File photo by Kevin Nagle
It was going to be a rematch either way but with the Fayetteville Bulldogs defeating the Cabot Panthers, 44-14, the top-ranked and defending State champion Bryant Hornets will host Fayetteville, the 4 seed from the 7A-West Conference on Friday, Nov. 22, in the quarterfinals of the 2019 Class 7A State playoffs.
The unbeaten Hornets invoked the mercy rule on nine of their 10 opponents during the regular season including both the Panthers (55-10 in week 8) and the Bulldogs (42-13 in week 3) at Fayetteville. This time they’ll square off in Bryant.
In the first game, the Hornets built a 21-0 lead by the end of the first quarter and held a 35-6 lead at the half as Ahmad Adams rushed for 178 yards and three touchdowns.
A two-play drive to start the second half made it a mercy-rule game with quarterback Austin Ledbetter completing a 60-yard touchdown pass to Myles Aldridge less than a minute into the third quarter as the lead ballooned to 42-6.
Go here for the game story.
The home teams won all of the first-round games. From the Central Conference, Conway blasted Rogers, 63-21, and Little Rock Catholic rallied past Van Buren, 35-27. From the West, along with Fayetteville, Springdale Har-Ber eked out a 16-10 win over Little Rock Central.
The Hornets have defeated all of the remaining playoff teams except unbeaten Bentonville, which will host Catholic next week, and Har-Ber, which will visit North Little Rock.
CLASS 7A STATE PLAYOFFS
2019 bracket
Friday, Nov. 15
Game 2 — LR Catholic (6-4) (Central 4) 35, Van Buren (6-4) (West 5) 27
Game 4 — Springdale Har-Ber (7-3) (West 3) 16, Little Rock Central (6-4) (Central 6) 10
Game 6 — Fayetteville (5-5) (West 4) 44, Cabot (6-4) (Central 5) 14
Game 8 — Conway (7-3) (Central 3) 63, Rogers (2-8) (West 6) 21
Friday, Nov. 22
Game 9 — LR Catholic (7-4) at Bentonville (10-0) (West 1)
Game 10 — Springdale Har-Ber (8-3) at North Little Rock (6-4) (Central 2)
Game 11 — Fayetteville (6-5) at Bryant (10-0) (Central 1)
Game 12 — Conway (8-3) at Bentonville West (6-4) (West 2)
Friday, Nov. 29
Game 13 — Game 9 winner vs. game 10 winner
Game 14 — Game 11 winner vs. game 12 winner
Friday, Dec. 6
State championship game, War Memorial Stadium, Little Rock
Game 15 — Game 13 winner vs. game 14 winner, 7 p.m.
