File photos by Kevin Nagle and Rick Nation
Will the Bryant Hornets become just the second team in school history to finish the regular season undefeated or will the Conway Wampus Cats finish 10-0 for the first time since 1977?
One of those accomplishments will occur tonight when the two teams square off in the regular-season finale at Hornets Stadium. On the line will be the championship of the 7A/6A-Central Conference and a first-round bye in the Class 7A playoffs. Regardless of the outcome, both teams will host playoff games.
It’s a rivalry that has produced some of the most memorable games in the recent history of both programs. Though Conway has won the last two meetings, both in non-conference season-openers, when they were league rivals up 2011, there were some barnburners including a double overtime game in 2010 and an overtime game in 2002 (when Conway was unbeaten and ranked No. 1 in the state by the Associated Press, just like today). Bryant won both of those and holds a 10-6 lead in the series since 1998.
It’s worth noting that the only other regular-season unbeaten team for Bryant, the 1999 squad, beat Conway twice, once to open the season and again in the first round of the playoffs.
Tonight’s game will be a battle of the highest-scoring offense in the league (Conway with 340 points in nine games) and the defense that has allowed the fewest points in the Central Conference (Bryant at 116 over nine games).
The high-powered Wampus Cats are led by junior quarterback Breylin Smith, a smooth operator with a big arm and senior running back Kevin Chamorro, the league’s leading rusher with 1,116 yards and 16 touchdowns so far this season.
While the Cats have accumulated the second highest yardage total in the league this season (3,855 or 445 a game), Bryant’s defense has surrendered the least (2,586 or 287 a game) — the proverbial unstoppable force and immovable object.
“They’re an outstanding offensive football team, the best that we’ve seen so far this year,” stated Hornets defensive coordinator Steve Griffith. “They have the ability to power run the football and to throw the football down the field. They’ve got outstanding running backs with Chamorro and (Mark) Odom. The quarterback’s an outstanding hand, throws the ball well. (D.J.) Johnson is a very capable wide receiver. You have to know where he’s at. And they’ve got another couple of guys that have 30 catches each (Matt Cummins and Brock Mitchell). They have a big, strong offensive line — best offense we’ve seen this year.
“But the kids are excited about the challenge,” he related. “We feel like we’ve got a pretty good defensive football team ourselves.”
The Hornets have had some guys banged up including leading tackler Hunter Fugitt at defensive end. They will have standout defensive tackle Cameron Murray back after two weeks out with pneumonia to team up inside with Mario Waits. The linebackers have been solid, particularly Connor Chapdelaine and Ben Bruick while the secondary features senior corners Drew Tipton and Mark Nelson with senior safeties Steven Murdock and Brenden Young along with sophomore Phillip Isom-Green.
“We’ll have 11 guys out there,” Griffith said, regarding the injuries. “We’ve played a lot of people through the year. They’ve gotten a lot of experience. This is week 10. The guys that have been in back-up roles have gotten a lot of snaps and, if we have to have them, it’s time for them to step up.”
While the Conway offense versus the Bryant defense will be key, it will also be interesting to see how the Bryant offense fares against the Conway defense. The Hornets are the best rushing team in the league (with Conway second), led by a big physical offensive line of Cameron Davis, Caleb McElyea, Zach McConnell, Devon Waite, Caleb Chaffin, Brycen Waddle, tight ends Austin Fisher and Jimbo Seale with H backs Demaja Price and Drew Alpe. Though no one has the kind of yardage total that Chamorro has, the Hornets feature four players with more than 400 yards apiece, led by Kylon Boyle’s 621 on just 96 carries.
Bryant doesn’t pass as much but quarterback Brandan Warner has been very efficient, completing 68 percent of his passes for just over 1,000 yards. His relief, junior Gunnar Burks, has completed 13 of his 14 passes to date with the lone miss an interception in the season-opening game against Benton. Phenomenally, that’s the lone pick the Hornets have suffered this season.
Conway’s defense, meanwhile, has only allowed 160 points but is seventh in the eight team league, surrendering 350 yards a game. Their playmakers include linebacker Nick Starr and safety Collin Condit.
“They have kind of been a bend but don’t break defense,” said Bryant offensive coordinator Lance Parker. “I think that’s kind of the philosophy with their offense being as productive as they are. They haven’t taken a lot of chances and they just kind of keep things in front of them, make people drive down the field, hoping the other team makes a mistake.
“I think we’re going to have our hands full,” he added. “They’ve got some size to them. It’s a whole new group of kids from last year and they’re usually, by the end of the year, playing good. We expect their best game.”
Parker noted that the Cats usually deploy in a 3-4 alignment.
“In the past, they’ve played some of their four-down fronts the games before us and then we’ve never seen it,” he said. “So I think if we have some success against their regular 3-4 package, with them stunting their defensive linemen, then I think we will end up seeing the — really, they’re just shifting a guy over but it amounts to a four-down front. I imagine they’re going to practice both. That way if they have any trouble in one, they’ve got something else they can do.”
Parker’s troops had their best passing game last week in a freezing game at Siloam Springs, which they won 31-7.
“We made some strides especially after that long bus trip and the conditions,” he related. “It wasn’t ideal but they did a good job. We still missed some reads but I was very impressed with both quarterbacks and how they did some of the stuff we’ve been trying to get them to be able to do, to throw through pressure, to put a ball in a certain spot not necessarily throw to a route.
“The key for us is going to be staying out of long-yardage,” Parker said. “That defense is really good against spread-out stuff. If we get in throwing downs, third-and-longs, it’s going to be tough for us to convert. If we can keep the whole playbook available on third down, keeping it to third-and-4, I think we’ll have a better chance for success.”
Of course, any big play in special teams could be a difference-maker. Two of the best place-kickers in the state will be involved, Bryant’s Alex Denker and Conway’s Cummings.
Finally, it’ll be interesting to see the energy level and intensity for both teams. Conway comes in after downing the Hornets by a combined score of 45-10 over the last two seasons. No one on the team has ever lost to Bryant in high school.
It may be telling that after the Bryant freshman team defeated one of Conway’s freshman teams a few weeks ago, one fan was overheard telling his son, one of the Conway Blue players, “That’s okay, son. You’ll be on the high school team next year. This will be the last time in your career that you’ll lose to Bryant.”
Griffith asserted, without knowing that story, that the Hornets figure to be stoked for the showdown.
“They’ve gotten a little bit the best of us the last couple of years and we’ve got a bad taste in our mouth,” he related. “Hopefully, we’ll come ready to play some good defense. We feel good about our offense’s performance the last few weeks. We’ll see if we can perform on special teams and give ourselves a chance to win a conference championship and have an undefeated season.”
In fact, there will probably be lots of people there to see as two unbeaten teams square off.
