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.[more]
And there’s pain; genuine heartache.
Another thing about these days: The end comes in the post-season. In fact, that’s been the case nine years in a row and 10 of the last 11.
That means, when the end comes these days, the curtain also comes down on hopes and dreams for that elusive deep playoff run and a chance for State championship glory.
My, they’ve come a long way.
In 2009, the Hornets’ splendid 8-2 season concluded at the hands of the Fort Smith Southside Rebels who erased a 21-7 halftime deficit with a 21-point third quarter on the way to a 35-24 victory.
Southside, which improved to 7-4 on the season, advances to the second round against 7A-West rival Bentonville, the defending State champion, a team that is 9-1 this season and ranked No. 1 in the state. But that lone loss came at the hands of the Rebels.
Southside has been one of the most successful playoff teams over the last 20 years. They’ve recorded almost 50 playoff wins in that time and State championships too including a recently as 2006. There is a sense of ease that those experiences bring to the team when it gets to the post-season that gets passed from group to group.
Bryant has built that kind of experience and confidence for the regular season, more often than not over-achieving with strategy, discipline and hard work. The playoffs, for most of the 7A-Central teams, in fact, have been a different story and it has as much to do with peripheral factors as anything, smaller coaching staffs, less developmental practice time with younger players, smaller pools of talent to pull from, and on and on.
As head coach Paul Calley said before the game, drawing Southside in the first round was probably the toughest match-up the Hornets could’ve been assigned. And it was, not only because of the Rebels' prowess on defense against the run.
Playoff pressure too effects teams and players in different ways. Sometimes it makes them draw back a bit, play less aggressively. Other times, they get anxious and try to make the big play instead of the solid play, taking risks not ordinarily taken. Either way, it can lead to mistakes that they don’t usually make. The latter dogged the Hornets in the second half on Friday.
And those uncharacteristic mistakes by the Hornets fueled Southside’s second-half surge. The Hornets came into the game with only 10 turnovers in 10 games and three of those had come in a 29-7 loss to North Little Rock.
But the Hornets wound up turning the ball over three times in just the second half and the Rebels took advantage. Two of those turned into the touchdowns that tied the game before the third quarter was half over. The third, an interception, ended the Hornets’ last gasp at a comeback.
With the 14-point margin intact, the Hornets’ defense forced the Rebels to punt on the first possession of the second half. Bryant was about to get the ball back with their lead and the momentum re-established after they scored late in the first half.
Now, Southside punter Leo Gallo dropped back to punt three times in the game and twice a high snap cost the Rebels big yardage. The first time it led to a Bryant touchdown. The third time a high snap gave the Hornets’ faint hopes a sudden spark late in the game.
This time, however, Gallo got a decent snap and got the punt away. And it was a boomer. Bryant return man Logan Garland had to give ground to try to field it and wound up trying to catch the ball over his shoulder at about the 8, a tough thing to do on any part of the field.
And when he couldn’t haul it in cleanly, Southside pounced on the ball at the 5.
Bryant’s defense made a valiant effort at a goal-line stand but, on a third-and-goal at the 1, Hollis just barely got in.
Hunter Mayall, though, blocked the extra point and a little of that momentum swung back Bryant’s way.
On the ensuing kickoff, Southside, however, hauled down Tanner Tolbert at the 16 and a first-play run by Chris Rycraw lost 4 yards. Two plays later, quarterback Jimi Easterling tried the throw down the middle only to have Southside’s Layne Smith intercept and return to the 17.
Given the short field, the Rebels scored again. Sophomore running back Julius Jones covered the yardage on one run. And when the Rebels ran a reverse for a two-point conversion, the game was tied.
But the Hornets still had a plenty of time to turn the tide. And they did just that, but not to the extent they would’ve liked.
Driving from their own 20, the Hornets marched to the Southside 7 behind Rycraw’s slashing runs and a pair of key pass completions from Easterling to Brandon Parish. A late hit out of bounds on one of Rycraw’s runs didn’t hurt either.
