By Rob Patrick
Photos by Kevin Nagle
CABOT — With 2:10 left in the first half, the Bryant White Hornets of Bryant Middle School had run just one play from scrimmage in their game against the Cabot South eighth grade team.
Fortunately for the Hornets, that one play went for a touchdown, a 47-yard run by Mar’kevius Nelson. It took all of 15 seconds off the clock.
Cabot, however, had had the ball the rest of the time, 11:21 to be exact as it muscled its way to a 12-6 lead. In all, the Panthers had four possessions in the game and, without throwing a single pass, scored on all four to forge a 28-6 victory.[more]
Landon James rushed for 123 yards and three of those touchdowns on 13 carries to lead the Cabot offense, which piled up 251 yards all on the ground and almost entirely between the tackles.
The White Hornets, like many a team before them, struggled to stop the Cabot program-wide standard winged-T.
Bryant was able to run a few more plays in the final two minutes of the first half and drove from its own 41 to the Cabot 21. Nelson contributed a 13-yard run and K.J. Hill, working in the Wildcat offense, slashed for 23 yards. But, with time running out, Nelson was dropped for a loss by Cabot’s Brett Frazier and, on third-and-17 from the Cabot 28, Hill was brought down for a loss as the half ended.
As was the case just about every time they kicked off, the Panthers opened the second half with an onside kick and, this one, they recovered at the Bryant 48. That turned out to be a pivotal moment. Instead of having an opportunity to tie the game or take the lead, the Hornets were back on defense. And, in typical Cabot fashion, the Panthers ran three plays and picked up a first down before James broke a 37 yarder for a touchdown that put the Hornets two scores down.
They responded with a drive from their own 29 that, thanks to runs by Nelson and Hill, reached the Cabot 46. A fourth-down play there was made more difficult to convert when a motion penalty set them back. From the Bryant 48, quarterback Madison Schrader’s pass fell incomplete and Cabot took over on downs.
A nine-play, 48-yard march to a clinching touchdown followed. James got his team in position to score with an 18-yard gallop to the 11. A play later, Brian Marshall scored from the 5.
A pass — yes, a pass — from quarterback Jake Ferguson to tight end Tristan Bulice added a two-point conversion and, with 5:47 left to play, the final score was on the board.
Bryant appeared to have a touchdown on a 55-yard run by Hill a little later but the run was negated by a holding penalty.
With time running out, Bryant got back to the Cabot 39 only to have the drive end with a fumble that the Panthers recovered.
Cabot ran out the last 44 seconds to wrap up the win.
The Panthers had opened the game with a 54-yard drive on 10 plays. A 12-yard run by Clint Rogers was the longest play of the march. A try for two failed.
After Cabot’s onside kick failed to go the requisite 10 yards before the Panthers fell on it, the Hornets set up offensively 47 yards away from an answering score. Nelson took a pitch from Schrader and covered it in one play.
The Hornets converted the two-pointer on a run by Cole Lemons but a penalty negated it and, on a second try, Bryant was stopped leaving it 6-6.
On the ensuing kickoff, Caleb Chaffin squibbed one that dribbled all the way back to the 3 where Marshall picked it up. He was only able to get back to the 15 so the Hornets had the Panthers in a hole.
Inexorably, however, Cabot marched the length of the field. The Hornets had the Panthers down to a fourth-and-2 at the Bryant 35 but James got 4 yards to keep the drive alive. Two plays later, James broke through and sprinted 24 yards for a touchdown to make it 12-6.
Nelson finished with 76 yards on 10 carries. Hill added 65 on nine tries and that was the extent of the Hornets’ offense.
Bryant White is scheduled to return to action on Tuesday, Oct. 5, at home against Lake Hamilton.
