Bend-but-don’t-break defense frustrates Bulldogs as Hornets advance in playoffs
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 Rick Nation and Kevin Nagle
There was a moment during Friday’s first-round playoff game between the Bryant Hornets and the Springdale Bulldogs when dreaded memories seeped through. A year ago, the Bryant Hornets had led the Fort Smith Southside Rebels 21-7 at the half only to have that advantage disappear in the second half. Southside rallied for a 35-24 win on its way to the State finals.
This year, the Hornets had built a 17-0 lead on the Bulldogs but Springdale[more] had come right out after the half and blew down the field for its first score. In turn, the Hornets went three-and-out and Springdale got the ball back in a hurry.
It helped Bryant that, on a long return by the Dogs’ Henry Hernandez, cover specialist Dillon Winfrey had been blocked in the back near the start of the return. The penalty resulted in the Bulldogs starting their possession at their own 10 but the high-flying offense had the momentum.
Gamely, the Hornets defense forced its own three-and-out, thanks in large part to Hunter Mayall and Holden Chavis dropping Springdale quarterback Joseph Calcagni for a loss on second down.
The Bulldogs were forced to punt out of their own end zone and Calcagni boomed one. Bryant’s Sawyer Nichols settled under the ball near midfield but, as he was about to catch it, he was blasted by a Springdale player. The ball literally hit the defender on the back of the helmet and it looked like a no-brainer interference penalty. Nichols never got a chance to even make the catch.
The ball ricocheted to the Bryant 42 where Springdale fell on it.
The penalty would’ve put the Hornets well into Springdale territory and would’ve been a great momentum swinger.
But, after a conference, the officials waved off the flag and gave the Bulldogs possession 42 yards away from another score.
Can you say déjà vu? It felt like 2009 might be happening all over again.
The Bryant fans booed their disapproval and the Hornets coaches picked up a sideline warning as they charged onto the field in protest. Head coach Paul Calley discussed the play at length but to no avail.
(Neither Calley nor Springdale’s Shane Patrick seemed to be at all happy with the officiating in the game.)
Anyway, the momentum certainly seemed to be back with Springdale.
But a funny thing happened. Charged up by their fans and the outrage over the call, the Hornets defense returned to the field. Two Calcagni passes fell incomplete as he was pressured by the Hornets. Winfrey, in coverage, knocked down the second throw. A swing pass to running back K.D. Jones picked up 9 yards setting up a fourth-and-1 at the Bryant 33.
The Bulldogs, who had been stopped on three fourth-down attempts in the first half, went to the air this time only to have Calcagni’s pass broken up by Bryant’s Tanner Tolbert.
The Hornets took over on downs, something they wound up doing six times in the game — seven if you count a fumble, later, on a punt attempt.
After that particular stop, the Hornets went on to force two Springdale turnovers and pad their lead with a pair of fourth-quarter TDs on the way to a 30-7 win. They’ll travel to play unbeaten and top-ranked Bentonville in the second round Friday, Nov. 19.
It was, by the way, the Hornets’ ninth win of the season breaking a string in which Bryant teams had finished the season with eight four years in a row.
“I love this group,” declared Calley. “It’s just a great group of kids. They give you everything they’ve got and just a little bit more. Our defense played extraordinary.”
“We weren’t able to get off the field a few times on fourth downs against Cabot and a couple of other situations,” reminded Hornets defensive coordinator Steve Griffith. “It was really huge that the guys were able to go four downs and come up with big plays. It’s just a tribute to the kids that we run out there.
“We used several different packages of kids, depending on the situation,” he mentioned. “We had a package where we wanted to get a little pressure and play ‘man’, and another package where we sit back and play zone. The guys just kept running in and out, and whoever was out there at the time seemed to come up with the play when we had to have it. Coach (Brad) Stroud and Coach (John) Wells did a great job of getting the guys ready then the guys went out there and executed extremely well.”
The defense was led by Tolbert, back in the secondary after missing a couple of weeks with a neck strain. He finished with 11 tackles, six of them unassisted with two passes broken up. Hunter Mayall was in on nine and, along with safety Holden Chavis, shared the honor for biggest hits of the night. Chavis had eight tackles as did James Kidd.
Josh Hampton, who once again hardly ever left the field, had a hand in eight stops on defense and scored three touchdowns on offense. Winfrey had five unassisted tackles, a tackle for a loss, a sack, two pass break-ups, a fumble recovery and an interception on defense to go with a pair of pass receptions on offense for 29 yards.
