One big play after another in Bryant romp over Conway Blue
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
CONWAY — Chunks. Huge chunks.
The Bryant Hornets freshman team’s offense and special teams took big bites of yardage at Centennial Bank Field in John McConnell Stadium on Thursday night.
As a result, they didn’t have the ball very much. In fact, in just nine plays over the first three quarters, the Hornets had amassed 215 yards of offense — that’s almost 24 yards per play — which doesn’t include Hayden Daniel’s 70-yard kickoff return for a touchdown and 66-yard return to set up another; nor an interception return of 57 yards for a touchdown by Daniel Richards or an 80-yard pass from Hayden Lessenberry to Daniel for a score, both negated by penalties.
Despite running just those nine plays to Conway Blue’s 35 by the 2:54 mark of the third quarter, the Hornets held a 41-6 lead and the sportsmanship rule (running clock) was in effect.[more]
Conway added a pair of touchdowns against the Bryant reserves after that but the Hornets had rebounded from their first loss of the season to Lake Hamilton the previous week with a convincing 41-21 win.
The Hornets improved to 4-1 overall and 1-1 in the South Division of the Central Arkansas Junior High Conference going into a showdown at North Little Rock on Thursday, Oct. 8.
Jalen Bell, who rushed six times for 102 yards and three touchdowns, opened the scoring on Bryant’s first play from scrimmage, a 57-yard jaunt.
Using the old swinging gate formation, the Hornets added a 2-point conversion on a run by Lessenberry.
The TD had been set up by a strong defensive showing on Conway’s first possession. On first down, a fumbled snap cost the Kittens 10 yards as Austin Wadley and Ian Shuttleworth tracked down quarterback Marcus Wright. A play later, Wright was sacked by Tim Kelly for another loss, forcing a punt.
But Conway proved it could move the football on it second possession. Behind Wright and running back Quincy Wardlow (who combined for 200 yards rushing in the game), the Kittens marched 80 yards in 15 (all but one on the ground). Wright scored from the 1 to make it 8-6 and it stayed that way when Hunter Berry knocked down the pass attempt on the two-point conversion.
On the subsequent kickoff, Daniel fielded the ball at the 30, gave ground to fake a handoff to Aronn Bell then raced down the right side 70 yards for an answering score. A try for 2 failed but the Hornets were on their way to the route.
Two plays into Conway’s ensuing possession, Wright fumbled and Wadley recovered for the Hornets at the Conway 48.
Bell dashed 18 yards to the 30 and then on consecutive runs of 15 yards each, he found paydirt to make it 20-6.
After forcing Conway into a three-and-out, the Hornets set up shop offensively at their own 38. Daniel got open deep on first down but Lessenberry’s throw was just beyond his reach. On second down, a fumble allowed Conway to regain possession.
Mears knocked down a couple of passes during the resulting series. On fourth-and-10 at the Bryant 31, Aronn Bell made a juggling interception at the 13 and returned it to the Conway 38. A holding penalty along the way, however, forced the Hornets back to their own 20 with :27 left in the half.
On first down, they executed the tunnel screen and Daniel laced his way through the Conway defense for an apparent 80-yard touchdown only to have it called back for an ineligible receiver downfield.
Pushed back 5 yards with just :09 left in the half, the Hornets gave it another shot. This time, Devon Sears found his way behind the Conway secondary and with a mighty heave, Lessenberry got it to him. The throw itself had to be more than 50 yards and when Sears sprinted to the end zone ahead of the Conway defender, it was an 85-yard play.
Josh Lowery kicked the extra point this time and Bryant held a 27-6 lead depite running just seven plays on offense.
The onslaught continued in the second half which opened with Daniel’s second long return. This time, he was tracked down at the Conway 4. From there, however, Jalen Bell scored and, with Lowery’s kick, the lead expanded to 34-6.
Conway answered with a drive from its own 21 to midfield where, on a second-down pass, Richards made an interception and headed down the left sideline for an apparent touchdown. But, again, a blocking penalty along the way negated the points.
Still, the Hornets were only 32 yards away after the mark-off and Lessenberry covered that on a first-down keeper. Lowery kicked it to 41-6 and Bryant head coach Kenny Horn started working everybody in.
Keyed by a 45-yard run by Wardlow, the Kittens scored before the end of the third quarter. Wright carried in from 5 yards out then threw to Garrett Lovelady for the 2-point conversion that made it 41-14 going into the final quarter.
A fumble set up a second scoring drive for the Kittens who set the final score with around 4:05 left to play.
Behind the running of Patrick Murray, the Hornets ran out the clock from there.
BRYANT 41, CONWAY BLUE 21
Score by quarters
BRYANT 8 19 14 0 — 41
Conway Blue 0 6 8 7 — 21
Scoring summary
First quarter
BRYANT — J.Bell 57 run (Lessenberry run), 5:01
Second quarter
CONWAY BLUE — Wright 1 run (pass failed), 4:56
BRYANT — Daniel 70 kickoff return (run failed), 4:37
BRYANT — J.Bell 15 run (pass failed), 3:02
BRYANT — Sears 85 pass from Lessenberry (Lowery kick), :00
Third quarter
BRYANT — J.Bell 4 run (Lowery kick), 7:27
BRYANT — Lessenberry 32 run (Lowery kick), 2:54
CONWAY BLUE — Wright 5 run (Lovelady pass from Wright), 1:02
Fourth quarter
CONWAY BLUE — Baker 3 run (Sackoff kick), 4:05
Team stats
BRYANT Conway Blue
First downs 7 12
Rushing-yards 12-152 37-215
Passing 1-3-0 1-6-2
Passing yds. 85 0
Punts-avg. 0-00.0 2-37.0
Fumbles-lost 2-2 2-1
Penalties-yards 3-25 0-00.0
INDIVIDUAL STATS
Rushing: BRYANT, J.Bell 6-102, Lessenberry 1-32, Murray 3-20, Cambron 1-0, Huckaby 1-(-2); CONWAY BLUE, Wardlow 15-118, Wright 19-82, Baker 3-15.
Passing (C-A-I-Y): BRYANT, Lessenberry 1-2-0-85, Cambron 0-1-0-0; CONWAY BLUE, Wright 1-6-2-0.
Receiving: BRYANT, Sears 1-85; CONWAY BLUE, Wardlow 1-0.
