By Rob Patrick

The Bryant Blue (Bethel) Hornets eighth grade team scored on six of their eight possessions as they rolled to a 46-6 thumping of the Rose City Chiefs on the muddy field at Bryant Stadium Thursday night.

Quarterback Dakota Besancon hit 6 of 9 passes for 108 yards and a pair of touchdowns, both to Davis Nossaman who had four grabs altogether for 94 yards.

Running back Bryce Denker rushed just eight times for 84 yards and two scores. Reserves Blake Nesbitt and Matt Mears also ran for touchdowns.

Bryant held Rose City to a net of 85 yards of offense with 54 of that coming on runs of 21 yards by quarterback Markevius Williams and 33 yards by running back Jamal Doss.

By Rob Patrick

CONWAY — Bryant Blue’s Davis Nossaman and Jacob Irby knocked Conway Courtway’s Quenton Wyrick out of bounds at the 1-yard line to spoil a 2-point conversion attempt with 1:16 left to play on Thursday night. The play saved the Hornets’ 14-12 victory over the Kittens in the eighth-grade game at Centennial Bank Field at John McConnell Stadium.

The Blue team (from Bethel Middle School) improved to 4-1 on the season with the victory.

FOUNTAIN LAKE — The Bryant Hornets won two of their five games at a 7-on-7 football competition at Fountain Lake on Saturday. The three losses were by a total of 8 points.

The Hornets will play a league 7-on-7 football competition at North Little Rock on July 20 with games against Augusta, Little Rock Central, North Little Rock and Morrilton to wrap up the summer. Fall practice begins Monday, Aug. 3.

Bryant opened with a 16-14 loss to Hot Springs Lakeside then dropped a 22-20 loss to Lake Hamilton when a last-second touchdown pass from Jimi Easterling to Caleb Thomas was waved off when it was ruled the snap came after the buzzer ending the game. After a 13-9 loss to Pulaski Academy, Bryant pounded the host team 37-7 then knocked Conway out of a championship final with a 20-14 win.

The Bryant Hornets defense returned to the form it had shown last week, much to the frustration of the Bryant offense, in a scrimmage held on Wednesday as spring football workouts in pads continued.

The Hornet D had looked a little sluggish in Monday's scrimmage but proved tough to block again on Wednesday.

"I thought we played with a little more intensity today," acknowledged Hornets defensive coordinator Steve Griffith. "I think part of that just had to do with really we were only going six or seven plays at a time so I think the kids cut loose and got after it pretty good.

"I thought our pass rush was a little bit better and we were moving to the football as a group a whole lot better," he continued. "And when we did get guys held up, we had other guys rallying to the football as a group which we really hadn't done very well on Monday."

The majority of the scrimmage involved the younger players but, after a light day on Thursday, most of the work in Friday's scrimmage will go to the first- and second-team guys.

Bryant senior Tim Ezel and junior Tyler Salminen have been named all-conference by the 7A-Central Conference soccer coaches.

Junior Devon Norris was tabbed for all-conference honorable mention.

"Tim was a great defender for us this year," said Hornets soccer coach Jason Hay. "His long throw-ins were a big help this year. He was a very physical player and he'll be very hard to replace.

Of Salminen, Hay said, "Tyler was the best ball-handler of our defensive back. He is very comfortable with the ball. He made some good saves and good decisions all year."

Norris started as the Hornets goal-keeper for the second year."He's a great leader and a solid keeper," Hay commented. "Devon had a bunch of saves that kept us in games.

"It'll be great to have Tyler and Devon back next year," he added.

By Rob Patrick

BRYANT, Ark. — Junior center fielder Garrett Bock played as long as he could despite a painful hip that doctors had told him wouldn't get any worse if he played, as long as he could stand the pain. A chronic problem over the years, the hip will need surgery whenever it can be scheduled.

Bock played his last game of the season on Saturday, April 18, at Sheridan.

On Monday, the starting designated hitter was a sophomore, Chris Joiner, who had earned the chance with his play during junior varsity games this season. Joiner went 1-for-3 in his varsity debut against Watson Chapel, a non-conference foe. His second start came on Tuesday in a league game against Cabot. Hopes for at least a share of the 7A-Central Conference championship were hanging in the balance for both teams. Bryant came in 8-4 in league play, atop the standings thanks to Cabot's 7-2 win over North Little Rock on Monday. The Panthers were only a game behind Bryant, North Little Rock (7-4) and Conway (7-4) in the loss column and, after knocking off the Charging Wildcats, had designs on pulling even with Bryant with a win.

And, going into the bottom of the sixth inning, the Panthers held a 5-3 lead.

Bryant, of course, has proven this season its never out of a game and this was no exception. In the home sixth, Brennan Bullock, who has shown a knack for starting comebacks, slapped a 3-2 pitch from Cabot starter Andrew Reynolds into right field for a base hit to get things started. An out later, Brady Butler looped a liner to right for a base hit.

