By ROB PATRICK
According to their coaches, the Bryant Hornets have continued to improve during their third week of fall practice. They'll get a glimpse of just how much further they need to go this Monday, Aug. 24, when they host the high-scoring Pine Bluff Zebras at 6 p.m., in a pre-season scrimmage at Hornets Stadium.
Last year, when Pine Bluff came to Bryant, the Hornets coaches called the team’s performance “embarrassing” and it led to some overhauling during the ensuing days leading up to their season-opener in the Salt Bowl against Benton. They don’t expect that same kind of wake-up call this season, however, based on how practices have gone.[more]
“We’re at the point, after this many weeks of practice where we’re really looking forward to Monday,” stated Hornets defensive coordinator Steve Griffith, “just to have the opportunity to see somebody that’s not wearing blue and white jerseys. It wears on the kids and it wears on the coaches.
“It adds to the excitement to have a scrimmage opportunity,” he added. “It’s going to be a great indicator of what kind of progress we’ve made. We’ve purposely scheduled what we thought would be a very good, quality opponent so we’ll have a good look of where we’re at. Hopefully, then, we’ll make a lot of progress from the scrimmage in preparing for Benton.”
Pine Bluff’s hit-scoring offense — 73 points in a win over Lake Hamilton last season, 64 in a win over Warren — featured all-State quarterback Claude Johnson wo passed for 2,793 yards and 34 touchdowns last year. Two of his favorite targets, Jonathan Frazier and Kelsey Collins, are back, but the offensive line is being restocked.
Defensively, the Z’s return both ends, Martin Montgomery and Theodis Shavers, but new names will be working at linebacker.
The scrimmage will begin with a regular game for one half. It will include live kicking though head coach Paul Calley said, “We’re not going to try to block a punt or a field goal but we’re going to try to return and go live through the kicking game.”
After that first half, there will be 15 plays for the second group and 10 plays with the third group.
“The intensity’s picked up,” said Calley. “There’s more a sense of urgency now. We know Pine Bluff’s got a really good football team. We’ve tried to stress that to our guys. We haven’t spent a lot of time preparing for them. We’re kind of doing it on the fly. Their defense is similar to ours but it’s not the same so there are a few minor adjustments we’ve had to make and it’s going to be interesting to see whether we can carry that over into the game, how we respond with such short preparation time. But that’s part of it. You don’t get a long time during the season either.”
When asked what he would be looking for in the scrimmage, Griffith said, “Of course, hustle, that’s number one. I don’t care what your ability level is, it’s that you’re getting out there and you’re giving all out effort. And that you’re also playing smart and you’re executing the things we’ve been working on over the last months.
“Beyond that, just looking when we get back to the film, is there someone that really stepped up their level of play,” he added. “We’re going to work our first and second groups against Pine Bluff’s first group so we can find out, when the lights go on, just who wants to really get after it.”
“We’ve gotten better each day,” Calley said. “Offensively, we’re executing a lot better than we did last week. We’re starting to grasp the entire concept of each play and that’s what it takes. You have to know what you’re trying to accomplish. And I think we’re starting to get it.”
“I think we’ve stepped it up,” added Griffith. “We’ve continued to work on our secondary and linebacker play, working together on various coverages. We’re getting close to where we need to be. We’re doing a better job of reading routes and we’re getting where we break on the ball quite a bit better than we were earlier in the year.
“The defensive line is still progressing,” he added. “We’re working a lot of combinations of guys, in and out.”
