Hornets clobber Conway, clinch trip to 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
No one, particularly folks from Conway, expected the Bryant Hornets to treat the rival Conway Wampus Cats the same way they had the Little Rock Hall Warriors or the Little Rock Parkview Patriots.
But they did.
In a stunningly complete first quarter, the Hornets built a 21-0 lead. By early in the third quarter, Bryant led 35-0 and the infamous “mercy rule” was instituted. It was the third time in three weeks the Hornets had done that to an opponent (Hall and Parkview, previously) but the first time since the rule was instituted that it had happened to a Conway team.
The Hornets clinched a spot in the 2004 Class AAAAA playoffs with the win for the fourth straight season and fifth in the last six years. They improved to 8-1 overall and 5-1 in the AAAAA-Central Conference and kept their share of the league lead with Little Rock Central and Little Rock Catholic entering the final week of the regular season. With a win over North Little Rock in their final game on Thursday, Nov. 4, the Hornets would capture at least a share of the league title plus the conference’s top seed for the playoffs — a seed that carries with it the top spot in the playoffs with homefield advantage throughout.
A loss at North Little Rock, though it would not knock the Hornets out of the playoffs, would relegate them to the fourth seed and a first-round trip to play at Springdale against the consensus No. 1 team in the State.
Bryant’s win over Conway, however, took some of the urgency out of Thursday’s game for North Little Rock. With a 35-0 win over Parkview, North Little Rock punched its playoff ticket while Conway was knocked out of the postseason for the first time since 1994. North Little Rock will be the fourth seed from the Central if Bryant wins. A win over the Hornets would move the Charging Wildcats up to third.
Granted, this wasn’t the Conway team the Hornets had faced in recent seasons — running backs Kevin Wardlow and Peyton Hillis had to graduate some day — but, as Bryant head coach Paul Calley point out, it was still Conway.
“Our defense was just dominating,” he asserted. “And to do it against a team like Conway is special because that’s a tradition-rich program. You just don’t expect to dominate that way against somebody like that. Never, ever would I have believed that we would put 35 on Conway then shut them out, just because of the past.”
Conway had a net total offense of minus-2 yards by the end of the first quarter and hadn’t managed a first down while the Hornets built that 21-0 lead.
“The defense played great,” Calley reiterated. “Our offense played as well in those first four series that I’ve ever seen them play since I’ve been here. We executed.”
The coach praised junior quarterback Anthony Mask and offensive coordinator Jared McBride. Mask 10 of 13 passes for 117 yards and two touchdowns in just the opening period.
“Anthony does such a good job running the offense,” Calley said. “He and Coach McBride are on the same page. I don’t know how (McBride) does it. They’ve got so many signals flying out there, it’s unbelievable. And Anthony’s smart enough to pick it up and then he executes. It amazes me sometimes what they can do.”
Mask was never sacked in the game and the Hornets rushed for 130 yards in the game including 94 on 12 carries by senior Brandon Butler.
“Our linemen played great,” Calley noted. “We ran the ball well.”
After going 13 of 19 for 163 yards and three touchdowns in the first half, Mask finished 19 of 31 for 188 yards in the game. Senior Richie Wood caught 10 passes for 87 yards and two of those TDs, increasing his school record for touchdown receptions to 27.
Part of Bryant’s dominance included the kickoffs of senior Travis Cockerham, who has been effective in a variety of ways on the team’s kickoffs this season. Aided by a sturdy breeze, three of Cockerham’s first four kickoffs went for touchbacks.
“Coming out, I wanted to take the wind,” Calley mentioned. “When we kicked off I wanted to pin them at the 20, let the defense play. Several years, we’ve gone out at this point in the season and the wind’s been in our face in the first quarter and we have gotten behind. So, getting the wind was a big factor.”
Conway got nothing on its first possession and punted Bryant back to its 40. With Mask completing his first four passes, the Hornets marched to the 7. After his first incompletion, Mask found Blake Zuber in the flat. Zuber made a move around one defender and dove into the end zone for the first touchdown. Todd Bryan kicked the PAT.
