By Rob Patrick

Photos by Rick Nation and Kevin Nagle 

LITTLE ROCK — Tradition.

When the head football coach’s job at Bryant High School came open after the

By Rob Patrick

Photos by Rick Nation 

LITTLE ROCK — At one point in the 11th Salt Bowl and 38th renewal of the Bryant-Benton rivalry, there was a chance for the Benton Panthers to make it a game. Though the Hornets were on their way to their largest margin of victory (36 points) among their 13 wins in the series, there came just a glimmer that it might not be so easy.

The Panthers had used a rugby-style punt to pin the Hornets deep in their own end. A second down procedure penalty had backed them up from the 7 to just inside their own 3. And when they tried to go wide on the next play, sophomore running back Jalen Bell was tackled in the end zone for a safety.

Fired up, the Benton players dropped back for a free kick that Corey Dabney returned to midfield, the Panthers best field position of the night. Held to just two first downs to that point, Benton picked one up on a 13-yard scamper by quarterback Dylan Harris. After a short pass completion, however, running back Trevor Nix was cut down for a 3-yard loss. And, on third down, Harris was sacked by Bryant’s Matt Jones to bring up a punt situation.

By Martin Couch

A brief summary of each of the previous games in the series:

By Rob Patrick

LITTLE ROCK — There’s not much that’s sweeter, really.

With all the history and histrionics, the pranks at one another’s stadiums, a little trash talk, the hype — all the falderal — the very best part is the victory. To come out in front of a record 26,300 fans — about 2/3 from Bryant — and to dominate your arch-rival, it’s just very satisfying.

Such was the case for the Bryant Hornets on Friday, Sept. 4, when they opened the 2009 season against the Benton Panthers in the 10th annual Salt Bowl and the 37th renewal of their rivalry.

Two words:

Everybody played.

As part of the countdown to the 10th Salt Bowl, BryantDaily.com is featuring the game stories published in the Bryant Times about the first nine. Salt Bowl IX was drenched by the remnants of Hurricane Gustav. It was played on Aug. 26, 2008, at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock. There were two stories. — Rob

By ROB PATRICK

BRYANT TIMES

LITTLE ROCK — Call it having a nose for the football.

If there’s a football game being played in high winds and heavy rain, there are two things you can probably count on: The crowd ain’t gonna be as big and there will be fumbles.

There was actually talk that the 2008 Salt Bowl, the ninth edition of the designation and the 36th renewal of the rivalry between the Bryant Hornets and the Benton Panthers, might attract 30,000 fans to War Memorial Stadium, a record for high school football in the state. As it turned out, though, there might have been 1/10th of that on hand, braving the rugged conditions courtesy of the remains of Hurricane Gustav.

As part of the countdown to the 10th Salt Bowl, BryantDaily.com is featuring the game stories published in the Bryant Times about the first nine. New ones are posted each day. Salt Bowl VIII was played on Aug. 31, 2007, at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock. — Rob

By ROB PATRICK

BRYANT TIMES

LITTLE ROCK — And the trophy comes back home to Bryant.

Perhaps in the tumultuous days leading up to the 2007 Salt Bowl, the story of the 1978 Orange Bowl was told to the Benton Panthers — and maybe the Bryant Hornets too. Once upon a time, way back before they were born, there was this great team from Oklahoma with the Heisman Trophy winner and the Outland Trophy winner and lots and lots of talent. And there was this upstart team from Arkansas that started out as an underdog when the two teams were matched in the Orange Bowl but became even more so after Arkansas head coach Lou Holtz — you know, the old, skinny guy with the slight lisp that does college football analysis on TV (yes, he was a coach!) — suspended three starters . . . well, folks were expecting a laugher.

As part of the countdown to the 10th Salt Bowl, BryantDaily.com is featuring the game stories published in the Bryant Times about the first nine. New ones are posted each day. Salt Bowl VII was played on Aug. 29, 2006, at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock. — Rob

By ROB PATRICK

BRYANT TIMES

There was a press conference held at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock to promote this year’s Salt Bowl football game between the Saline County rivals, Bryant and Benton. Politicians were on hand, school administrators, representatives from both Chambers of Commerce, economic development folks and — oh yeah, players and coaches. And there was some of the Little Rock media, the focus of the event.

And it was a Bryant-Benton love fest, with all this talk about how well the people of the two towns work so well together while being oh-so-friendly rivals.

To anyone that knew better, it was difficult to keep a straight face. And when the two head football coaches, Bryant’s Paul Calley and Benton’s Marc Jones, took their turns at the podium they had a hard time keeping with the theme.

As part of the countdown to the 10th Salt Bowl, BryantDaily.com is featuring the game stories published in the Bryant Times about the first nine. New ones are posted each day. Salt Bowl VI marked the first and only time so far that Benton has taken the trophy home. It was played on Aug. 30, 2005, at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock. — Rob

By ROB PATRICK

BRYANT TIMES

LITTLE ROCK — When two evenly matched football teams get after it, the outcome often comes down to special teams play. And such was the case when the seventh-ranked Benton Panthers and the Bryant Hornets tangled at War Memorial Stadium on Tuesday, Aug. 30, in the season-opener for both teams.

Benton’s Nick Hendrix blocked a punt inside the Bryant 10 and Bryan Vick picked it up and scored what proved to be the winning touchdown as the Panthers ended a six-year drought against the Hornets, 14-7.

As part of the countdown to the 10th Salt Bowl, BryantDaily.com is featuring the game stories published in the Bryant Times about the first nine. New ones are posted each day. Salt Bowl V marked the return of the game to War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock where it has been played every year since. It also marked the first time the game was the season opener for both teams. It was played on Aug. 31, 2004. — Rob

By ROB PATRICK

BRYANT TIMES

LITTLE ROCK — There will be no controversy about the proper location for the Salt Bowl trophy this season. It’ll be in Bryant this year, all year, after the Hornets rode their hard-hitting, tough-in-a-pinch defense to a 10-2 victory over the arch-rival Benton Panthers on Tuesday, Aug. 31, at War Memorial Stadium.

After last year’s 34-34 tie at Benton, the Hornets figured that the trophy, given to the winner of the annual game since 1999, would stay where it had been, at Bryant High, since they were the last team to actually win. Benton protested, asserting that, because the game was a tie, Bryant should have the trophy for six months and Benton should have it for six months.

As part of the countdown to the 10th Salt Bowl, BryantDaily.com is featuring the game stories published in the Bryant Times about the first nine. New ones are posted each day. Salt Bowl IV was the first for the Hornets with Paul Calley as head coach and because the two schools were no longer in the same conference, there was no overtime. The game was back at C.W. Lewis Stadium in Benton and played on Sept. 12, 2003. — Rob

By ROB PATRICK

BRYANT TIMES

BENTON — The only people that didn’t leave C.W. Lewis Stadium frustrated Friday night were the ones that didn’t care which team won. And it’s hard to imagine many folks like that.But for those few, it had been a highly entertaining evening as the Bryant Hornets and the Benton Panthers compiled almost 1,000 yards of offense between them while battling to a 34-34 stalemate, the first tie in the 30-year history of their vicious rivalry.

Benton, trying to reverse a four-game losing streak in the series which the Panthers dominated for most of the first 25 years, held the upper hand for much of the game. But Bryant wouldn’t go away. Despite trailing 34-24 going into the fourth quarter, the Hornets rallied to tie with 10 points in the final four minutes of the game. Todd Bryan, who kicked a fourth-quarter field goal to beat Benton in 2002, knocked through a 33-yarder with 1:10 remaining to tie it.