Cochran’s unbeaten Little Rock Catholic gridiron program ready for clash with Benton

BY DUDLEY E. DAWSON

After being an assistant football coach at Little Rock Catholic for 23 years, Rick Cochran took over as the Rockets’ head coach in January when John Fogleman left for Malvern.

It’s gone really well so far as Catholic (7-0, 4-0 in 6A-East action) looks to stay unbeaten when it travels to play at Benton (6-1, 4-0) Friday night in a key 7 p.m. game.

“This a really fun group and we are just having a blast and taking each week as it goes,” notes Cochran, a 1991 Catholic graduate and the first alum hired as head coach. “Morale is pretty high right now. Win or lose the guys are just having a great time.”

“I wasn’t expecting to have this much fun with the record the way it is and how we are sending these seniors out. We didn’t know what to expect going in. Guy’s didn’t know what to expect from me and me from them. But everything has been working out just fine for us.”

Those two teams are tied atop the conference standings with Marion (6-1, 4-0), who the Rockets play next week and Benton play in the regular season finale on Nov. 8.

After a season-opening los to Bryant in the Salt Bowl, Benton has won six straight while outscoring its foes 330-125.

‘Our guys know how great Benton is and how they have been rolling through people, but we are not really concerned about match ups and they just want to get out there and fight and see what happens,” Cochran said. “We are just having a good time doing it right now.

“The morale is really good and we are just excited about playing and all that. I just told them y’all great brothers, just keep together and keep having fun and don’t get your dauber down regardless of what happens.”

Little Rock Catholic’s last two wins have come over Jonesboro 26-21 and at Sheridan 51-48 with exciting finishes.

It’s a great time for Catholic, which won state titles in 1983 and 1984 and got close again in 2022, when it went 12-1 and lost in the Class 6A state playoff semifinals to Pulaski Academy.

“The boys are just a gritty bunch of guys and they’ve been able to pull it out these last couple of games,” Cochran said. “They been kind of been a bend, but don’t break group and holding own for their dear lives.

“We are doing fine together right now fighting through it for each other. That’s been kind of the narrative of it with the Jonesboro game and then turn around and play, a difficult for us, Sheridan team and that outstanding tailback they have.”

Cochran and the Rockets faced a slew of injuries during last season’s 7-5 season and ended up losing two of its last three games, including a 21-16 playoff loss to Mountain Home.

“At the end of last year, we kind of limped into the playoffs with a lot of our starting guys on both offense and defense that were injured and some out for the season,” Cochran said. “It was just kind of hard to get the back ups ready.

“This year we are healthy and just striving along to get better every day.”

Photo courtesy of Little Rock Catholic