Shutout of Parkview keeps Bryant on track for playoffs
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
For the Bryant Hornets, the game against the 2-5 Little Rock Parkview Patriots on Friday, Oct. 25, held more importance, more impact on their season than their Nov. 1 date with the top-ranked and unbeaten Conway Wampus Cats.
As odd as that may seem, it’s true. The Hornets are battling for a playoff spot, one of the top four places in the AAAAA-Central Conference. And, yes, it’d be nice to win the league title — still possible, though not likely with three teams ahead of them and two games left — but the playoffs are always first priority. That’s especially so for a program that has never reached post-season play in back-to-back seasons and only three times overall since joining the state’s top classification in 1981.
Parkview, you see, was one of the teams that could’ve beaten the Hornets out for one of those four playoff bids.
But no more.
The Mustangs stayed focus on the task at hand and all but eliminated the Patriots from contention with a 29-0 victory, improving to 6-2 overall and 3-2 in the conference going into the Conway game. And it’s a free shot at the Wampus Cats, in what has become a burgeoning grudge match. Win or lose, the Hornets will still probably have to win at North Little Rock on Nov. 7 to nail down a playoff bid.
And the Hornets, despite some key injuries, appear to be on the upswing.
“We talked about this back in the summer,” said head coach Daryl Patton. “If you look back over the last three or four years, we’ve always played well in week three, week four, week five — we peak in that period then, toward the latter part of the season, we kind of falter. And a lot of that, I think, is going through the seven-on-seven, as many as we do, and then the summer workouts, really getting after it all summer. So, when the season starts we’re already kind of in mid-season form.
“This year, we slacked off a little bit in the summer, we slacked off as far as the number of seven-on-sevens we went to and we didn’t put as much emphasis on the non-conference schedule, in hopes that we could build and each week get better and better and peak toward the last part of the season and toward the playoffs. Hopefully, our best football is ahead of us.”
Against Parkview, the Bryant defense played about its best football to date, forcing five turnovers. Adjustments were made to the lineup to contend with the Patriots’ spread offense. On the defensive line, strong side linebacker Ronnie Spivey moved into the rotation at defensive tackle with defensive tackle Jimmy Roach moving back to linebacker where he had played in years past. Weakside linebacker Josh McClellan moved to the strong side and an extra defensive back, Bryan Griffith was deployed.
Griffith, a sophomore making his first start, accounted for six tackles, recovered a fumble and intercepted a pass. McClellan was in on 10 tackles (second only to Jon Newlin’s 11) and made his first varsity interception.
“Ronnie gave us a spark up front, I think,” said defensive line coach Brad Stroud. “He’s got some strength and some speed that we just hadn’t quite got in the middle. I just rotated three guys (Spivey, Matt Cooley and Jesse Nordman) in there with the intention of keeping them fresh and, on key plays, we got Spivey out there because he could run. And there were times we put Kirk Williams out there when we needed to rush the passer. And Josh White’s still kind of gimped up a little bit. Spivey’s in the plans from now on.”
“With what they were doing in the spread offense, we went with five d-backs because we were concerned with their passing attack,” said defensive coordinator Steve Griffith. “As far as the run, we just challenged the kids to do a better job of playing technique. I thought both Spivey and Roach did a good job and came up with some big plays. We moved (strong safety) Brad (Parker) to really a weakside linebacker but then he had pass responsibility in a lot of situations. McClellan is normally involved in pass coverage (on the weakside) so he was able to slip back into coverage when they went to the spread.”
Nordman recovered a fumble to set up the first score of the game. The play came with 8:51 left in the first half as Parkview quarterback Kazmere Hill tried to run an option.
The Hornets had stalled on their first two possessions of the game then turned the ball over prior to Nordman’s recovery. A 36-yard touchdown run by A.J. Nixon on a reverse was called back due to a holding penalty and the Hornets could get no closer than the 13. But Todd Bryan kicked his single-season record 11th field goal to break up the scoreless tie.
The Hornets forced a Parkview punt and then the offense got revved up, scoring two touchdowns in the final three minutes of the half.
“After the first couple of series, we saw what (the Patriots) were going to do, they were going to bring more than we could block (on the pass rush),” said offensive coordinator Paul Calley. “We went to an old protection that we used a couple of years ago to pick up anything. And we started giving Lance time to find receivers. That meant the difference in us having the time to throw the football. It’s something we work on every week but we don’t use it that much anymore. We should’ve used it against McClellan. I learned a valuable lesson, we didn’t go to it soon enough.
“We also sprinted out a little more,” he added, “because all the pressure was coming up the gut. A team that man protects, that’s where they get to you, right up the gut with more than you can block.”
And the Hornets began to take advantage of the Patriots’ strategy.
“We’re man-to-man everywhere,” Calley noted. “That means there’s no free safety. So, we ran a couple of screens in there, a few shovel passes, motioned, trying to give them different looks, and we succeeded in confusing them. You could tell by the way they were reacting. That gives us the upper hand.”
Nixon got his touchdown after all, turning a screen pass into a 46-yard scoring play with 2:43 left in the second quarter. Bryan booted the PAT.
Using timeouts, the Hornet defense stuffed the Patriots and forced a punt. The offense got the ball back with 1:26 to go and found the end zone again. The key play was a 47-yard connection between Parker and Zach Cardinal on a post into the vacated middle of the field.
Brandon St. Pierre, Bryant’s Mr. Do-it-all, scored from the 2 with 30 seconds left.
St. Pierre rushed for 24 yards on seven carries, caught four passes for 25 yards and, on defense, got in on eight tackles from his safety spot.
Parkview’s deepest penetration into Bryant territory came on its first possession of the second half. A 29-yard pass from Hill to Jamaal Anderson was key. Then running back David Kennebrew broke a 22-yard run to the 8. A motion penalty pushed the Pats back then Bryant’s Aaron Johnson stopped Nick Smith on a dive. Hill threw incomplete to set up a third-down play. Again, Hill went to the air but this time, McClellan got his pick.
Parkview forced a punt and got the ball back at the Bryant 49. They reached the 22 before Hill was stopped short of a first down on a fourth-and-3.
The Hornets took over at the 20 and drove for another score. Parker was 5-of-7 in the air and contributed a 14-yard run. Richie Wood alertly pulled down a tipped pass for 15 yards to the 5 and, from there, Parker kept for the score.
Parkview drove from its own 20 to the 48. On first down there, Smith was forced deep on an option by Brandon Wooten, fumbled and Johnson recovered.
Parker went deep on the next play but Parkview’s Renard Heaggans intercepted at the 8. The Patriots wound up punting from their end zone. A short kick left Bryant just 34 yards away from the final score of the night.
A 19-yard pass play from Parker to Zach Young set up Nixon’s second touchdown of the night, a 7-yard run with 5:35 left to play.
