By RAY BENTON
Leader sports editor
To temple for Hail Mary’s isn’t just part of the Rosary anymore for Catholic High. Rocket quarterback Zach Conque completed a 44-yard hail mary to Jordan Temple to end the first half, spelling the beginning of the end for the Cabot Panthers in a 28-6 Catholic victory.
The touchdown that ended the half put Catholic up 21-6 and helped break open a game that had been a defensive struggle.
Catholic moved the ball up and down the field, but penalties, turnovers and timely Cabot sacks managed to stall most Rocket drives. Several times Cabot’s defense backed Catholic up, but much of the night, the Rockets were able to still convert first downs, usually with Conque scrambling out of the pocket for big gains.
“I don’t want to take anything away from the effort,” Catholic coach David Estes said. “They played hard and they deserved to win, but we played disgraceful football on offense tonight. I thought our defense played tremendously well. I was very proud of them.”
Cabot’s offense struggled to run the ball, and while the passing game saw receivers running open most of the night, connections were few and far between.
The Panthers got the ball and scored on the opening drive of the game. The key play was a 63-yard hookup between quarterback Zach Craig and tight end Ethan Brown that gave Cabot first and goal at the 3-yard line. Two plays later, James Haley scored with 10:22 left in the first quarter. It was the last time until the late in the third quarter Cabot would sniff the end zone.
Catholic answered immediately on the following drive. The Rockets went 55 yards in eight plays, with the key play coming on second and 21. Conque was flushed out of the pocket and ran 18 yards to the Cabot 12, where he ran out of bounds and was hit late. That gave Catholic first and goal at the 6. Two plays later on third and seven, Conque was flushed again, and this time scored with 6:39 left in the opening frame.
The two teams traded possessions until late in the second quarter. Catholic took over on its own 23 with 8:43 left in the half, and marched that distance in 10 plays, going up 14-6 with 4:12 on the clock.
Cabot gave it right back when Craig was hit attempting a pass and fumbled. After a scramble for the ball, Catholic covered it 22 yards behind the line of scrimmage at the Panther 26. The Cabot defense held though after Jake Vaughan sacked Conque for a 10-yard loss, forcing a punt, but Cabot went backwards again and punted three plays later.
That set Catholic up at its own 47 with 1:03 left in the half, and the touchdown pass to Temple three plays later.
The second half was more of the same. Cabot went backwards on its next two possessions, but the defense found ways to stop Catholic when Rocket penalties didn’t.
In the fourth quarter the Panthers started moving the ball, but interceptions in the red zone thwarted each advance.
Cabot had a chance to score after a 70-yard punt return by Chase Boyles gave Cabot first and goal from the 10, but things went terribly awry from there. The Panthers ended up punting on fourth and goal from the 42. First it was an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty after a two-yard gain. Halfback Wes Conard was tackled for an eight-yard loss and Craig was sacked on third down for an 11-yard loss.
The final nail in the coffin came late in the fourth quarter on third and three. Craig had a receiver all alone, but threw his pass low where junior linebacker Cole Boardman could reach it in the flat with no one in front him. Boardman took it the distance to set the final margin with 6:05 left in the game.
Cabot got it back and marched down the field again, but Boardman got another interception, this one at the 1-yard line, and returned out to the 22 with 1:59 left.
Catholic finished with 340 total yards to 232 for Cabot. The statistic of the night is that 168 yards of Cabot’s offense came through the air. Craig completed seven of 13 attempts with three interceptions.
Conque dominated the game. He was 18 of 26 for 202 yards passing, and had seven carries for 92 yards to lead the Rockets’ ground attack.
The results leaves the Panthers 1-4 on the year and 0-2 in conference play. Catholic improved to 3-2 overall and 1-1 in league play.
Cabot will face North Little Rock next week. The Wildcats lost 20-17 to Conway on Friday.
