Bryant freshmen bounce back from first loss to win at Conway
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
CONWAY — After a week without, the Bryant Hornets freshman team gets milkshakes at practice on Friday.
The reward comes after the Hornets bounced back from a tough loss at Cabot South — the first setback of the season — with a 21-7 victory over the Conway White Wampus Cats on Thursday night on Centennial Bank Field at John McConnell Stadium.[more]
“People always say losing’s good for you but I don’t believe that,” said Hornets coach Kenny Horn. “But, I guess sometimes — we could’ve reacted differently. It can refocus you or it can send you the other way. We refocused.”
Much to the Wampus Cats’ chagrin.
Quarterback Wesley Akers and wide receiver Austin Miller combined for a pair of touchdowns and Colton Burton ran for another. Meanwhile, the Hornets’ defense kept the Cats out of the end zone until just 1:11 was left to play.
“That was a good football game,” Horn stated. “That’s a good Conway team.”
The Cats made three forays into the red zone but the Bryant defense only relented on the last one.
“We practiced better this week,” Horn mentioned. “We had a lot better practice this week and it translated out there on the field. We played well tonight. That looked like Bryant Hornet football right there.
“I thought we threw the ball extremely well, caught the ball well,” he added. “I don’t think we dropped many. I do know we dropped two touchdown passes in the first half. We had an interception but that stuff’s going to happen when you throw it a lot.”
Akers finished an efficient 11 of 16 passing for 135 yards.
The Hornets created a big break to start the game when, on the opening kickoff, Madre London crashed through the blocking, stripped the ball from the return man and recovered the loose ball at the 19.
Later, London’s apparent touchdown run from 7 yards out was negated by penalty. From the 12, London slashed for 8 yards and, a play later, Akers rolled out and found Miller in the left side of the end zone for the touchdown. Bryce Denker added the extra point.
Conway drove from its own 35 to the Bryant 38 where, on third-and-9, James Gibson crashed through to sack quarterback Cade Jones, forcing a punt from midfield.
The Hornets set up offensively at their own 29. Akers hit Luke Howard for 11 yards to get the drive started. Two plays later, however, they faced a third-and-9 at their own 41. But, again, Akers and Howard teamed up for 13 yards and a new set of downs.
A defensive holding penalty helped, getting the Hornets to the 36. Howard made a nice catch on another Akers’ toss to the 30 then Greyson Giles caught a bubble screen and wove 13 more yards to the 17. From there, Burton, on his first carry of the night on the fullback dive, broke clean and rumbled into the end zone to make it 13-0.
The Hornets forced another Conway punt thanks in part of nice plays by Jimmy McCann who dropped running back Kwan Tolbert for a loss and Bryce Denker on a nice open-field tackle when Jones tried to scramble.
Forced back to its own 10 by a holding penalty, the Hornets converted a third-and-13 with a 33-yard connection from Akers to Miller. From the Conway 47, Akers was looking for more when Wilson stepped in from of his pass at the 21 and returned to the 27.
Jones completed four passes in a row and, with the help of a personal foul penalty, the Cats reached the Bryant 12. But, on the last play of the half, Giles grabbed a Jones pass at the 3 and raced up the right sideline before Conway’s speedy receiver Sidney Moore chased him down.
Bryant got the ball to start the second half and, after Austin May called for a fair catch on a pooch kick at the Bryant 40. On the second play of the series, Akers completed an 18-yard pass to Giles to get the offense rolling again.
The Hornets overcame a holding penalty then Akers tossed a swing pass to Giles who turned it into a 13-yard completion that converted a third-down. At the Conway 24, Howard made a nice grab of an Akers throw near the left sideline. It reached the 11.
After Conway jumped offsides, to get the ball to the 6, Akers dropped a perfect pass into the right corner of the end zone, lofting the ball up over a couple of Conway defenders and into Miller’s arms for the touchdown.
Miller added a two-point conversion on a wide pitch sweep, making it 21-0 with just 3:47 left in the third quarter.
Conway answered with a strong drive. It almost ended prematurely though when Bryant’s Matt Mears nearly intercepted a Jones aerial in the flat with nothing between him and the goal line but green turf. But he couldn’t hold on.
Given a reprieve, Jones hit Moore for 14 yards. Three plays later, however, the Cats faced a fourth-and-5 at midfield. But Jones completed a pass down the left sideline to Colton Rowland to keep the drive alive.
Conway reached the 12 but could get no further. A fourth-down pass from Jones to Wilson picked up 5 yards before Denker and Jason Browning brought the receiver down short of the first down.
Bryant took over on downs with 6:44 left in the game. The Hornets used up all but the last 2:56 of the game before Grey Orman came on for the only Bryant punt of the game.
Mostly on the strength of a 30-yard pass from Jones to Ben Young, Conway drove to the Bryant 32. There, however, they faced a fourth-and-10 with time running out. Moore streaked down the left side and Jones got the ball to him for the touchdown. Jackson Smith added the extra point.
When Denker covered the onside kick, Bryant was able to eat up the rest of the clock to close out the win.
Now 5-1 overall and 2-1 in conference play, the Hornets host Little Rock Catholic on Thursday, Oct. 14.
BRYANT 21, CONWAY WHITE 7
Score by quarters
BRYANT 7 6 8 0 — 21
Conway White 0 0 0 7 — 7
Scoring summary
First quarter
BRYANT — Miller 4 pass from Akers (Denker kick), 4:49
Second quarter
BRYANT — Burton 17 run (kick failed), 6:05
Third quarter
BRYANT — Miller 6 pass from Akers (Miller run), 3:47
Fourth quarter
CONWAY WHITE — Moore 32 pass from Jones (Smith kick), 1:11
Team stats
BRYANT Conway White
First downs 12 12
Rushes-yards 17-70 20-52
Passing 11-16-1 12-23-1
Passing yards 135 179
Punts- avg. 1-37.0 2-28.0
Fumbles-lost 0-0 2-1
Penalties-yards 5-53 6-40
INDIVIDUAL STATS
Rushing: BRYANT, London 10-44, Burton 3-23, Miller 1-5, Giles 1-5, Akers 2-(-7); CONWAY WHITE, Wilson 13-45, Tolbert 3-9, Jones 4-(-2).
Passing (C-A-I-Y): BRYANT, Akers 11-16-1-135; CONWAY WHITE, Jones 12-23-1-179.
Receiving: BRYANT, Howard 4-43, Giles 3-44, Miller 3-43, London 1-5; CONWAY WHITE, Moore 6-96, Wilson 3-24, Young 1-30, Rowland 1-17, Williamson 1-12.
