Photo by Kevin Nagle
If there were polls that had some say in your team’s post-season destiny, the Bryant Hornets’ 38-21 win over the Greenwood Panthers last week would be what they call a “resume” victory.
But that’s not the way it works in high school football. The way it does work is a little odd this cycle. Even though the Panthers and Hornets are in the same conference, the result doesn’t count toward either qualifying or not qualifying for the post-season.
In the mixed 7A/6A-Central Conference (four teams from the 7A classification and four teams from 6A) only the games you play against the league teams of your level count towards qualifying for State and the seeding a team can achieve.
So, as thrilling and satisfying as Bryant’s win over Greenwood was, it pales in comparison to this week’s game at Van Buren in importance in the Hornets’ quest for a trip to State.
There cannot be a letdown.
“We’ve tried to focus this week on this being a playoff game for us,” acknowledged Hornets defensive coordinator Steve Griffith. “If we’re going to go to the playoffs, we need to beat Van Buren. It was a great win last week against Greenwood but it does nothing to get us in the playoffs. So we’re trying to emphasize to the guys this week that we’ve said all along that our A-number-one goal is to be in the playoffs then, once we get there, do the best we can to work our way to a State championship game.”
The Pointers, coaching by former Bryant offensive coordinator Brooks Coatney, come into the game off back-to-back wins over Siloam Springs and Russellville. They’ve played one 7A league game against top-ranked Conway, falling 35-10. Bryant’s only 7A conference foe has been Little Rock Catholic. The Hornets prevailed 34-7.
Coming off a 1-9 season, Van Buren is 4-3 so far. Bryant is 6-0 since a season-opening tie with Benton, which is also 6-0-1 at this point.
While the Hornets lead the Central Conference in rushing (1,735 yards), Van Buren is the top passing team (1,932 yards). Junior quarterback Jordan Barlow has completed 116 of 196 passes with five interceptions and individual league-highs in touchdowns (17) and yardage (1,848). The Pointers also have one of the league’s top receivers in Jaylyn Dye, who has 40 catches for 865 yards and seven touchdowns.
Running back Ethan Hudspeth is the Pointers’ top rusher with 459 yards on 115 carries with five TDs.
“Van Buren operates out of a spread formation, doubles and trips most of the time,” Griffith reported. “They will run a second back in the backfield and do a lot of pulling with him getting him involved in the blocking schemes.
“They have a big offensive line,” he noted. “We’re going to have to play good technique up front and try to control their running game. And be prepared for the passing game. I feel like their best football player is their quarterback. He throws the ball well and, if you force him to run, he runs the ball well. He’s a good athlete.
“Their go-to receiver is (Dye),” the coach added. “He’s given them an explosive threat. You have to be aware of where he’s at all the time and try to make sure we keep him under control as well.”
The Hornet defense have produced turnovers. They have 22 takeaways compared to nine giveaways this season. Against Greenwood, linebackers Ben Bruick and Connor Chapdelaine each returned interceptions for touchdowns. Brendan Young forced a fumble that defensive tackle Cameron Murray recovered.
“That’s something you don’t really game-plan for,” Griffith said of the pick-6’s. “We do game plan that when teams move inside the 30 and then the 20, we become a lot more aggressive in our coverages. Everything becomes a little more tightened down so your safeties are able to squeeze the field down and it gives the linebackers an opportunity to really get in the passing lanes because the lanes aren’t that big in that area of the football field.
“The two guys that made those picks and carried them back, it was exciting,” he added. “It turned the football game. Obviously when you put 14 points on the board in that situation — not to mention Young causing a fumble in the red zone early — that’s a 21-point swing. It’s a huge part of a team victory.”
Young, Bruick and Chapdelaine are among Bryant’s top tacklers this season. End Hunter Fugitt leads the team with 51 stops including 11 for losses with two sacks. On the other side, Ryan Hall has 46 stops (fourth on the team) with a team-high five sacks to go with five tackles for losses.
Offensively, the Hornets have three rushers over 370 yards on the season. Kylon Boyle’s 462 yards on 74 carries is fourth among league runners. Quarterback Brandan Warner (387 yards) and junior Savonte Turner (378 yards) are also in the top 10. More and more, too, sophomore DeAmonte Terry has emerged as a factor.
They run behind a strong offensive line of center Zach McConnell, guards Devin Waite and Caleb McElyea, tackles Cameron Davis and Brycen Waddle, tight ends Austin Fisher and Jimbo Seale with H backs Drew Alpe and Demaja Price. The Hornets’ receivers Evan Lee, Aaron Orender and Quinton Royal have blocked well.
Regarding the Van Buren defense, Hornets offensive coordinator Lance Parker said, “They’re a 4-2-5 team and I would imagine against us they’re probably going to try to get as many guys in the box as they can without giving up just a really easy pass. I would expect some stunting and some blitzing just to try to get us behind the chains, which is what most people have tried to do that have played us.
“They’re a pretty physical team inside,” he related. “They’ve got some good defensive linemen and a pretty good linebacker. People have tried to attack them throwing the ball. We think they’re pretty good against the run so I think they’ll present a pretty good challenge for us.”