Reynolds got the second out, retiring hot-hitting Caleb Garrett on a pop to third. And that brought up Joiner in a key spot. If he could get on, the middle of the Hornets lineup, Hunter Mayall, Kaleb Jobe and Tyler Sawyer — all hitting over .400 this season — would be coming up with ducks on the pond.

Reynolds got a couple of strikes in on Joiner who also took a couple of pitches off the plate. On a 2-2 delivery, Joiner just barely got a piece to stay alive. Ball three followed then he coolly took ball four. 

That proved to be the key at-bat in Bryant's come-from-behind 6-5 win which kept them in first place and a win away from at least a share of the league title and a first-round bye in the Class 7A State Tournament (whether seeded first or second). That one win will have to come in the conference finale at North Little Rock, a team Bryant lost to 11-4 earlier in the season. A loss and they could finish as low as third and miss out on the first round bye.

By Rob Patrick

CONWAY, Ark. — In 20 games this season, Bryant Hornets pitchers had surrendered just five home runs but three of them were hit by the Conway Wampus Cats. Those came in the wild contest between the two rivals on March 17 in which Conway scored five times in the top of the eighth to take a 9-4 lead and Bryant scored six in the bottom of the inning to win, 10-9.

In fact, the Hornets hadn't given up the long ball since then going into Thursday's return engagement at The Field at Conway High School.

The Wampus Cats broke that streak with a pair of long balls. And this time, right-hander B.J. Lowe, aided by some improved defense, made them stand up for a 4-1 win.

The Hornets came into the game in first place in the 7A-Central Conference. With North Little Rock's 10-0 victory over Little Rock Catholic, the Charging Wildcats, 7-3, pull even with the Hornets (8-4) but lead on the loss side. Conway improved to 7-4 followed by Catholic (6-5), Van Buren (5-5 after a 7-0 win over Russellville), LR Central (6-6), Cabot (4-6) and Russellville (1-11).

Bryant plays Cabot and North Little Rock in its final two conference games next week as they vie for one of the top two spots in the league and the first-round bye that goes with them at the Class 7A State Tournament.

Despite Thursday's loss, they officially clinched a bid to the State Tournament thanks to Cabot's 3-2 win over Little Rock Central. 

SHERWOOD, Ark. – Bryant's Amie Hubbard slugged a solo home run, her four the of the season, to help the Arkansas Razorbacks softball team to a 6-2 victory over Centenary at the Sherwood Sports Complex on Wednesday, April 15.

Hubbard, who helped the Bryant Lady Hornets reach the Class 7A State finals her senior season in 2005, also walked and scored in the game. She contributed a sacrifice bunt as well.

In addition, Kayla Johnson ascended to the top of Arkansas’ all-time runs scored list. The senior infielder finished the night 3-for-3 with two RBI and two runs scored. In the circle, Miranda Dixon improved to 16-6 with a complete-game performance. The Razorbacks improve to 7-0 all-time in games played in Sherwood.

By Rob Patrick

BRYANT, Ark. — The Bryant Hornets baseball team won its 15th game on Tuesday, a 4-3 squeaker against the Russellville Cyclones.

Now, if you count back, you might not come up with that figure. But Bryant head coach Kirk Bock was notified on Tuesday that his junior varsity's game against the Bauxite Miners on March 9 was reported to the Arkansas Activities Association as a varsity game by the Miners. Thus the game counts as a varsity game for the Hornets.

Before that became known, Bock, in his first year in Bryant, was seeking his 400th career victory when his team hosted Russellville. But with the addition of the Bauxite contest, a 12-7 Bryant win by the JV, Bock recorded his 401st victory as a high school coach.

As it turns out, his 400th came on Thursday, April 9, against Van Buren, the school where he started his career and spent six years before taking over at Harrison. He coached the Goblins for nine years before coming to Bryant. 

JONESBORO — An early red card in their second round game at the Northeast Arkansas Invitational left the Bryant Hornets short-handed against the Searcy Lions on Saturday. Though they battled to a scoreless tie the rest of the half, the Hornets were victimized by three Searcy goals in the second half that proved decisive.

Searcy went on to win the tournament championship with a 1-0 win over North Little Rock.

The Hornets came back to play the host Jonesboro team in the third-place game and the two teams dueled without a goal until the Hurricane managed to get shot from around the 18 to go in with about five minutes to go to forge the 1-0 victory.

Bryant had opened the tournament with a 3-0 win over Bolton, Tenn., to snap a four-game losing streak.

The Hornets 7-10 overall this season, commence an important week of 7A-Central Conference action when they host Cabot on Tuesday, April 14. On Thursday, April 16, they’ll travel to North Little Rock in hopes of duplicating their 3-1 win over the Charging Wildcats on March 17.

Bryant and Cabot have yet to play this season due to a rainout on March 12. They’ll play again in Cabot to finish the regular season on Thursday, April 23.