Hornets crush Cards in penalty-marred game
EDITOR’S NOTE: Because the look back at each day in Bryant athletic history has been so favorably received during the time when there was no sports during the COVID-19 shutdown, BryantDaily.com will continueposting past stories of Bryant athletics either posted on BryantDaily.com (from 2009 to the present) or published in the Bryant Times (from 1998 to 2008).
By ROB PATRICK
BRYANT TIMES
CAMDEN — If this is the Bryant Hornets’ farewell tour of the AAAAA-South Conference, Friday’s game at Camden Fairview might be the most welcome good-bye. Despite the fact that no Bryant team has lost to a Fairview team since 1996, including Friday’s 39-0 blitz, there were no tears shed at the end of the rivalry.
Bad blood boiled between the two teams, which are headed in opposite directions. It was ill-will that spurred a whopping 23 penalties between them, many for unsportsmanlike conduct. And all too often it was retaliatory incidents that drew the flags. A player from each team was ejected.
Even then, some blatant infractions — particularly by the home team — were over-looked or went unseen by the officials.
In fact, Bryant head coach Daryl Patton became concerned for his team’s well-being when the Cardinals employed illegal chop blocks on the line of scrimmage — one blocker engages a defender high while a teammate comes at his knees from the side.
All of which made the lopsided score all the more satisfying.
The Hornets snapped out of a two-game scoring slump, over-powering the smaller, injury-riddled Cardinals with almost 450 yards of offense.
And the shutout was Bryant’s first since a 35-0 win over Little Rock Catholic in 1997.
It was Fairview’s fifth straight loss. The 2-5 Cardinals are 0-4 in league play.
Now 5-2 overall, the Hornets became one of three teams at 2-2 in the conference after Benton (5-2, 2-2) upset El Dorado (3-4, 3-1) 10-0 and Lake Hamilton (4-3, 2-2) knocked off Texarkana (3-4, 3-1) 17-6. As six teams vie for the league’s four State Playoff bids, there remain only contenders on the Bryant schedule with Lake Hamilton visiting this Friday. The Hornets travel to Texarkana and Benton after that to finish up the regular season.
Their fate is in their own hands.
Friday’s offensive explosion was a welcome return to form for Bryant. After failing cash in on a number of scoring opportunities in consecutive losses to Pine Bluff and El Dorado, the Hornets scored on three of their first four possessions in each half.
And the scoring was capped by a welcome field goal as senior Anthony Moreno drilled a 41-yard attempt. It was Bryant’s first field goal, despite numerous attempts, since a 25-yarder by Matt Sullivan against Jacksonville on Sept. 14.
It was a big night for senior running back Matt White and it could’ve been bigger. As it was, White rushed for 173 yards and three touchdowns on just 17 carries. Another touchdown and a pair of long runs were negated, in part or in whole, by penalties.
The Hornets established their domination early in the game. Fairview netted 1 yard on the opening possession of the game. Bryant’s first offensive effort lasted two plays. White broke for 23 yards on first down, then took a direct snap with quarterback Lance Parker in the shotgun, and wove his way 30 yards to the game’s first touchdown.
A roughing the kicker penalty helped Fairview extend its next series an extra three plays but another punt followed and this time Bryant when 59 yards in three plays. After White was stopped after a 2-yard game, Patton went into his bag of tricks for a fun play in which the quarterback, in this case, Parker, sets the no-huddle offense and looks to the sideline for a play signal as usual. Parker, acting as though he doesn’t understand the signal, begins running toward the bench, arms outstretched as if to ask, “What’s going on?” In the meantime, the ball was snapped to Scott Peeler, who was left alone in the backfield after lining up at running back. Peeler, the back-up to Parker at quarterback, takes the snap as Parker ends his acting job and turns upfield as an uncovered wide receiver.
By the time Fairview realized what was going on, Parker had hauled in a pass from Peeler and was heading up the sideline. The play picked up 22 yards and, when Parker was hit after going out of bounds, a 15-yard personal foul penalty was tacked on.
With the ball at the Cardinals’ 20, the Hornets turned to White again and he laced his way to the end zone again.
The Hornets often line up initially as if to run the old swinging gate on extra point attempts, then shift into a conventional kicking formation. This time, however, they went ahead and ran the swinging gate. Snapper Nick London tossed the ball to Peeler who plowed into the end zone behind the rest of the Bryant offensive line which had deployed in front of him near the left sideline.
The 2-point conversion made it 15-0.
Fairview, in turn, ran three plays and punted again. But the Cardinals got another chance when Parker and receiver Jonathan Jameson got their wires crossed on a which route was being run. Parker’s pass was intercepted by Fairview’s Jocolten Harper and returned to the Bryant 41.
After a 5-yard penalty on which Fairview was only set back 3 yards, quarterback Je’an Burton, who was 1-for-8 passing, threw incomplete. Chance King then dropped a new quarterback Josh Campbell for a loss. Two runs by David Dumas finally picked up a first down, other than by penalty, for Fairview. But, after being successful on one fourth-down play, the Cardinals failed on another. On fourth-and-1 from the 18, the Hornets crashed in on Dumas who fumbled. Adam Hurley, who led the Hornets with 12 tackles in the game, recovered.
Bryant answered with a 79-yard drive in 12 plays for another score. White started the drive with a 15-yard scamper and ended it with an 8-yard dash. Along the way, Parker completed four consecutive passes and the Hornets converted a fourth-and-3 with a fake punt. Jameson’s 8-yard run around left end turned the trick.
The Hornets started the second half with 90-yard touchdown march in 12 plays keyed by a 50-yard pass connection from Parker to Zack Cardinal that converted a third-and-5 from the 15. A 17-yard pass from Parker to Brandon St. Pierre reached the Fairview 27 then passes to A.J. Nixon and White got to the 14. A pair of runs by White reached the 1 where Parker hit Jameson on a slant for the TD.
Moreno kicked it to 29-0.
Fairview responded with their longest drive of the night as the Hornets began to pull starters, driving from its own 39 to the Bryant 3 while eating up the last 8:14 of the third quarter. A roughing the passer penalty on a fourth-down incompletion kept the drive alive.
But, on the last play of the quarter, linebacker Jason Rose crashed in to drop running back Keith Staten for a loss to the 8 and Burton’s fourth-down pass fell incomplete.
Bryant took over and rumbled 92 yards in eight plays for its final touchdown. The drive came despite three major penalties against the Hornets and with the help of one against the Cardinals as tempers welled up. Fifteen yards of a 44-yard pass from Parker to Nixon were negated by an unsportsmanlike penalty. But later in the drive, the duo teamed up on a 33-yard strike. White reeled off an 18-yard run to set up St. Pierre’s 11-yard TD sprint.
In all, the Hornets gained 119 yards on the drive, making up for the penalties.
An interception by sophomore Bo Lee set up Moreno’s field goal moments later. A pair of runs by Steven Lee and a short gain by Bo Lee on a reverse reached the 24 before Moreno came on.
Fairview’s final possession reached the Bryant 37 where, on third-and-1, sophomore Jesse Nordman dropped Staten for a 2-yard loss and, on fourth down, junior Jimmy Roach and sophomore Matt Cooley stopped quarterback Matt McCaskil for no gain.
