By Rob Patrick
Photos by Kevin Nagle and Rick Nation
Trailing 13-12, the Bryant Blue Hornets eighth grade team from Bethel Middle School reeled off the next 28 points in the second and third quarters on the way to a 34-21 victory over Conway’s Bob Courtway Wampus Kittens on Thursday night.
Quarterback Brandon Warner completed 9 of 10 passes for 135 yards and two touchdowns. The only pass he missed on was intercepted by Conway’s Grant Ellis and returned for a touchdown that had the Kittens up 13-6 before Bryant stormed back.
The comeback was highlighted by Brendan Young’s 74 yard return of the second-half kickoff for a touchdown.[more]
In addition, Warner ran for a score as did tailback Brushawn Hunter.
The win improved the Hornets to 4-0 on the season with a game at Little Rock Episcopal coming up on Oct. 7. (There will also be a B game against Bryant White on Tuesday, Sept. 28.)
The Hornets opened up the game with an onside kick that they were able to recover. Warner completed three passes in the subsequent scoring drive of 48 yards. He connected with Jason Hastings for 7 yards to the 15 where, on fourth-and-1, the Kittens jumped offside to give Bryant Blue a first down.
Warner followed that with a 4-yard completion to Hunter Fugitt then a 6-yard touchdown strike to Luke Brantley.
A run for two failed.
Conway came right back to tie it with a 63-yard drive that was mostly covered by Karlil Johnson after taking a swing pass from Ellis from the Kittens’ 36 to the Bryant 1. After Young and Nic Jenkins dropped Johnson for a loss to the 2, the Conway running back scored.
And a play into Bryant’s next possession, Warner’s long pass was picked by Ellis and returned down the left sideline for a touchdown. Carlos Antunez kicked the extra point to make it 13-6.
Conway, however, didn’t manage another first down the rest of the half and most of the third quarter. In the meantime, Bryant Blue began the onslaught.
A nice return by Fugitt of the ensuing kickoff gave the Hornets good field position at their own 46. Young rambled 17 yards and, after Hunter was dropped for a loss by Conway’s Ben Nolen, Warner went back to the air. His toss to Ryan Hall went for 21 yards to the Conway 20.
On a third-and-5 at the 15, Hunter bolted for 8 yards to keep the drive going. Warner and Fugitt teamed up on a swing pass that got the ball to the 1 but, a play later, it was fourth-and-goal. After being stopped on third-and-goal, Warner snuck it in with 3:53 left in the half.
A try for two failed, so Conway retained a 13-12 edge.
Johnson’s return of the resulting kickoff had the Kittens 38 yards away from an answering score. But, on a third-and-7 from the 35, Johnson caught a swing pass from Ellis and was dropped for a loss by Young and Kyle Lovelace.
Conway went for it on fourth down but Ellis was stopped short by Jenkins and Young.
Bryant took over with under two minutes left in the half. A quick pass from Warner to Hastings got the ball to midfield then Warner found Trey Breeding in the flat. Breeding made a nice catch with a defender in tight coverage, broke a tackle and sprinted down the left sideline for a 51-yard touchdown that put the Hornets ahead to stay.
Warner’s pass to Hall accounted for the 2-point conversion and, with 1:03 left in the half, Bryant led 20-13.
Conway got another fine return by Johnson to get the good field position again. From the Bryant 44, however, Johnson was stopped for a loss then, a play later, Hunter intercepted Ellis’ pass as the half ended.
Conway opened the second half with the kickoff the Young fielded near the right sideline. He ran to the middle of the field and broke through to the left sideline on his way to paydirt.
Alex Denker added the extra point and Bryant led 27-13.
In turn, Bryant forced the lone punt of the game when a third-down play was foiled for a loss by Drew Allen, Hunter, Jenkins and Lovelace.
Initially, Hunter returned the kick 69 yards for another TD but much of the run was negated by a holding penalty.
Still, from their own 45, the Hornets marched to another score. A 12-yard completion from Warner to Hastings converted a third-and-10 and, a play later, Hunter broke his 45-yard touchdown run that, with Denker’s PAT, made it 34-13.
Conway answered with a drive to the Bryant 18 where, a fourth-down pass appeared to go for a touchdown but an illegal block negated it. An unsportsmanlike conduct penalty was added and, on a fourth-and-40, Ellis threw incomplete and Bryant took over.
With reserves in the game, the Hornets had a little trouble with the center-quarterback exchange and a fumble was recovered by Conway. Ellis completed a 37-yard pass to Jorge Maldonado, setting up Johnson’s 9-yard touchdown run. After the two-point conversion, the final score was on the board with 4:02 still to play.
Bryant Blue proceeded to eat up that time with a drive that featured lineman Tanner Neal running from the fullback spot, piling up 34 yards in four carries and catching a 13-yard pass from Warner. The Hornets reached the Conway 11 before time ran out.
BRYANT BLUE 34, CONWAY BOB COURTWAY 21
Eighth grade
Score by quarters
Conway 13 0 0 8 — 21
BRYANT 6 14 14 0 — 34
Scoring summary
First quarter
BRYANT — Brantley 6 pass from Warner (run failed), 3:58
CONWAY — Johnson 2 run (pass failed), 2:01
CONWAY — Ellis 52 interception return (Antunez kick), 1:10
Second quarter
BRYANT — Warner 1 run (pass failed), 3:53
BRYANT — Breeding 51 pass from Warner (Hall pass from Warner), 4:45
Third quarter
BRYANT — Young 74 kickoff return (Denker kick), 6:43
BRYANT — Hunter 45 run (Denker kick), 1:41
Fourth quarter
CONWAY — Johnson 9 run (Rose pass from Ellis), 4:02
Team stats
Conway Bryant
First downs 4 11
Rushes-yds 16-45 26-124
Passing 6-10-1 9-10-1
Passing yards 100 135
Punts-avg. 1-35.0 0-00.0
Fumbles-lost 0-0 1-1
Penalties-yds 6-60 3-25
INDIVIDUAL STATS
Rushing: BRYANT, Hunter 6-67, Neal 4-34, Young 7-13, Chavis 5-10, Warner 2-1, Fugitt 1-1, Tierney 1(-1); CONWAY, Johnson 11-45, McCoy 1-1, Ellis 4-(-1).
Passing (C-A-I-Y): BRYANT, Warner 9-10-1-135; CONWAY, Ellis 6-10-1-100.
Receiving: BRYANT, Hastings 3-33, Fugitt 2-11, Breeding 1-51, Hall 1-21, Neal 1-13, Brantley 1-6; CONWAY, Johnson 4-53, Maldonado 1-37, Wright 1-10.
