PRAIRIE GROVE --Bobby Catt's value to Prairie Grove's defensive unit was never more evident than in the Tigers' 49-32 second-round playoff loss at Nashville in November.
Catt is not overly tall at 5-feet-9, but he plays big with a solid, 210-pound frame; and was the one guy Prairie Grove had capable of matching up in 1-on-1 coverage against Nashville's 6-feet-3, 204-pound Arkansas recruit, receiver LaMichael Pettway. The Tigers led 8-0 early in the game with Catt defending Pettway but when Catt sustained an injury and had to come out the Scrappers noticed. Nashville scored four unanswered touchdowns to take a commanding 28-8 halftime lead with Pettway scoring on receptions of 37, 47 and 12 yards. Without Catt in the lineup, Pettway was able to run through the Tiger secondary using his height to easily catch the ball.
Ignoring the pain, Catt returned in the second half and produced offensively as a runningback almost willing his team to win as the Tigers outscored Nashville 24-21 over the final two quarters. His 5-yard rushing touchdown capped a 14 play, 77-yard drive accomplished in 4:23 to give the Tigers a chance with 6:15 left in the fourth quarter. Time was not on their side and although Prairie Grove would successfully recover an onside kick for the second time after intermission, they could not finish a promising drive and bowed out of the playoffs with Nashville running the clock out.
"Bobby turned his ankle in the West Fork game and he never did get well," said Prairie Grove coach Danny Abshier. "Each week he'd go, then he'd tweak it. That hurt us against Nashville. Of course, it might have helped if we'd had a little more ball control. Bobby would have helped us do that."
Another factor, Abshier pointed out was Catt's absence from the Tiger offensive backfield allowed Pettway, who led Nashville in interceptions, to play a roving-type of safety position something he wouldn't have been able to do with Catt lining up as a potential receiving threat.
"It's not that we didn't have other receivers," Abshier said. "But they couldn't go like Bobby could."
Prairie Grove fans weren't the only ones aware of Catt's play-making ability and tenacity on both sides of the ball. The Arkansas High School Coaches Association named him to the 2015 West All-Star football roster and he will suit up for the final time in his high school career taking the turf at Estes Field on the University of Central Arkansas campus at Conway on Friday at 7 p.m.
Abshier describes Catt as one of the funnest players he has ever got to work with, noting Catt is always smiling and laughing. Yet, even with such a jovial disposition, Catt was an impact player.
"Overall he was a good defensive guy, he hits hard and is a lot of fun," Abshier said.
Catt's 2015 All-Star selection qualifies him as the third Prairie Grove football athlete to attain All-Star status over the past three years joining defensive lineman Jared Murphy (2013) and linebacker Brandon Nodier (2014).
"It's an honor for the program but I'm not so sure it's a tribute to coaches as it is to have good players going to school here," Abshier said. "It's a credit to those kids to go hard, play hard and impress enough people to get enough backing to go."
Sports on 06/24/2015