Catholic holds off North Little Rock, West Monroe blanks Byrd at Battle on the Border

Catholic-Baton Rouge 24, North Little Rock 17

Catholic of Baton Rouge held on to down North Little Rock, 24-17, in the second game of the Landers Battle on the Border late Friday night at the Independence stadium.

North Little Rock took an early lead with a 25-yard touchdown pass from Damon Bell to Randall Abrams but Catholic answered right back with 53-yard run from Braelan Morgan to tie the game at 7-7.

The tie did not last long as the Bears came up with the big play again on the ground. Josh Parker burst free for a 92-yard scoring run. Catholic made it a two-score lead on a 38-yard field goal from Kylan Dupre.

It appeared the Bears had wrapped up the win after a four-yard touchdown pass from Jackson Thomas to Jalen Toasten to make it 24-7 but North Little Rock began to mount a comeback in the final quarter.

After a 33-yard field goal from Liam Selhorst to bring the score 24-10, the Charging Wildcats made things even more interesting. With 59 seconds left in the game, Fredrick O’Donald’s two-yard run drew North Little Rock closer at 24-17.

However, the Bears recovered the ensuing onside kick to finally secure an impressive win over a program that’s reached the last three Class 7A state championship games in Arkansas. The contest was fitting for the title of the games in the stadium this weekend.

“This game was definitely a battle, and the wildcats were a well-coached team,” said Catholic Head Coach Gabe Fertitta. “We need to improve on (preventing) the big plays on defense and special teams.”

Catholic (2-0) will play University High next week while North Little Rock has a bye.

West Monroe 24, Byrd 0

West Monroe opened the Battle on the Border on Friday evening with a methodical win over the defacto home team.

Cayden Pierce opened scoring with a 26-yard touchdown. Not to be out done, Derome Williams broke loose for a 94-yard scoring run.

The defense of the Rebels smothered the Yellow Jackets throughout. Peyton Todd and Josh Cobbs both had a sack and tackle for loss for West Monroe (2-0).

“We won and I’m proud of that,” said Rebels head coach Jerry Arledge.“ We moved the ball well on offense but our passing game needs a lot of improvements.“

West Monroe faces a stiff test up next against Longview, Texas next Friday at Independence Stadium. Looking to rebound from consecutive shutout losses, Byrd (0-2) hosts Calvary Baptist on Thursday at Lee Hedges Stadium.