By Rob Patrick

The Bryant Blue (Bethel) Hornets eighth grade team scored on six of their eight possessions as they rolled to a 46-6 thumping of the Rose City Chiefs on the muddy field at Bryant Stadium Thursday night.

Quarterback Dakota Besancon hit 6 of 9 passes for 108 yards and a pair of touchdowns, both to Davis Nossaman who had four grabs altogether for 94 yards.

Running back Bryce Denker rushed just eight times for 84 yards and two scores. Reserves Blake Nesbitt and Matt Mears also ran for touchdowns.

Bryant held Rose City to a net of 85 yards of offense with 54 of that coming on runs of 21 yards by quarterback Markevius Williams and 33 yards by running back Jamal Doss.

By Rob Patrick

CONWAY — Bryant Blue’s Davis Nossaman and Jacob Irby knocked Conway Courtway’s Quenton Wyrick out of bounds at the 1-yard line to spoil a 2-point conversion attempt with 1:16 left to play on Thursday night. The play saved the Hornets’ 14-12 victory over the Kittens in the eighth-grade game at Centennial Bank Field at John McConnell Stadium.

The Blue team (from Bethel Middle School) improved to 4-1 on the season with the victory.

CABOT — The Bryant Lady Hornets freshman volleyball team bounced back from a disappointing loss at Conway in their previous outing to slip past Cabot South on Thursday, 25-9, 27-25.

The win was coupled with a 25-21, 25-8 win by Bryant Blue in an eighth grade contest.

Bryant’s freshmen return to action at a tournament at Conway on Saturday then visits Mount St. Mary’s in a return to action in the South Division of the Central Arkansas Junior High Conference on Monday, Sept. 21.

Bryant Blue returns to action against Rose City at the Bethel Middle School gym on Monday.

A seventh grade jamboree featuring both Bryant teams will be played on Saturday at the Bethel gym.

The Bryant freshmen eased to their win in the first game of their match with Cabot. Hannah Rice punctuated the victory by serving up an ace for the 20th point then closing out the game.

There was a time that, at the end of the Central Arkansas Junior High Conference season, there was kind of a unique playoff. The winners of the two divisions, North and South, played a championship game but also every other team played a corresponding team in the other division. In other words, the two second place teams played, the two third place teams played, etc.

But that doesn’t happen anymore. So the games before divisional play opens are often the best barometer of the strengths and weaknesses of the two divisions.

Tonight, there will be one of those meetings when the Bryant Hornets freshman team visits Conway White.

Bryant's Caleb Thomas and Benton's Zach Riley never really went head-to-head but, when they do, it should be a doozy of a race.

Running in separate heats at the annual Junior Hornets Relay, Riley clocked in at 11.17 and Thomas 11.23 in the 100 and wound up finishing first and second. In the 200, the same situation presented itself and Riley finished first at 23.72, Thomas second at 23.90.

By sheer volume of numbers of talented athletes, Conway White, Conway Blue and Lake Hamilton took top team honors at the meet held at Bryant Stadium on Monday, March 16. In boys competition, White finished with 123 points to Blue's 114 with Lake Hamilton third with 70. Bryant finished fifth with 60 points. The Bryant Middle School eighth grade team finished ninth with 24 while Bethel Middle School's eighth grade boys were 11th with nine points.

In the girls competition, Lake Hamilton got the better of it teamwise with 160 points. Conway White had 94, Conway Blue 63 with Bryant fourth just a point back with 62. The Bryant 8th grade team finished eighth with 30 points. The Bethel eighth grade was 12th with 10.

The Bryant Bands recently participated in the ASBOA Region V Concert Assessment held at Benton High School. The assessment consists of each band preparing three songs from an approved state list, then presenting a concert for a panel of three adjudicators. The adjudicators are judging based on the band's overall sound and performance etiquette. Although ultimately it is three people's opinions, the process is still a good reflection of what kind of teaching has been going on in that particular band program.

Each band is rated on a scale of one to five; one being a Superior rating and five equaling a very poor performance. From the three judges' ratings, a composite score is given to each band. After the concert, the band then goes into sightreading, where students and their director is given a composition no one has ever performed. Junior High bands have seven minutes to prepare the piece for performance, whereas High School bands have ten minutes. The bands are judged by one adjudicator for sightreading based on the same rating scale.