Akers’ passing sparks Hornets to overwhelming win over Rockets
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
Photos by Kevin Nagle and Rick Nation
Bryant Hornets freshman quarterback Wesley Akers completed his first six passes Thursday night against the Little Rock Catholic Junior Rockets. He missed one then he completed another six in a row as he went 12 of 13 for 154 yards and two touchdowns in just the first half.
Madre London rushed for three scores and the Hornets scored on all seven of its possessions, producing a 49-7 romp over the Rockets.[more]
The win improves Bryant to 6-1 on the season going into a trip to Cabot North on Thursday, Oct. 21.
Akers finished the game going 14 of 17 for 177 yards to seven different receivers. He also rushed for a touchdown. Both of his scoring strikes went to Austin Miller (five catches, 97 yards) and both covered 34 yards.
The Hornets defense forced three turnovers and limited the Rockets to 126 yards of total offense, 45 of which came on one play. Catholic’s lone touchdown came on an 18-yard run by Joe Mariani midway through the second quarter.
By then, the Hornets had built a 21-0 lead. They got the ball to start the game off the Rockets’ unsuccessful onside kick. London slashed for 16 yards on the first play. Starting with a second-and-9 at the Rockets’ 30, Akers connected with Miller twice for 10 and 7 yards, respectively. His 5-yard completion to Luke Howard got the ball to the 8 and, from there, London slashed into the end zone.
Bryce Denker, who was good on all seven extra points, made it 7-0.
Catholic’s first possession came to an end when a third-down pass by quarterback Zachary Pinter was intercepted by Greyson Giles at the 34. He returned it to the Rockets’ 20 but an illegal block negated much of the return.
That, by the way, was the lone penalty marked off against the efficient Hornets all game.
But Akers went to work again and hit Miller for 12 yards. After Akers altered his snap count and the Rockets jumped offsides — something that happened three times in the game — the duo of Akers and Miller hooked up for their first 34-yard TD. Under pressure, Akers had put the ball up for grabs. Miller went and got it at about the 10 and broke a tackle on his way to the end zone.
In turn, the Rockets picked up a pair of first downs, reaching the Bryant 45 when the Hornets’ Amador Gaspar and James Gibson combined to stop two running plays on either side of an incomplete pass. On fourth-and-12, Pinter’s pass fell incomplete and the Hornets took over on downs with good field position again.
Akers quickly completed an 8-yard pass to Giles but his next attempt fell incomplete as the first quarter concluded.
When the second quarter began, Akers tossed to Howard for 6 yards and, after Catholic was offsides again, an aerial to Miller got it into the end zone again, making it 21-0.
The Rockets responded with a drive for their lone touchdown. The key play came on a second-and-15 at the Catholic 25. Pinter rolled to his right then threw back over the middle to Scott Diaz who was able to turn and head to the left sideline and downfield to the 30 of Bryant.
Mariani made a tackle-breaking 9-yard run then Pinter kept for 3 to the 18. On the next play, Mariani was hit as soon as he got the football. But he shook that off and pounded into the middle of the pile emerging on the other side and sprinting in for the touchdown.
But, again, a short kick put the Hornets in great field position to get more. Akers completed passes to London, Howard, Austin May and Giles. The latter reached the 1 and, from there, London scored his second TD with just 10 seconds left in the half.
The Rockets got the football to start the second half but, on their second snap, the ball got away and Jason Browning recovered for the Hornets just 23 yards away from another score.
London’s 12-yard run reached the 6 but Akers threw consecutive incomplete passes for the only time all night. He didn’t extend it to three because his third-down pass was grabbed by Colton Burton. Though he was denied the end zone, on the next play, Akers sneaked it in.
The Rockets’ subsequent possession lasted three plays before Gibson recovered a fumble at the Catholic 44. A second-down pass from Akers to Grey Orman broke for 18 yards to the 20. A play later, London raced 21 yards for the score that kicked the mercy rule into effect.
Reserves played the rest of the way. Bryant got the ball back on downs at the Catholic 46. Quarterback Dakota Besancon hustled after a fumbled snap and picked up 3 yards. On the next play, Aaron Leonard broke a 43-yard run for a touchdown to complete the scoring.
Thanks to fine defensive plays by Kelsey Hamilton, Cole Lewis and Burton, the Hornets forced the Rockets to turn the ball over on downs once last time with 1:34 left. Besancon took a knee twice and it was over.
BRYANT 49, LR CATHOLIC 7
Score by quarters
Catholic 0 7 0 0 — 7
BRYANT 14 14 14 7 — 49
Scoring summary
First quarter
BRYANT — London 8 run (Denker kick), 5:50
BRYANT — Miller 34 pass from Akers (Denker kick), 3:44
Second quarter
BRYANT — Miller 34 pass from Akers (Denker kick), 7:10
CATHOLIC — Mariani 18 run (Hugen kick), 4:32
BRYANT — London 1 run (Denker kick), 0:10
Third quarter
BRYANT — Akers 1 run (Denker kick), 5:12
BRYANT — London 21 run (Denker kick), 1:45
Fourth quarter
BRYANT — Leonard 43 run (Denker kick), 4:35
Team stats
Catholic Bryant
First downs 7 14
Rushes-yds 23-78 16-114
Passing 2-9-1 14-17-0
Passing yds 48 177
Punts-avg. 0-00.0 0-00.0
Fumbles-lost 3-2 1-0
Penalties-yds 6-30 1-10
INDIVIDUAL STATS
Rushing: BRYANT, London 10-68, Leonard 1-43, Akers 2-2, Besancon 3-1; LR CATHOLIC, Mariani 6-42, Meyers 6-30, Pinter 4-11, Lusk 1-5, Diaz 2-1, Hennessey 1-1, Strack 1-(-4), Neuman 2-(-8).
Passing (C-A-I-Y): BRYANT, Akers 14-17-0-177; LR CATHOLIC, Pinter 2-7-1-48; Hennessey 0-2-0-0.
Receiving: BRYANT, Miller 5-97, Howard 3-20, Giles 2-22, Orman 1-18, May 1-10, London 1-5, Burton 1-5; LR CATHOLIC, Diaz 1-45, Hugen 1-3.