Conway, again starting at its 20, had running back Jeremy Oates dropped for a loss on second-and-9 by a group of Hornets led by safety Hunter Nugent. On third down, linebacker Corey Caldwell knifed through to drop quarterback Brandon Solberg for a loss of 5 more and the Cats punted again.
This time, Bryant took over at the Conway 45 and rolled to another score. An 18-yard pass from Mask to Dustin Holland reached the 16. Three plays later, from the 2, senior lineman David Hollis powered in for the touchdown, his third of the season. Bryan made it 14-0 with 2:02 left in the quarter.
Conway’s subsequent possession went nowhere. On a second-and-9 from the 23, Bryant’s Zach Kitchens and Colby Landers cut down Oates for a loss of 4 and, after an incomplete pass by Solberg, the Hornets got the ball back.
This time, an even shorter punt resulted and Bryant took over at the Conway 35. Mask passed 23 yards to Holland then connected with Wood from the 12 for the points. Bryan made it 21-0 with :07.1 left in the period.
Solberg, who came into the game completing just 28 of 83 passes during the season, completed only 5 of 26 against Bryant. Part of the reason was the Hornets secondary, lowering the boom on Wampus Cat receivers. On the first possession of the second quarter, the Cats had actually gained yardage on two plays in a row for the first time in the game. Facing a third-and-4 at their 26, the Cats went to the air. Solberg’s pass over the middle fell incomplete after a huge hit by safety Bryan Griffith on the intended receiver. Though Griffith was flagged for an early hit, the hit had its effect. Conway receivers were a little less aggressive going to the passes particularly over the middle after that.
And it didn’t help that, moments later, Nugent blasted Seth Shaw on a third-down pass in the seam on the left side. The pass went beyond Shaw’s reach as he was smacked to the ground and Bryan, playing the deep zone behind the play, made a diving interception.
Mask continued his hot hand. Junior Jon Isbell helped him out with a concentration catch of a pass that was deflected by a Conway defender. That picked up 16 yards then Butler barreled for 27 to the Cats’ 16. Mask and Wood then connected on back-to-back aerials. The latter produced the touchdown from 4 yards out with Wood make the grab in the back of the end zone and just getting a foot down inbounds.
Bryan’s extra point kick made it 28-0 with 9:22 still to play in the first half.
Conway continued to struggle for first downs. The Hornets forced a punt and took over at their 21. They made it to the 45 when Butler broke an 18-yard run. But a fumble at the end of the run gave Conway new life. The Cats, with the help of an interference penalty, and two of Solberg’s completions, drove to the Bryant 13. But, on a fourth-and-4 pass, Bryant middle linebacker Zach Sanders pressured Solberg and forced an off-target throw and Bryant took over on downs.
The two teams traded punts but Conway got a break when it punted back to the Hornets. Holland, trying to make a running, over-the-shoulder catch on the kick, muffed it and the Cats recovered at the 13 with 1:08 left in the half.
But the Bryant defense wouldn’t budge. Nugent cut down Oates on a second-down pass for a gain of just four yards. Bryan then knocked away a pass that he probably would’ve intercepted but for the interference of the Conway receiver. No penalty was called, however, and the Cats had one last shot on fourth-and-6 from the 9.
Solberg never got his pass away as Tommy Byington dragged him down with a sack at the 13.
In the second half, Conway again struggled to make first downs. In fact, the Cats didn’t manage one until there was less than two minutes left in the third quarter. They were trying to dig out from their own 6 after an effective punt by Bryant’s Cody Williams. They reached the 22 when Nugent intercepted a Solberg pass into the right flat. Nugent returned untouched for the final score of the game with :57.2 left on the clock in the period.
After that the clock ran in accordance with the mercy rule, stopping only for timeouts and changes of possession. Reserves finished the game for both teams.