Offensively, the Hornets rushed for 173 yards and passed for 125. Calley said the hero that no one even noticed was sophomore guard Cordell Boykins who stepped in for senior Jordan Murdock.
“He had to,” Calley stated. “We didn’t have a lot of options.
“Our pass protection — I know it broke down some, but for as many people as (Springdale) was bringing, it was awesome,” the coach added. ”I couldn’t be more proud of those guys.”
On the right side, Boykins and senior tackle Austin Johnson sprang Karon Dismuke on the first play of the game for 62 yards to the Springdale 1. That set the tone.
Hampton joined the backfield in the jumbo formation on the next play. Usually, the senior defensive end/tight end leads the blocking from there but, this time, he got the ball and plunged into the end zone for the touchdown.
In turn, Springdale’s K.D. Jones fielded the kickoff by Jace Denker near the sideline inside the 5. He tried to tiptoe to stay in bounds but touched the sideline and Springdale had to start at its 2.
The Bulldogs couldn’t get much going on the ground except when Calcagni scrambled. And with the quarterback, who has orally committed to play at Tulsa University next year, completing his first four passes and five of his first six, they drove to the Bryant 20.
But, on a third-and-7 there, Calcagni was sacked by Kidd at the 35.
Too close to punt and too far away to attempt a field goal, the Bulldogs went for it on fourth-and-22 but Calcagni’s pass fell incomplete and the Hornets took over on downs for the first time.
Bryant picked up a first down but eventually had to punt from near midfield. Tolbert’s rugby punt angled out of bounds at the Springdale 34.
Again, the Bulldogs started moving the ball. They reached the Bryant 39 and suffered a procedure penalty that made it third-and-12. Calcagni’s screen pass to Henry Hernandez was squelched after a gain of 2 and, on fourth down, the Bulldogs set up to punt.
But Bryant was penalized for having too many men on the field so, given a fourth-and-5 at the Bryant 37, the Bulldogs went for it. The Hornets brought the blitz and Calcagni’s rushed throw fell incomplete.
And the Hornets took over on downs a second time. They were forced to punt after three plays but Tolbert, with the wind behind him, boomed a 69-yarder for a touchback.
Again Springdale was moving the ball thanks in large part to a flea-flicker that resulted in a 36-yard completion to Kennan Sanchez. Moments later, the Bulldogs faced a fourth-and-1 at the Bryant 34 only to have Hernandez stopped short.
And for the third time in a row, Springdale turned the ball over on downs.
This time, Bryant took advantage, driving 66 yards on eight plays. They may have scored on the sixth play but Winfrey, on a deep route, was prevented from catching the ball by the Springdale defender who just grabbed him to take a penalty instead of, perhaps, a touchdown.
The 10-yard mark-off had the Hornets at the 26. Lessenberry, who was 10 of 17 for 125 yards, hit Winfrey with a 17-yard completion to the 9. Onthe next play, the quarterback wove his way through the Springdale defense to reach the 1. Hampton came in and scored for the second time from the 1 to make it 14-0 with 2:57 left in the half.
And when the Bulldogs went three-and-out, a punt returned possession to the Hornets at the Springdale 34. Using a 9-yard run by Jalen Bell and a pair of pass completions, the Hornets drove to the 30. With :32.1 on the clock, Denker came on with the wind to his back and blasted a 47-yard field goal to make it 17-0 at the half.
Springdale opened the second half from its own 20 and quickly completed a pass for 20 yards to Robinson.
Later, on a third-and-9 from the Springdale 39, Calcagni went deep and Hernandez out-leaped the Hornets’ secondary on a 39-yard completion. Behind the running of Calcagni, the Bulldogs reached the 2. From there, Calcagni threw a touchdown pass to Robinson.
Christian Garcia booted the extra point and Bryant’s lead was just 17-7.
The teams traded punts. On Bryant’s, a long return by Hernandez was brought back by a penalty and the Bulldogs had to start at their own 10.
A play later, Mayall and Chavis crashed in and dropped Calcagni for a loss. He wound up punting, setting up the controversial play.
Thanks in large part to a nice screen pass to Jalen Bell for 19 yards, the Hornets drove to the Springdale 44 but stalled there and punted it back to Springdale.
