Offense, defense, special teams — Hornets play complete game to upset fourth-ranked Rockets
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
Perhaps the most amazing thing about Chris Rycraw’s school-record rushing performance in 2008 was the fact that, after quarterback Jimi Easterling was injured at Cabot, there was really no mystery about what the Bryant Hornets were going to do and who was going to have the ball.
And yet, Rycraw continued to rack up the yardage including 192 in the final regular-season game against Little Rock Central and 213 against Springdale in the first round of the playoffs.
It was a credit to him, of course, but also to the Hornets’ veteran offensive line and the ingenuity of the team’s offensive coaches.[more]
Those coached knew what they had in their running back going into the 2009 campaign.And the most commonly uttered phrase they used prior each of the team’s four games this season, became, “As long as we’ve got number 21 . . .”
But, the question remained, would the offensive line, with just one returning starter in Kaleb Burns, be able to sustain that performance? That is, when, again, everybody knew who was going to get the all and what he was going to try to do with it.
Those instances didn’t present themselves a lot in the Hornets’ first three games but, in the fourth, the group of center Justin Rauch, guards Landon Pickett, Ben Seale, Billy Bearden and Brett Clemons, tackles Burns and Austin Johnson with contributions by a rotation of tight ends including Josh Hampton, Blake Heil and Tyson Abernathy, and fullbacks Marcus Harris and Dylan Pritchett, passed with flying colors.
Clinging to a 14-13 lead over the Catholic High Rockets of Little Rock with 7:42 left in the game, everyone knew who was going to get the ball and what he was going to do with it. The o-line proceeded to take up the challenge in much the same way their predecessors did. In drive that started at their own 20, the Hornets rode those linemen and Rycraw on eight consecutive plays.
When they reached the 16 with 3:23 left, quarterback Jimi Easterling faked to his running back and kept for no gain.
On third-and-9, Hornets offensive coordinator Dale Jones, working from the press box, noticed the safety for the Rockets creeping toward the line of scrimmage indicating that receiver Brandon Parish would have solo coverage on the outside. The coaches on the sideline had Easterling change the play they’d called at the line of scrimmage to a post-corner route.
Again, Easterling faked to Rycraw. This time, he fired a strike to Parish, who hauled it in for the clinching touchdown as the Hornets went on to knock off the 4th-ranked Rockets, 21-13, in the 7A-Central Conference opener for both teams.
The score came on the heels of a Catholic drive that stalled at the Bryant 3. Chis Ashburn’s 20 yard field goal attempt was blocked by linebacker Hunter Mayall, who had blocked an extra point earlier in the game.
Jace Denker’s extra point set the 8-point margin with 3:16 left to play. Catholic still had a shot to tie the game but, on a fourth-and-1 at their own 35, the Rockets’ stellar quarterback Taylor Bartlett tried to get a short pass to the outside only to have Bryant linebacker Brennan Bullock tip the pass which fell short of the intended receiver.
The Rockets turned the ball over on downs and the Hornets proceeded to eat up the final 2:39, sealing the win and their first 4-0 start to a season since 2002.
Rycraw wound up rushing for 219 yards on 33 carries including the five totes that ate up the last of the game clock. Easterling completed 5 of 11 passes for 103 yards, all to Parish including two touchdowns.
Both teams came into the game 3-0 but Bryant’s three wins, though lopsided, came against teams that had yet to post a win among them. (Texarkana finally got one in its conference opener against Little Rock Fair Friday night while Benton and Sheridan continued to struggle.) And Catholic had posted impressive wins over highly-regarded 7A-West members, Fort Smith Southside and Fort Smith Northside.
It took a while for the Hornets to get a handle on Bartlett. The three-year starter wound up 20 of 32 passing for 210 yards. He also rushed for 40 yards on 11 tries.
The senior signal-caller completed his first six pass attempts including a 32-yarder to Tate Seachris on the Rockets’ first play from scrimmage and a 17-yarder to Quieta Thomas that set up the first score of the game. Bartlett took it in himself on a quarterback sneak at the 1.
Bryant answered with a 70-yard march in seven plays. Rycraw contributed runs of 11 and 12 yards to start the drive. Easterling and Parish connected twice along the way including the scoring strike from 39 yards out on a third-and-15 play.
Denker, who was also handling punts in the absence of Tolbert, kicked the extra point and the game was tied.
Bartlett brought the Rockets back to the Bryant 33 but, on third down, linebacker Holden Chavis and tackle Dustin Grimmett broke through to drop Thomas Gring for a loss of a yard.
