MAUMELLE — The Bryant Hornets quarterbacks, receivers and secondary got a workout in a 7-on-7 competition that included the host team Maumelle Hornets and the Heber Springs Panthers on Tuesday.
Head coach Paul Calley said he looked at it as a chance to tune up for a major competition, the Arkansas 7v7 Classic, on Thursday and Friday hosted by Pulaski Robinson and Little Rock Christian when the Hornets will be involved in six pool play games on Thursday.
“Actually, it was practice basically,” he said of Tuesday. “We had six-play warm-ups then switched. So we had a pretty extensive warm-up period then we went into the games. The coaches were able to slow it down, focus on fundamental things, explain things.”
Each team played each other twice for four contests overall.
“The main thing we wanted to do was get reps against someone other than ourselves,” Calley related. “We started out a little sluggish on both sides of the ball. We had some dropped balls. Our routes weren’t real crisp. We were out of position in some coverages.
“But that was all early,” he continued. “As the day went, we started getting things fixed, putting things together. We were a lot more crisp. And, at the end of the day, I think all the coaches were pleased with the majority of the day.
“We needed Tuesday as a teaching day just to give us a little preparation,” the coach said. “Six games on Thursday’s going to be tough. I think (Tuesday) gave us the practice we needed.”
Individually, Calley said, “You know what to expect from our veteran guys. But I think Landon Smith had several good plays at receiver. All three of our starters made big plays during the day, Austin Kelly, Evan Lee and Aaron Orender. Jordan Gentry made some plays at receiver. Chase Henson made a couple of plays late. Quinton Royal, we’ve got him playing both sides of the ball. He played some corner and made a couple of big catches at receiver.
“Our two sophomore safeties, Michael Jones and Cameron Vail, progressed a lot as the day went, I thought,” he added. “Devin Davis, one of our corners, made a couple of plays, broke on a couple of balls. Pierce Finney (a corner) was tough in press coverage.
“It was encouraging,” the coach concluded.
Thursday, the Hornets will be in a pool with Greenbrier, Arkansas Baptist, Bauxite and Lake Hamilton, starting with Bauxite at 9 a.m. They’re scheduled to play Lake Hamilton at 10, Joe T. Robinson at 11, Arkansas Baptist at 1:30 p.m., and Hot Springs at 2:30.