The Pointers have allowed 1,000 yards rushing and 1,356 passing. They’ve given up 198 points, the second most of the eight conference teams.
Warner is the only starting quarterback in the league that hasn’t attempted at least 100 passes. Bryant’s total of 820 yards is a league low but Warner’s completion percentage of 67.7 percent is second best in the conference. So the Hornets have been effective throwing the ball.
“Our keys to winning is not having lost-yardage first-down plays and being able to throw it effectively when we need to,” Parker related. “It’s got to be disciplined football, try to keep it to third-and-four or under.
“And just making sure we don’t waste series with penalties,” he added. “We’ve had a few penalties that we’ve got to cut out, especially by now at crunch time at the end of the year.”
Bryant has been penalized 51 times for 393 yards this season compared to 273 yards on 27 mark-offs by their opposition.
Here are the complete stats so far this season:
BRYANT HORNETS
2014 stats through 7 games
Score by quarters
Opponent 13 32 35 13 — 93
BRYANT 62 65 32 62 — 221
Team stats
Oppt Bryant
First downs 109 128
Rushes-yds 221-805 285-1735
Passing 111-178-10 74-97-1
Passing yds 1,248 820
Fumbles-lost 20-12 9-8
Penalties-yds 27-273 51-393
INDIVIDUAL STATS:
Rushing: Boyle 74-462, Warner 71-387, Turner 64-378, Terry 25-140, Burks 22-130, Hunter 10-96, Tierney 3-53, Schrader 3-30, Tucker 1-30, Coleman 9-28, Dr.Alpe 3-6, Bonvillain 1-(-5).
Passing (C-A-I-Y): Warner 65-96-0-720 (4 TD), Burks 4-5-1-34 (1 TD), Bonvillain 3-4-0-34, Schrader 1-1-0-23, Jacobs 1-1-0-13, Lee 0-1-0-0.
Receiving: Lee 17-253, Orender 10-107, Boyle 10-100, Turner 10-35, Kelly 7-93, Royal 6-62, Terry 6-62, Tierney 5-42, Hunter 2-12, Martindale 1-31, Hunt 1-13, L.Smith 1-10.
Scoring: Boyle 48 (8 td-r), Denker 43 (6 of 7 fg. {41, 45, 44, 48, 35, 28} 26 of 27 PATs), Warner 30 (5 td-r), Turner 24 (3 td-r, 1 td-rec.), Burks 18 (3 td-r), Lee 12 (2 td-p), Kelly 8 (1 td-p, 1 conv.-p), Bruick 6 (1 int.-ret), Chapdelaine 6 (1 int-ret.), Murdock 6 (1 td-bl.punt ret), Murray 6 (1 ko-ret), Royal 6 (1 td-rec), Tucker 6 (1 td-r), Ray 2 (2 of 2 PAT).
Tackles: Fugitt 51, Young 50, Bruick 48, Hall 46, Chapdelaine 41, Tipton 38, Nelson 36, Waits 35, Lovelace 33, Alpe 29, Murray 28, Murdock 27, Isom-Green 23, Knowles 14, Howard 8, Jones 5, Robertson 5, Allen 4
Unassisted tackles: Young 22, Nelson 21, Chapdelaine 20, Tipton 19, Bruick 18, Fugitt 15, Murdock 15, Waits 14, Lovelace 13, Hall 12, Isom-Green 10, Alpe 9, Murray 7, Howard 4, Allen 1, Robertson 1
Assisted tackles: Young 26, Hall 23, Bruick 23, Fugitt 22, Alpe 20, Chapdelaine 18, Lovelace 18, Tipton 16, Murray 15, Nelson 15, Waits 15, Isom-Green 11, Murdock 9, Knowles 8, Howard 5, Jones 5, Allen 2, Robertson 2
Tackles for loss: Fugitt 11, Murray 7, Waits 5, Hall 5, Bruick 4, Lovelace 2, Allen 1, Chapdelaine 1, Tipton 1, Murdock 1, McDonald 1.
Sacks: Hall 5, Fugitt 2, Waits 1, Lovelace 1, Tipton 1, Murdock 1, Chapdelaine 1
Special teams tackles: Knowles 4, Bruick 3, Isom-Green 2, Robertson 2, Young 2, McDonald 2, Lovelace 1, Fugitt 1, Jones 1, Hall 1, Chapdelaine 1, Murdock 1.
Pass break-ups: Tipton 7, Nelson 4, Fugitt 3, Young 2, Bruick 1, Hall 1, Isom-Green 1, Murdock 1, Waits 1, Chapdelaine 1, Murray 1
Interceptions: Bruick 3, Murdock 2, Alpe 1, Chapdelaine 1, Finney 1, Lovelace 1, Young 1
Fumbles: Knowles 2, Murray 2, Murdock 2, Austin 1, Fugitt 1, Chapdelaine 1, Nelson 1, McDonald 1, Bruick 1
Blocked kicks: Tipton 1, Fugitt 1, Nelson 1, Bruick 1
