By Rob Patrick

There was a time — was it a long time ago or just yesterday? — when the football season at Bryant would conclude with the Benton Panthers’ annual drubbing of the Hornets and, before the scoreboard had been cleared, the bandbox of a fieldhouse was empty. Players and coaches threw on their camo and were headed to the woods for the start of deer season.

A lot of them, of course, still end up there but, these days, not so fast. These days, the players and coaches linger. There are hugs, even tears, particularly from the seniors who shed those pads and jerseys for the last time — most, for the last time ever.

EDITOR'S NOTE: This story about former Bryant Hornets kicker Travis Cockerham appeared in The Courier of Russellville a few weeks ago. The Wonder Boys conclude the regular season this Saturday, Nov. 7, at Harding in Searcy. Travis is the son of Tom and Brenda Cockerham of Bryant.

Saving His Best For Last

Travis Cockerham kicking his best during senior year — now he's punting, too

By Sean Ingram

sportseditor@couriernews.com

RUSSELLVILLE — Finally, things are going Travis Cockerham’s way. The senior kicker-punter is proof whether you’re facing adversity in the classroom, in your personal life or on the football field — never give up. Keep on fighting.

A year ago, all indications were Arkansas Tech University’s football team had some questions about its kicking game. All-American punter Michael Podobnik was called upon to hit short-range field goals and kick point-after touchdown (PAT) tries for the Wonder Boys, who return to Thone Stadium at Buerkle Field to face the Southern Arkansas Muleriders at 6 p.m. Saturday.

Head coach Steve Mullins said he talked with offensive coordinator Scott Preston when Tech was inside the 25 or so and didn’t say field goal but asked, “How can we get into the end zone or get a first down?”

By Rob Patrick

Granted, Chris Rycraw has not been the focus of every opponent’s defense quite to the extent that he was by the end of the 2008 season. By then, the Bryant Hornets had gone through three quarterbacks and Rycraw himself was taking as many snaps as the young sophomore QB. Everybody knew who was going to get it, they just didn’t know how he’d get it or where he was going. He still set school records in rushing attempts (284), rushing yardage (1,514) in a season and touchdowns (17) in the Hornets’ 12 games.

Of course, that’s not to say that every defense the Hornets have come up against this season hasn’t made their priority slowing down Rycraw. They certainly have. Even with quarterback Jimi Easterling passing for 1,000 yards and 11 touchdowns, it was everybody’s aim to try to get Rycraw. And all he’s done is go out and match his production from last season in 54 fewer carries.

With 173 yards and two touchdowns on 23 totes in Thursday’s 34-0 win over the sadly hapless Little Rock Central Tigers, the senior running back has, unofficially, 1,517 yards and 17 touchdowns on the ground (and another on a pass reception) to reset his own school standards.

 By Rob Patrick

It somehow seems appropriate that tonight when the Little Rock Central Tigers play the Bryant Hornets at Bryant Stadium, they’ll play old-school: A little grass, a little dirt, a little mud.

The game marks the end of the regular season for both teams but the Hornets will be playing on next week at home in the first round of the Class 7A State playoffs.

The Tigers, meanwhile, will pack the pads away and, more than that, their head coach Bernie Cox will hang up his whistle after 44 yards in the biz. Back in 1965, every game was played on grass, dirt and mud.

Cox has earned his retirement. As the head coach at Central since 1975, he’s led the Tigers to seven State championships including back-to-back crowns as recently as 2003-2004, to go with 17 conference titles and 20 playoff appearances.

But those heady days are past. Tonight, the Tigers will be trying to avoid a second consecutive 0-10 season and a 21-game losing streak.

By Rob Patrick

So, will the Bryant Hornets be battling Cabot, North Little Rock and Russellville for a 7A-Central Conference championship down the stretch or will they be battling Conway and Little Rock Catholic and a couple of the teams in that first group for playoff seeding?

Tonight’s game at Conway will go a long way to determining Bryant’s fate in that regard.

If they beat Conway, they’ll go into games against Cabot and North Little Rock with a chance to lay claim to a title. But a loss to the Wampus Cats and the margin for error the next two weeks would be nil.

(League-leading Cabot (3-0), for example, has only two real tests left, at Bryant on Oct. 23, and at Russellville on Nov. 5. Same for North Little Rock with Bryant on Oct. 30 and Catholic tonight.)

And the Hornets have had their struggles in Faulkner County. In fact, their 17-6 in 2007 was just their second at Conway. The other was in 1999. Bryant lost their 27-22 in 2005 and 37-24 in 2003.

