1- and 55-yard touchdowns from Curry.
One play following Curry's score, Compton intercepted Rogers at the Wildcats' 37 and seven plays later, Curry dashed in on another 1-yard score to give Watson Chapel a 44-40 lead.
The Patriots did get the ball back and had a first down from the Wildcats' 7 with a little over a minute remaining.
But Parkview gained a yard on three consecutive plays before Rogers' final pass was swatted out of the field of play.
"The defense found a way to make a stop when they had to," Dutton said. "We've got to go back and fix a few things, but this win was a total team effort. I couldn't be any prouder than what I am right now."
Sports on 10/11/2019