For more photos of this event by Rick Nation, go here
By Rob Patrick
Daizure Hale (22) tries to take advantage of blocks from Pierce Kinley (14) and Gavin Burton (4). (Photo by Rick Nation)
CABOT — The Bryant White Hornets eighth grade team of Bryant Middle School had it going early in their season debut against the Cabot North Panthers on Thursday night.
On the first play of the game, running back Daizure Hale tore off a 9-yard run. Quarterback Pierce Kinley hit Cameron Booth on a 17-yard pass completion and followed up with a 23-yard strike to Dylan Haynes that reached the Panthers’ 14. Robert Hendrix picked up 4 to the 10 and they Hornets seemed destined for the end zone.
But a procedure penalty knocked them off stride and they couldn’t recover. And they never got that close to scoring again.
Bryant White’s Turner Seelinger (52) draws a bead on a Cabot North running back. (Photo by Rick Nation)
Cabot North wound up scoring right before the end of each half on the way to a 16-0 victory.
That opening drive for Bryant White ended with a pass into the end zone on a fourth-and-9 from the 13 that was intercepted by Caleb Perkins.
Initially, the Hornets’ defense bent but did not break. The Panthers, in their time-consuming, grind-it-out Dead T offense drove from their own 20 to the Bryant White 17 where, on a fourth-and-1, the Hornets held and took over on downs.
And the second series started well with a 12-yard run by Hale. But, a play later, the blitzing Cabot North defense dropped him for a 14-yard loss and that led to a Bryant punt.
Bryant White head coach Josh Fonville talks to his team after Thursday’s game at Cabot North. (Photo by Rick Nation)
Bryant got a break when Matthew Oldham broke a 65-yard run to the Hornets’ 3 only to have a big chunk of it negated by a downfield holding penalty. After that, it took time for the Panthers to plow their way back to the Bryant 33. Facing a third-and-8 there, they took a timeout with :26 left. They came back to the field with their only pass play of the night. Oldham got behind the Hornet secondary for a 33-yard touchdown then ran in the two-point conversion with just :17.7 showing on the clock.
The defenses played well in the second half. The Hornets forced turnovers on Cabot North’s first two drives with Will Diggins recovering both.
Quarterback Pierce Kinley looks downfield for an open receiver. (Photo by Rick Nation)
But Bryant White could manage only one first down in the half and it came on a face mask penalty that negated a sack of Kinley who had to come out of the game. With Gavin Burton at quarterback, the Panthers got to him for a loss of 5 to the 50 to end the third quarter.
Flushed out of the pocket on a second-and-15 to open the fourth quarter, Kinley, who had returned, was picked off by Cabot North’s Chandler Carter.
After Diggins’ second fumble recovery, the Hornets had possession at their own 46 but lost 6 yards on a first down run by Hale. Kinley came back with a 13-yard completion to Booth but a third-down run was stopped short of the first down at the Cabot 46 and, after a timeout, Kinley, again with the Panthers’ rush bearing down on him, threw incomplete with 2:04 left in the game.
It figured that Cabot North would run out the rest of the clock but an injury and a pair of penalties gave the Hornets’ hope of getting the ball back with some time left. The Panthers faced a second-and-14 at their own 43. Quarterback James Fitch trying to keep the ball around the left side was hit twice in the backfield, only to escape. He wound up breaking a 57-yard run for a clinching touchdown with 1:00 left on the clock. Oldham added a run for two to make it 16-0.
Hale returned a short kickoff to the Bryant White 47 but the Hornets only had time for two snaps and both were thwarted by the Panthers to end the game.
Bryant White will return to action on Tuesday, Sept. 12, when they host Little Rock Horace Mann.
