Catholic’s Jason Stith waved bye-bye to Southside with a 53-yard touchdown run at the 4:44 mark Friday night.

Stith’s run, after a failed onside kick set up the Rockets with great field position, proved to be the big blow in Catholic’s 24-20 victory at Jim Rowland Stadium.

The Rockets actually had to withstand three Maverick touchdowns in a span of 2:22.

“Our kids did fight back,” Southside coach Jeff Williams said. “We had opportunities to get back in it. We had some field position in the second half, which we didn’t have much of in the first half, but we’ve got to quit making mistakes — we have to make the right reads; we have to block guys; we can’t get penalties.

“That’s the sign of a young team, but the situational part, we have to do a better job.”

The loss dropped Southside to 1-6 on the season and 0-5 in the 7A-Central.

Down 24-7, Southside quarterback Parker Wehunt threw a 6-yard touchdown pass to Jake Tyler with 4:00 minutes to play. A blocked punt less than half a minute later led to another Wehunt touchdown pass — this one also covering 6 yards to Tylern— and with 2:33 left to play the Mavericks still had a pulse.

Wehunt threw for just 25 yards in the first half, but was 14-of-25 in the final half for 119 yards and two scores.

His lone interception of the night, however, led to a 14-point swing. After Conner Austin’s 18-yard punt return to the Rockets’ 23, Wehunt was intercepted on the very next play.

Catholic drove 80 yards for a 17-0 lead.

“You know how those things are going to turn out,” Williams said. “You have to give them credit; they went on the road and won a big football game.”

The Rockets took advantage of a third down penalty on their first drive of the game, which led to the game’s lone first half score.

Catholic, in fact, converted other third down plays on the drive while marching to the Mavericks’ 20.

But Edington’s third down pass skipped off the turf, setting up Parker Owens’ 37-yard field goal with 6½ minutes to play in the first quarter.

But the Mavericks’ defense forced two three-and-outs on Catholic’s next two possessions.


Southside, meanwhile, had managed but 11 yards on six offensive plays in the first quarter before stringing together a drive that chewed up nearly nine minutes off the clock.

Starting from its 8, the Mavericks’ methodically rolled down the field, converting some key third downs along the way.

Wehunt, who later in the drive escaped a sack and wiggled his way for five big yards, hit two big passes on the drive —a 6-yard strike to Jake Tyler and a 19-yard toss to a wide open Conner Austin, who caught the ball beyond the sticks and rumbled to the Rockets’ 34.

Two plays later, Jay Washington dashed 20 yards to the Catholic 22. Then, after the Rockets were flagged for encroachment, the Mavericks took over at the Rockets’ 17.

But Catholic buckled down defensively, and Wehunt’s fourth-and-three pass fell to the turf incomplete.