Rycraw had slashed to the 7 on a 4-yard run in the bash set. On third-and-1, the Hornets deployed in the same alignment with Rycraw joined in the backfield by linemen Brett Clemons and Steven Lacamu. But this time, the Hornets tried a little trickery that fell flat. Rycraw took the snap and tried to slip the ball to Arnold. The exchange wasn’t clean and, though he was able to cover the loose ball, Arnold was hauled down at the 12.
Bryant settled for a 29-yard field goal by Jace Denker to take a 24-21 lead that didn’t last 30 seconds.
After Anderson returned the ensuing kickoff to the Southside 34, Jones, a 5-8, 185-pound sophomore, broke a run up the middle for 66 yards and a touchdown that put the Rebels ahead for the first time in the game.
In fact, it was just the fourth game all year in which the Hornets had found themselves trailing. They fell behind Little Rock Catholic 7-0 but that was early in a game they wound up winning 21-13. The other two times, however, came against Russellville and North Little Rock, the only two teams that had beaten them during the regular season.
So the Hornets didn’t have much experience, let along success, with comebacks.
They picked up a first down on the subsequent possession, thanks to a 20-yard run by Rycraw. But, moments later, at their own 49, a third-down pass from Easterling intended for tight end Josh Hampton fell incomplete on a low throw and Bryant had to punt.
Tolbert’s kick was caught back at the 12. Taylor Hudson returned to the 23. After picking up a first down on the running of Jones and Lee Hollis, Jones broke a 22-yard run to the Bryant 38. The Hornets’ defense made a bid at a stand there, forcing a third-and-9 after Kendrick Farr knocked down a long pass just as it got to the receiver. Southside quarterback Hunter Whorton came through with a 16-yard completion to Tyler Falleur to keep the drive going.
With runs of 3 and 12 yards, Jones, who rushed 19 times for 178 yards, got it to the 6 where, on a first-and-goal, taking advantage of a hold which everyone saw but the officials and that helped him get him around Bryant linebacker Trey Sowell, he skirted left end for the back-breaking touchdown with 6:06 left to play.
On a must-score drive, Easterling completed an 18-yard pass to Parish, augmented by a roughing the passer penalty. From the Southside 47, however, they stalled. Going for it on fourth down, Easterling was sacked by Daniel Berry and the Rebels took over on downs.
The Hornets forced a punt and got great field position at the Southside 37 after the second bad snap but they only had 1:40 to work with. On first down, Easterling’s pass down the left sideline was intercepted by Jerry Reynolds to secure the win for the Rebels.
The rugged second half came after a first half in which the Hornets took advantage of Southside mistakes. The Rebels’ first possession of the game appeared to end with a touchdown only to have the play called back due to a procedure penalty. They wound trying a 49-yard field goal which was short.
Bryant took over on its 20 and drove for the game’s first score. Rycraw set up the score with a 24-yard run, took a pitch from Easterling, drew the defense, then tossed a touchdown pass to Garland who made a sparkling finger-tip catch on the run into the end zone.
Jace Denker kicked the PAT to make it 7-0.
The Hornets forced a three-and-out by the Rebels and the first bad snap resulted in the Hornets gaining possession at the Reb’s 2. Rycraw scored from there and Denker kicked it the 14-0 with 1:21 left in the first quarter.
That was the 18th rushing touchdown of the season for the Bryant running back who re-wrote the program’s rushing records during his career. Against Southside he finished with 134 yards on 31 carries to increase his single-season mark to 1,651 yards and his career total to 3,244 yards.
Southside answered the short Bryant TD drive with a 68-yard scoring drive. The Hornets made a bid at a stand at the 33 where two plays netted nothing. On third-and-10, Whorton fired a pass to Thomas Mears that went for a touchdown. Gallo’s extra point made it 14-7.
After a blocking penalty sidetracked the subsequent Bryant possession, the Rebels appeared to be on their way to a tying score, driving from their own 16 to the Bryant 12. A 38-yard pass from Whorton to Falleur that threaded the needle between a pair of Hornets in tight coverage was the big play of the drive. But, on second-and-3 at the 12, Hollis was separated from the ball and Ronnie Maxwell recovered for the Hornets.