After picking up a first down, the Bulldogs faced a third-and-10 from the 30. They tried to run a bubble screen but Mayall sniffed it out early and blasted Jones, the intended receiver, knocking the ball loose. That brought up a fourth down.
Calcagni stepped back to punt but the snap ricocheted off one of his blocking backs and Bryant’s Travis Royal pounced on it at the 25.
The Hornets drove to the 15 and, on a second down, Lessenberry rolled out and searched to find fullback Marcus Harris at around the 10. Harris bulled and dodged, making a fine 13-yard completion out the play. A play later, Hampton took it in from the 2 and, though Denker was wide on the extra point attempt, the Hornets held a 23-7 lead.
With the help of a 34-yard run by Calcagni, Springdale threatened again but, on a second-and-6, Winfrey intercepted a deflected pass near the sideline as the defense held once again.
“Calcagni, take your hat off to him,” Griffith said. “He really ran the ball better than we thought he could. We didn’t do a great job when he was scrambling to get ourselves broken down and making the good, sure tackle. We were clutching and diving instead of just making a good, sure tackle. You don’t have to make a huge hit.
“But, once they got behind, that wasn’t really what they wanted,” he added. “They needed to get the ball thrown down the field and we had guys making plays, breaking on the football.”
The Bulldogs got the ball back with 8:22 to play with good field position at their own 45. A 25-yard pass from Calcagni to Hernandez gave them a chance to score. On first down there, however, Calcagni inadvertently touched his knee down as he recovered a fumbled snap, losing 5 yards.
On the next play, sophomore defensive end Tim Kelly pressured Calcagni and Winfrey sprinted in for a 10-yard sack. On third down, Collin Chapdelaine wrestled down Jones for a loss of a yard.
Finally, on fourth-and-26, Calcagni went deep down the left side towards Hernandez. But Chavis “burped the baby” knocking the ball free with a perfectly-timed smash. And Springdale turned the ball over on downs again.
“I was glad to see Chavis come through there with a big hit, knocking the ball loose,” Griffith said.
In turn, the Hornets drove for a clinching touchdown. Stephen Clark nearly took it to the house on the first play, picking up 31 yards. But 5 of that was negated by a holding penalty downfield.
Clark hit for 6 yards then senior Dylan Pritchett got a call from the fullback spot and he rumbled 30 yards before being ridden down at the 2. A play later, Jacob Powell scored from the 1. Denker kicked it to 30-7 with 3:22 left.
And for good measure, the Hornets made a final fourth-down stop. Calcagni had scrambled for 28 yards to the Bryant 37 but four consecutive passes fell incomplete.
The Hornets ran out the last 2:19.
BRYANT 30, SPRINGDALE 7
Score by quarters
Springdale 0 0 7 0 — 7
BRYANT 7 10 0 13 — 30
Scoring summary
First quarter
BRYANT — Hampton 1 run (Denker kick), 11:36
Second quarter
BRYANT — Hampton 1 run (Denker kick), 2:57
BRYANT — Denker 47 field goal, 0:26.9
Third quarter
SPRINGDALE — Robinson 2 pass from Calcagni (Garcia kick), 9:35
Fourth quarter
BRYANT — Hampton 2 run (kick failed), 10:42
BRYANT — Powell 1 run (Denker kick), 3:22
Team stats
SHS BRYANT
First downs 15 14
Rushes-yds 36-93 34-173
Passing 17-38-1 10-17-0
Passing yds 220 125
Punts-avg. 2-41.5 5-40.2
Fumbles-lost 3-1 1-1
Penalties-yds 4-30 7-40
INDIVIDUAL STATS
Rushing: BRYANT, Dismuke 5-70, Clark 10-33, Pritchett 2-31, J.Powell 4-14, J.Bell 4-12, Hampton 4-8, Lessenberry 4-7, A.Powell 1-(-2); SPRINGDALE, Calcagni 16-76, Jones 18-32, Hernandez 1-0, Laughter 1-(-1).
Passing (C-A-I-Y): BRYANT, Lessenberry 10-17-0-125; SPRINGDALE, Calcagni 17-38-1-220.
Receiving: BRYANT, Garrett 3-33, Nichols 3-31, Winfrey 2-29, J.Bell 1-19, Harris 1-13; SPRINGDALE, Hernandez 6-119, Robinson 6-58, Whatley 2-23, Jones 2-12, Sanchez 1-8.