By Rob Patrick

It wouldn’t really be right to call it a revenge game. Bryant head coach Paul Calley will tell you, his team’s loss to the Russellville Cyclones in 2008 was as much on him and his team as anything. He also gives kudos to the Cyclones for taking advantage and turning a 13-0 deficit with two minutes left in the game into a 14-13 win.

Still, the Hornets that are back for the 2009 season would like nothing better than to make up for that.

Bryant comes into the game off to their best start since the unbeaten 1999 season. They are 5-0 and 2-0 in the 7A-Central Conference.

Russellville is 3-1-1 and 1-1.

Two things are pretty certain: They’ll be playing in the mud, Russellville’s kicker Zach Hocker will be impressive and so will Bryant’s running back Chris Rycraw.

Bryant and Russellville are the only two Class 7A schools that don’t have artificial turf on their respective fields. The Hornets’ field was already chewed up and saturated before the most recent bout of storms. As messy as it was when Little Rock Catholic came to Bryant two weeks ago, Calley says it’s much worse now.

(But there’s no truth to the rumor that the players would be decked out in hip-boots.)

By Rob Patrick

VAN BUREN — There’s certainly a lot more work to do but the parallels between the 1999 Bryant Hornets and the 2009 Bryant Hornets are beginning to accumulate.

For only the second time since complete results have been recorded, starting in 1971, the Hornets have started the season 5-0.

The only other time was 1999 when the Hornets went unbeaten through the 10-game regular-season schedule and added a playoff win to make it 11-0 before Fort Smith Northside ended the unbeaten streak in the second round.

The 2009 team notched that fifth win on Friday, Oct. 2, by becoming the first team since 1999 to have eclipsed the 50-point level in a 52-20 thumping of the Van Buren Pointers. The ’99 Hornets scored 55 on Pine Bluff and, in 1964, a Bryant team put up 59 against Magnet Cove.

By Rob Patrick

A week ago, because of their previous schedule, the Bryant Hornets were underdogs to the 4th-rankedLittle Rock Catholic Rockets despite playing at home. But the Hornets forged a 21-13 victory.

This week, because of their previous schedule, the Van Buren Pointers are underdogs to the newly 4th-ranked Bryant Hornets despite playing at home.

The Hornets, no doubt, hope to avoid the fate suffered by Rockets. But, with the emotion of that game behind them and a grudge match against Russellville ahead of them, there is a danger.

Couple that with the fact that the Pointers are coming off their first win of the season, 28-24, at Little Rock Central and Van Buren’s success passing the ball last year at Bryant and it could get a little intense.

The fact of the matter is, there’s one more thing that this game has in common with Bryant’s previous out: A share of first place in the 7A-Central Conference is on the line.

By Rob Patrick

Less than an hour after his football team had recorded its third lopsided victory in as many games this season, Bryant Hornets head football coach was worried.

Yes, his team had pounded the Texarkana Razorbacks, 43-14, but the Hogs had been without their star quarterback Kierra Harris because of strep throat. Their leading rusher and passer was replaced by a sophomore, Elgie Richards, who was making his high school debut. It left Texarkana pretty limited on offense and, though the defense was intact, the Hornets took advantage of a short field on offense and scored twice on interception returns.

Of course, the Hornets know all about trying to get by without your starting quarterback. They went through three, all lost to injuries, during the 2008 season but still found a way to post eight wins.

By Rob Patrick

The Bryant Hornets’ 17-14 win at Texarkana last season was just the third time in 22 meetings dating back to 1981 that that occurred. The other two were Bryant wins in the series have interesting stories behind them.

The first time Bryant ever beat Texarkana, the Hornets won one for the gipper, sotospeak. It was 1992 and Hornets head coach (now athletic director) Tom Farmer was laid up in the hospital with an ailing back. His Hornets went to Texarkana and pulled out a 21-20 win in overtime. At the time, they had a chance to make the Class AAAA State playoffs but, the next week, a 32-7 loss to the rival Benton Panthers spoiled that.

The Hornets didn’t beat the Razorbacks again until 1999. Again, at Texarkana, the Hornets, on their way to an unbeaten regular season, took a big step toward their first conference championship with a 17-14 win. It improved them to 9-0 and, the next week at Benton, with fans hanging from the treetops and roofs of nearby buildings, Bryant beat their arch-rival for the first time in 13 years to make it 10-0.

Tonight, when the Razorbacks visit Bryant, that 1999 team will be honored before the game with a reception in the BHS fieldhouse and a ceremony on the field at halftime.

Meanwhile, the 2009 Hornets will be trying to post Bryant’s first-ever home win over a Texarkana team.