And Bryant took advantage with an impressive 91-yard drive to another score. Rycraw converted the first third-down situation with an 18-yard burst. Later, he was able to fight a tackler and fall forward to get just enough to convert a third-and-2 from the 41.
A third third-down was converted on a 14-yard connection between Easterling and Parish. A roughing the passer penalty added 15 yards to the 25.
Easterling scrambled to the 15 and, on the next play, Arnold, running from the fullback spot, snuck through a hole and nearly scored. He was, however, brought down at the 3. A play later, Easterling snuck it in with 0:25.3 left in the first half.
Parish wound up catching seven of Easterling’s eight completions in the game. Easterling wound up 8 of 16 for 74 yards but with the two picks after he’d only thrown five interceptions in the 10-game regular season.
Safety Stanley Oxner led the Hornets with nine tackles including five unassisted. Ronnie Maxwell and Sammill Watson were each in on seven stops. Sowell was in on five.
The Hornets finish the season 8-3. It’s the fourth season in a row they’ve won eight games. The 2009 seniors matched the seniors of 2008 with the most victories by a class with 24.
FS SOUTHSIDE 35, BRYANT 24
Score by quarters
FS Southside 0 7 21 7 — 35
BRYANT 14 7 3 0 — 24
Scoring summary
First quarter
BRYANT — Garland 27 pass from Rycraw (Denker kick), 2:23
BRYANT — Rycraw 2 run (Denker kick), 1:21
Second quarter
FS SOUTHSIDE — Mears 33 pass from Whorton (Gallo kick), 11:52
BRYANT — Easterling 1 run (Denker kick), 0:25.3
Third quarter
FS SOUTHSIDE — Hollis 1 run (kick blocked), 7:52
FS SOUTHSIDE — Jones 17 run (Anderson run), 6:35
BRYANT — Denker 29 field goal, 0:29.6
FS SOUTHSIDE — Jones 66 run (Gallo kick), 0:12.2
Fourth quarter
FS SOUTHSIDE — Jones 6 run (Gallo kick), 6:06
Team stats
Southside BRYANT
First downs 15 17
Rushes-yds 43-200 42-160
Passing 4-10-0 9-17-2
Passing yds 92 101
Punts-avg. 1-49.0 3-34.0
Fumbles-lost 2-2 3-1
Penalties-yds 5-55 4-37
INDIVIDUAL STATS
Rushing: BRYANT, Rycraw 31-134, Arnold 5-21, Easterling 5-3, Tolbert 1-2; FS SOUTHSIDE, Jones 19-178, Hollis 17-66, Whorton 4-6, Falleur 1-3, Gallo 2-(-53).
Passing (C-A-I-Y): BRYANT, Easterling 8-16-2-74, Rycraw 1-1-0-27; FS SOUTHSIDE, Whorton 4-10-0-92.
Receiving: BRYANT, Parish 7-81, Garland 1-27, Rycraw 1-(-7); FS SOUTHSIDE, Falleur 3-59, Mears 1-33.
Everette Hatcher
Great job by the Hornet players and coaches for 2009. The Bryant Hornet football program is respected state-wide for such great wins over #1 ranked teams (99 over Eldorado, 2002 over Conway with Peyton Hillis and Company, 2004 over Central, and this year a mercy rule victory over Cabot). This four squads 1999, 2002, 2004 and this year’s 2009 Hornets all showed what great team work could accomplish and I am sure that next year’s squad will continue with that great teamwork.
With such great success in the past, we know that state title will be coming in the future and it may come when you least expect it. I think of the build up given to the Tennessee Vols team in 1997 when Peyton Manning had chosen not to go pro but to come back for his senior year. Most people figured it was time for UT to finally beat Florida and go on to claim the National Championship. However, they lost to Florida again and the 1998 campaign started off with lower expectations. Then when no one expected it the 1998 team started off 8-0 and ranked #1 but that all seemed to come to an end when it seemed Arkansas was going to run out the clock with a 24-21 lead and then we know the rest of the story. I really believe when we least expect it we will have that State Championship and it will be when we get the breaks down the stretch too. Keep your heads up hornets your hard work has brought much success and with that great attitude the future is very bright.