Primus, Graham return interceptions for TD’s to spur Freshman Hornets’ rout
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).
For more photos of this event by Kevin Nagle, go here
With the Cabot South Panthers’ defense attacking the offense of the Bryant Hornets freshman team with an all-out blitz much of the night, it was a bit hit and miss when the Hornets had the ball in their Central Arkansas Junior High Conference showdown at Bryant Stadium Thursday night.
But for the Panthers’ offense, it was almost entirely miss as the Hornets’ defense produced four turnovers including pick-6’s by Ethan Primus and Malachi Graham to help Bryant to a 34-0 victory. Cabot South wound up netting just 30 yards of offense in the game, 15 on 24 rushes and 15 on two pass completions. The Panthers had 11 lost-yardage plays.
The win improved the first-place Hornets to 8-0 going into next Thursday’s game, their final one at home, against Conway White.
Primus actually intercepted two passes in the game, one in each half. In addition, Tyler Mosley recovered a fumble on the first play of the second half.
Offensively, the Hornets accumulated 181 yards of offense, mostly on a few big plays when they were able to burn the blitz by getting outside. A pair of screen passes picked up big yardage, one from Nichols to Graham and another from Nichols to Braylon Brown.
“We just didn’t execute well,” said Hornets head coach Kenny Horn. “We could’ve played a lot better, but we didn’t. We tried to get outside of (the blitz), and we weren’t reaching it. We could’ve gotten outside of it several times. A couple of times we did, and we had big plays. The screen pass was a good call on Coach (Guy) Brown’s part. We just made a few more plays than they did.
“Now, defensively, we executed lights out again,” he acknowledged. “We won on them tonight. Credit to the defense. We’re riding them right now and that’s okay because defense can help you win games.”
The Hornets got out to a good start thanks to strong kickoff return by Braylen Montgomery. Though a fumble on the snap of the first play cost them five yards they made up for that. Graham converted a fourth-down play with a 3-yard burst. A play later, he broke a 28-yard run to the South 13. After a pair of unsuccessful passes into the end zone, Nichols scrambled and found his way into the end zone.
A try for two failed.
Mosley dropped Cabot South running back Caden Mimms for a loss on their first snap. The teams traded punts before, in the final minute of the first quarter, Primus intercepted a pass from Cabot South quarterback Abe Owen.
The Hornets drove to the 5 thanks to those two screen passes. But they were unable to get into the end zone. Nichols was dropped for a loss by Cabot’s Kyler Gaines on third down. A fourth-down pass fell incomplete and the Panthers took over at their own 8.
Cody Kretsch and Mosley combined for a tackle for a loss. A play later, a third-down run by Owen was spoiled by Will Cornelius.
A very short punt of just 14 yards to the 17 followed and the Hornets were just that far away from a second score. Nichols got in from 4 yards out. He then ran in the conversion to make it 14-0.
The half ended with Mosley dropping Owen for a big loss after the Panthers had managed a first down.
After recovering the fumble at the start of the third quarter, the Hornets marched 36 yards for a touchdown despite a pair of penalties, one of which wiped out a big gain. Facing a third-and-15, Nichols found a wide-open field down the left hash. The 26-yard burst set up a 13-yard touchdown pass to Braylon Brown. Stephen Fuller’s extra point made it 21-0.
The Panthers had picked up a first down on the subsequent series but, on a second-and-11 at their own 39, they tried to throw down the sideline. The ball was tipped right into the arms of Graham, who sprinted to the end zone, 36 yards away.
Fuller kicked the extra point and Cabot South tried it again on offense. A 21-yard run by Chris Roe was the Panthers’ longest game of the night. But, on the next snap to open the fourth quarter, Roe was cut down for a loss by Cornelius. Joshua Moore followed up with a sack of Owen.
Moments later, facing a fourth-and-14 from their own 39, the Panthers went to the air. Owen tried to throw deep, but Graham was stride-for-stride with the receiver and made an over-the-shoulder interception at the Cabot 36. He laced his way back the other way all the way to the end zone.
Fuller’s extra-point attempt hit the right upright and fell away no good, so the Hornets fell that much shy of invoking the mercy rule with 5:26 left in the game.
Blake Abney and Traylon Russ made stops for losses on Cabot South’s final drive. A holding penalty negated a run for a first down, however, and the Panthers ran out of downs with 1:37 left to play.
