Mustangs’ comeback spanks Pups
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
The defense needed a stop.
The Bryant Junior High Mustangs had just taken a 7-6 lead as the fourth quarter began Thursday night, but the Morrilton Devil Pups were driving. A march that had started at their own 18 had reached Mustang territory.
With less than five minutes to play, the Mustangs had strung out a Pup sweep and safety Matt White had charged up to pull down Kevin Foster 2 yards behind the line of scrimmage, setting up a third-and-5 at the Bryant 48. Morrilton took a timeout with 4:32 left to play.
When play resumed, the Pups deployed in a wishbone formation and went for a power play up the middle. Lamar Duncan pushed ahead for 3 yards before running into a Bryant wall. In an effort to get more momentum going and free himself of a defender’s grasp, Duncan pulled up the arm in which he cradled the football. As he did, someone hit the ball and it went flying into the air like a watermelon seed that had been squeezed between two fingers.
It plopped right into the hands of White, the swiftest Mustang, who galloped to the Morrilton 23 where, after as fine a rugby scrum as you could see, he was finally wrestled down. Onto the field came Morrilton coaches, protesting that the play should’ve been whistled dead before the fumble, that Duncan’s forward motion had been stopped.
For their trouble, the Devil Pups’ staff not only lost the argument but also more yardage. An unsportsmanlike conduct penalty resulted, pushing the ball all the way to the 11 with 4:10 left to play.
Bryant took advantage as fullback Andy Summers thundered in for a clinching touchdown and Matt Sullivan kicked the extra point to put the finishing touches on a 14-6 come-from-behind victory on Homecoming for the Mustangs.
The win, coupled with Benton’s 8-6 victory over Conway Blue, kept the Mustangs in the hunt for a share of the first Central Arkansas Junior High Conference title. Bryant and Conway Blue are now 3-1 in league play, a game behind Benton. Wins in their next two games — at Searcy this week and at home against Greenbrier after that — would set up a championship battle at Benton on the final night of the season, Nov. 3.
“Morrilton’s a very tough team,” stated Bryant head coach Scott Neathery. “They’ve been giving everybody fits. We knew they were going to be tough. They’re big, they’re strong, they’re physical, they’re fast. And the first half, we had a few unfortunate things happen, a couple of turnovers, and we couldn’t just get anything going.
“I thought the defense played great all night,” Neathery continued. “A couple of breakdowns, but other than that, a lot of intensity, more like our defense at the first of the season. The defense did a great job.
“Offensively, it took us a little while to get our rhythm going but in the second half, we finally got it going and started working down the field.”
Neathery contrasted the team’s approach against Morrilton with last week’s in the season’s only loss to Conway Blue. “The difference tonight was our guys played with their heart and played with a lot of intensity, a lot of enthusiasm,” he said. “Tons more emotion. I’m proud of them for the way they came back after a big loss.”
After a scoreless first half, Morrilton drew first blood late in the third quarter. An exchange of punts gave the Devil Pups good field position. White’s kick went off the side of his foot and only netted 3 yards allowing Morrilton to start their possession at its own 43. On the ground, the Pups drove to the 33 then Foster only got 1 on first down. On second down, they spread the field and went to the air. Quarterback Keith Stobaugh hit Foster with a short pass and the fleet Pup turned it into a 32-yard scoring play.
But Foster, obviously winded, was also the placekicker for Morrilton. It took him awhile to get ready for the extra point and, when he finally did, he had backed away from the holder too far. Bryant crashed through the right side of the Pup line and blocked the extra-point attempt with Zack Dickson, Nate Roe, Shea Rentch and Jason Rose all on hand.
In turn, the Mustangs ran a reverse on the ensuing kickoff with Matt Nugent fielding the kick, heading right and handing off to White going left. White wound his way to midfield.
In seven plays, Bryant pounded to a tying score. Quarterback Kevin Littleton converted the only third-down situation, picking up 5 yards on a sneak up the middle when only 1 was needed. A play later, Summers, who rushed for a game-high 81 yards on 12 carries, busted an 18-yard run to the Morrilton 15.
On the first play of the fourth quarter, White followed Summers and Rose (subbing for injured halfback Jonathan Jameson) to the 6. He scored on the next play, untouched.
Sullivan then snapped the tie with a strong extra-point kick.
On the ensuing kickoff, Foster fielded Sullivan’s kick at the 20 and tried to reverse fields. But Bryant’s Matt Clarke collared him at the 18 where the Devil Pups began the series that ended in the controversial turnover.
After Bryant took its 14-6 lead, Morrilton got one more chance and, on a third-and-6 at its own 30, appeared to have a big play to put them in scoring position. Foster took a pitch from Stobaugh and threw deep to Kyle Smith who had snuck behind the Mustang secondary. The ball was a little short and Smith had to hold up for it. He fell as he made the catch at the Bryant 37 as Rentch caught up.
But a penalty negated the play, further incensing the Morrilton coaching staff.
On the next play, Stobaugh was pounded for a loss. A fourth-down pass attempt went incomplete and the Mustangs took over with 1:37 left in the game.
The defenses had dominated the first half. Bryant’s first two possessions ended abruptly with fumbles in their own territory. But both times, the Mustangs defense prevented the Devil Pups from taking advantage.
After the first turnover, the Mustangs stopped a third-down play when Dickson crashed in on Duncan for a loss of 3.
After the second turnover, Morrilton reached the Bryant 20, thanks to a 16-yard run by Foster. But, on a second-and-7 at the 20, Chance King busted Duncan after a 1-yard gain. An incomplete pass followed as the Mustangs flushed Stobaugh from the pocket. On fourth-and-6 at the 19, the Pups tried some trickery with a tight-end reverse to Matt Petroff. But Dickson was waiting for Petroff and belted him at the in the backfield, jarring the ball loose. Adam Hurley, coming up from the corner, scooped up the loose ball for Bryant and raced to the 44 before he was caught.
But the Devil Pups were almost equally stingy. After an exchange of punts, the Mustangs were left to start a drive at their own 6 with 4:08 left in the half. That’s when they started to show signs of getting things going on offense. Runs by White, Summers and Jameson got the ball to the 29 with 1:33 left. But a pair of incomplete passes and a foiled sweep in which White was dropped for a loss, left the Mustangs with a fourth-and-12 at their own 27 with :57 left in the half.
White, who punted in the game for the first time this season and had booted the ball 42 yards on his previous attempt, dropped back to kick again with Morrilton primed to go for a block. But, on a gutsy call by Neathery so close to his own goal line, the Mustangs faked the kick. White passed to Nugent for first-down yardage and then some. Nugent sprinted all the way to the Morrilton 26.
There, however, the Mustangs stalled and time ran out on the half when a fourth-down pass from Littleton to Nugent came 2 yards short of a first.
The Mustangs take a 6-1 overall record to Searcy.
