Jr. Hornets close out season with romp at Greenbrier
EDITOR’S NOTE: Because the look back at each day in Bryant athletic history has been so favorably received during the time when there was no sports during the COVID-19 shutdown, BryantDaily.com will continueposting past stories of Bryant athletics either posted on BryantDaily.com (from 2009 to the present) or published in the Bryant Times (from 1998 to 2008).
By ROB PATRICK
BRYANT TIMES
GREENBRIER — The Bryant Hornets freshman football team may not have played for the Central Arkansas Junior High Conference championship but they made their statement for being the next thing to it when they clobbered the Greenbrier Junior Panthers 32-6 on Tuesday, Nov. 1.
The Hornets scored on five of their six offensive possessions in the game with Aspen Trevino setting a new team record for points in a season with three touchdowns, giving him 130 points on 21 touchdowns and a two-point conversion. The 32 points also gave the Hornets 291 for the season, another team record.
The Hornets amassed 370 yards of offense, moving the ball at will despite 12 penalties that cost them 109 yards. Trevino rushed for a season-high 208 yards on 18 carries to increase his record total for the season to 1,480. Along with Ethan Powell’s 150 yards passing on 11 of 16 attempts, the Hornets finished the season with 2,878 yards of total offense.
With a final 9-1 record, the team is just the third freshman squad to post that many wins at Bryant. Greenbrier came in 8-1 but was no match for the Hornets, managing a net of just 15 yards rushing. The Junior Panthers were forced to break their T-formation and double wing sets to spread the field and throw it. Jordan Duvall managed 96 yards on 8 of 14 passing with the lone Greenbrier touchdown. It was just the second touchdown the Hornets have surrendered in the last five games, snapping a streak that was extended to 13 quarters with the scoreless first period on Tuesday. Bryant allowed 6 or fewer points in eight of its 10 games this season.
“What a great year,” declared Hornets coach Jason Hay. “I knew before they started out it was going to be a special group. And you haven’t seen the best of these guys yet. There’s a good group in front of them, a good group behind them and these guys are something special. You haven’t seen the last of them, I promise you that.”
Though they missed out playing for the conference championship, the Hornets were fired up to start the game.
“There’s only two teams that had ever won nine games,” Hay noted. “We played that up. And it didn’t matter if we were going to win it all or not, when the lights are on, we’re going to play.”
The Hornets’ first touchdown came on a 62-yard drive in six plays as they blitzed down the field on the Powell’s strong right arm. The QB completed all five of his passes on the march including a 17-yarder for the points to Kaleb Jobe.
Two of Greenbrier’s first three plays lost yardage as Jeremy Jordan and Austin Humbard ruined a pitch sweep for a 4-yard setback, then Tad Drennan sacked Duvall for a loss of 9.
After Greenbrier punted, the Hornets got the ball at the Panthers’ 42 and Trevino went to work, dashing for runs of 22, 11 and 9 yards along the way. Powell, after his first miss, hit Ryan McKnight for 22 yards, helping to set up Trevino’s 2-yard plunge on the first play of the second quarter.
Austin Bradley, who was 3-for-3 on extra points, made it 14-0.
Greenbrier answered with a 67 yards touchdown drive, the first score in the first half, Bryant had allowed since the Sept. 29 game at Lake Hamilton. Duvall went 4-for-5 passing on the drive including the 8-yard touchdown strike to Tyler Hardin on a third-down play with 1:32 left in the half.
The extra point attempt was wide.
And the Panthers left too much time for the Hornets who drove to the 11, overcoming a 15-yard penalty in the process. The big play was a 37-yard completion from Powell to Jordan, who made a spectacular, sprawling finger-tip catch.
With time running out, Bradley came on to kick his first field goal of the season from 28 yards out, giving Bryant a 17-6 lead at the half.
Greenbrier made a bid for a scoring drive to start the second half, driving from its own 38 to the Bryant 21. But, on a third-and-4 there, the Panthers tried to run the option and the Hornets snuffed it out. Duvall was forced to pitch early and Jordan knifed through from his safety spot to nail running back Jason Hall for a loss of 9, as he barely hung onto the ball.
Greenbrier went for it on fourth down but Duvall made a bad pitch and, though he recovered the loose ball, Dylan Chism drilled him for a loss of 4.
Bryant took over at its 34 and marched to another score. Trevino had runs of 13, 7, 12 and 28 before powering in from 9 yards out.
Powell passed to Jordan for a two-point conversion to make it 25-6 as the third quarter concluded.
Trevino, the only Bryant starter left in the game, would cap the scoring with a 50-yard TD run with 2:28 left in the game, giving him and the team the scoring records.
