Pulaski Academy is a program that's used to being in state championship finals.
The Bruins have won seven of the last eight Class 5A state titles. But in order to get to their first-ever final in Class 6A, they had to win a game that was anything but routine.
PA fought off multiple comeback attempts to defeat Little Rock Catholic 54-42 Friday night at War Memorial Stadium in the 6A state semifinals.
The Bruins (11-1) stuck to their guns and elected to receive after winning the coin toss. One minute and 11 seconds later, they were on the board and taking a 6-0 lead thanks to a 70-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Kel Busby to wide receiver Jaylin Mckinney.
PA and Catholic (11-1) traded touchdowns to John Mark Charette and Thomas Duch to make it 12-7. But the Bruins' signature onside kick backfired on the ensuing kickoff when Rockets wide receiver Brooks Ward returned it 51 yards for a touchdown, making it 14-12 with 6:50 left in the first quarter.
The next six minutes and change saw both teams' scores balloon to a combined 47 points. PA scored on a 3-yard rushing touchdown from Busby and a 60-yard screen pass to Kenny Jordan. Catholic kept it close with an 8-yard pass from quarterback Sam Sanders to Ward.
Whatever PA did it could never separate itself from Catholic. In the second quarter, PA scored first on a 66-yard pass to Charette. Shortly after, defensive back KJ Colen intercepted a pass from Sanders to give PA a chance to make it a three-score game.
But the Catholic defense forced a turnover on downs a few minutes later. Sanders led Catholic on a nine-play, 65-yard drive, ending on a 17-yard touchdown pass to Cody Fogleman that made the score 33-28.
As often as Catholic matched PA, it never found a way to regain the lead it lost midway through the first quarter.
"It seemed like we [would] just match their scores, but when we stopped them, we didn't do anything," Catholic Coach John Fogleman said. "But that's just the challenge of playing a team like that. [There's] so much pressure to have to score all the time."
On its next drive, PA turned to Jordan on the ground to vary offense. He rushed three times for 71 yards to score and give the Bruins a 40-28 lead at halftime.
Catholic was able to capitalize on one of PA's mistakes early in the third quarter. Busby fumbled near midfield and Sanders connected with Duch two players later on a 33-yard touchdown pass to make it 40-35.
Sanders and Busby each connected on passing touchdowns to make it 47-42 with less than eight minutes to play.
Busby was questionable to play in Friday's game as recently as Monday afternoon. He suffered a concussion in last week's win over Mountain Home and was limited in practice.
He was partially responsible for two fumbled exchanges with Jordan. But when PA Coach Anthony Lucas needed his junior quarterback the most, he made the winning play.
With 2:16 left in the game, PA was faced with a third-and-10 from Catholic's 26. Busby dropped back and lofted the ball up for his favorite target, Mckinney, who caught the ball over a defender and scored, giving PA a 54-42 lead.
"I'm thoroughly impressed with Kel tonight," Lucas said. "I'm a little upset with the two hand-offs that they just couldn't get right that we fumbled. I told him before the game that not taking care of the football gets you beat, and it almost got us beat. But I'm so happy he came back, and he hung in there."
Friday saw the end of one of Catholic's most historic seasons. The 2022 team was the first to ever go undefeated in the regular season, and it finished the year in Catholic's first state semifinal since 2005.
"We knew we were going to be a much better football team this year," Fogleman said. "We had a lot of guys coming back. We had a really really good offseason and a really good summer. But, you know, every week it just got a little bit better."
With the win, PA advances to face Greenwood on Dec. 3 for the 6A state title. Half the battle of winning a state title is making it to the game. PA will have a chance at the other half in a rematch with the lone team to beat it in 2022.
"It's the culture here. We expect to get to the state championship," Lucas said. "I don't say that arrogantly, l say that confidently. And our kids know that when we start, we want to get back. Every class that comes up to be seniors, they know. Hey, we don't want to be the class to mess that up. And now getting here is beautiful, but the biggest thing is we're going to have to win."
Pulaski Academy’s Kenny Jordan (right) avoids a tackle from Little Rock Catholic’s Caden McConnell during a Class 6A state semifinal game Friday at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock. More photos at arkansasonline.com/1126catholicfb. (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/Justin Cunningham)Gallery: HS Football: Pulaski Academy vs Little Rock Catholic