On fourth down, Bartlett coolly tracked down a shotgun snap that rolled back to him and fired a pass to his favorite receiver, tight end Garrett Uekman. But Uekman was hauled down after the catch a yard short of a first down and Bryant took over.
After the first play from the 30, a holding penalty put the Hornets in a first-and-21 hole. But Easterling perfectly placed a pass to Parish on a fade route down the left sideline for 30 yards. On the last play of the opening quarter, Rycraw slashed for 13 and an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty pushed the Hornets along another 15 yards.
Though it took seven plays from the 23, they got it in. Rycraw scored from the 2 and, with Denker’s kick, the Hornets held a 14-7 lead.
After an exchange of punts, the Rockets made a bid to tie the game with a drive from their own 47. On a second-and-8 at the Bryant 28, Bartlett looked for Bonner Chilton down the left sideline only to have Bryant junior cornerback Dylan Blasi, in for the ailing Tanner Tolbert, knock the ball down inside the 5.
The drive still reached the Bryant 14 where, on second down, Bartlett was flushed out of the pocket by defensive end Ryan Cox who had him on the way down when Bartlett threw the ball away.
The officials cited Bartlett for intentional grounding.
Back at the 19, Bartlett made another bid to score with a nicely placed toss to Uekman at the goal line only to have safety Stanley Oxner lower the boom on the big tight end, who was unable to hang onto the pass.
On fourth down, Bartlett again looked for Chilton, this time in the end zone near the left sideline. And, again, Blasi came through in the clutch to knock the ball down and force the Rockets to surrender possession with :28.2 showing on the clock.
But Catholic took up in the third quarter where it had left off at the end of the second. The 70-yard drive came in 12 play including a fourth-down conversion on a pass from Bartlett to Seachris at the Bryant 26.
The Rockets reached the 12 but when Austin Alexander rushed to the 7, a holding penalty pushed them back. Unfazed, Bartlett lofted a pass into the right side of the end zone to Seachris who had made a nice out-and-up move to get a couple of steps behind the secondary for the touchdown.
But the extra point attempt was blocked by Hunter Mayall after a low snap proved difficult to get on the tee. So Bryant retained the slimmest of leads, 14-13, with 8:07 left in the third quarter.
Sparked by a 33-yard run by Rycraw, the Hornets reached the 22 before coming up just short on a fourth-and-2.
Catholic took over but twice in the ensuing possession, Bartlett was dropped for a loss by Grimmett. The Rockets punted the ball away.
After an exchange of punts, the Rockets drove from their own 35 to the Bryant 2. On the way, they converted a pair of third-down situations. Thomas’ 11-yard run converted the first one. On the second, Bartlett and Uekman connected for 10 yards when they needed 8.
A swing pass to Alexander reached the 5 then a run took it to the 3 where Bartlett fumbled the third-down snap. Though he recovered the loose ball, Bartlett and the Rockets lost the down. On fourth-and-goal at the 3, Chris Ashburn came on to attempt a field goal from 20 yards out only to have Mayall break through and block it, setting up Bryant’s clinching touchdown drive.
The Hornets make the long trip to Van Buren in their next contest, Friday, Oct. 2.
BRYANT 21, LR CATHOLIC 13
Score by quarters
LR Catholic 7 0 6 0 – 13
BRYANT 7 7 0 7 – 21
Scoring summary
First quarter
LR CATHOLIC — Bartlett 1 run (Ashburn kick), 6:43
BRYANT — Parish 39 pass from Easterling (Denker kick), 4:29
Second quarter
BRYANT — Rycraw 2 run (Denker kick), 8:38
Third quarter
LR CATHOLIC — Seachris 18 pass from Bartlett (kick blocked), 8:07
Fourth quarter
BRYANT — Parish 16 pass from Easterling (Denker kick), 3:16
Team stats
Catholic Bryant
First downs 19 17
Rushes-yds 32-120 38-218
Passing 20-32-0 5-11-0
Passing yds. 210 103
Punts-avg. 2-42.5 3-33.7
Fumbles-lost 3-0 1-0
Penalties-yds 7-42 4-28
INDIVIDUAL STATS
Rushing: BRYANT, Rycraw 33-219, Easterling 5-(-1); LR CATHOLIC, Thomas 14-59, Bartlett 11-40, Tanner 3-12, Gring 3-6, Chilton 1-3.
Passing (C-A-I-Y): BRYANT, Easterling 5-11-0-103; LR CATHOLIC, Bartlett 20-32-0-210.
Receiving: BRYANT, Parish 5-103; LR CATHOLIC, Uekman 7-42, Chilton 4-52, Alexander 4-30, Seachris 3-54, Thomas 2-29.
