Photo by Kevin Nagle
Most high school coaches will tell you, there are three seasons for their teams, the non-conference games, the conference schedule and the post-season.
But, at Bryant and Benton, particularly in football, a case could be made that there are four. There’s the three listed above and, beyond that, there’s the Salt Bowl when the Hornets and Panthers play each other at War Memorial Stadium with between 20,000 and 30,000 people on hand, all number of festivities and a media blitz leading up to the contest.
It’s a highly emotional week for both communities, kind of surreal for the coaches and more of both this year because of stunning tragedy. (There will be a moment of silence during the pre-game tonight to remember the late Ray Davis, who was a sophomore defensive tackle at Bryant).
It’s anybody’s guess on how the game will turn out.
Back before it became “The Salt Bowl” with the huge trophy on the line as well as the usual bragging rights around the county, the two teams played each other at the end of the season. Recently, there was a two-year stint when it was the fourth week when the two teams opened conference play against each other. But, for the most part, in “The Salt Bowl” era, they’ve opened the season against each other.
Tonight will be the 16th Salt Bowl. In the previous 15, the Hornets have won 12 lost one and twice the teams have tied including last year’s 14-14 deadlock that probably inspired the Arkansas Activities Association to change the rule on non-conference games with no overtime.
There will be no tie this year.
Ironically, both teams went on to great heights last year as the second, third and fourth seasons evolved. Bryant had one of its most successful seasons earning nine wins (only the 2010, 2004 and 1999 teams won nine or more previously) and reaching the second round of the Class 7A playoffs before being narrowly defeated by eventual champion Bentonville’s comeback effort.
Ironically, that all came about despite the loss of a key player to injury in the Salt Bowl. Receiver, running back, return man Brushawn Hunter wound up being lost for the season.
As for the Panthers, they went unbeaten after the tie all the way to the Class 6A State championship game before losing to league rival Pine Bluff.
Both coaching staffs did a great job of getting their teams past the Salt Bowl and on to what are really more important games down the line in conference play and the playoffs.
Asked about getting the players to keep the season in perspective in light of the Salt Bowl, Benton coach Scott Neathery said, “It’s hard to do. To them, it’s a big deal. Everywhere they go, someone asks them about the Salt Bowl. So it’s a big deal for these kids growing up in Benton and Bryant. A lot of them are friends, work out together and hang out together. But that game, they want to beat each other.
“It is what it is,” he continued. “You try to keep it in perspective but for that night, it’s the only thing that matters. The next week, you forget about it and go on. And then next week is the biggest game that matters. The good thing is, it’s the first ballgame of the year so we play it, get it over with, all the hoopla — now get ready for the season, get ready for conference and all that stuff.”
Key players return for both teams and it would not be surprising if the “#UnfinishedBusiness” that has been touted as part of the pre-game hype may not be settled until the last stages of the contest.
Both coaches emphasized the importance of the early stages of the game.
“Benton had a great year last year,” Bryant head coach Paul Calley noted. “They’re confident. That makes them dangerous. In order for us to win, we have to start fast. If we start slow and have to play from behind, we are not a big-play offense. We’re a ball-control, grind-it-out, keep-our-defense-off-the-field type of offense. If we go three-and-out a couple of times and they get possessions, it’s not going to bode well for us.”
Said Neathery, “You don’t want to make big mistakes starting out. It being the first game of the year, that’s what scares you. It doesn’t matter who you play, the first game of the season, much less a game on this stage, you really worry about that.
“A couple of years ago, bam, bam, bam, we made three huge mistakes and we spotted them 21 points,” he recalled. “We fought back and made it a ballgame but if we wouldn’t have done that (made the early mistakes), it would’ve been a much better ballgame. So, we’re going to make sure to try not to make mistakes starting out. That’s the biggest key.”
The Benton coach also pointed to the battle in the trenches.
“O-line, d-line on both sides of the ball,” he related. “That’s where it’s going to be won. They’ve got some huge kids on the o-line, that’s for sure, and they’ve got a good d-line as well. That’s where the ballgame’s going to be won.”
Neathery has said he feels those are big assets for his team.
“I think it’s their strength as well,” he stated. “I think it’s a huge match-up. Whoever can win that I think will win the ballgame. Both of us run the spread-style stuff but it doesn’t matter what you run, you’ve got to depend on your o-line and your d-line getting after it. If they don’t get after it, if they don’t play hard, you’re not going to win. At the end of the day, it’s not 7-on-7, it’s football and you’ve got to win the line of scrimmage.”
“Field position is always a key,” Calley said. “Momentum is a key.”
Getting more specific, he added, “Number one, we can’t have lost yardage plays. That hurt us in the scrimmage (against Pulaski Academy on Aug. 25). It hurt us last year at times. When we were slowed offensively, it was lost-yardage plays.
“Number two, we can’t give up third-and-long situations defensively. We did that against Benton last year; too many third and longs. I want to say there were seven or eight third-and-over-six that we gave up. We cannot do that. It can’t happen.
“And we cannot get caught up in — we can’t have any stupid penalties,” he continued. “This is a rivalry game. Things happen. There’s a lot of jawing and usually it’s not our guys that instigate it but we always seem to get caught retaliating.”
Asked what his team needs to do to avoid those pitfalls, Calley addressed each one.
“It’s execution offensively to avoid the lost-yardage plays,” he stated. “We’ve had this game plan in. We’ve worked longer on this than we have ever in my tenure. We’ve spent more time on this game plan. We have to execute. It’s a good game plan. We just have to make sure we don’t make mistakes. Is it complex? Yes. Do our guys have to think a little bit? Yes. But we’ve always done that offensively. Our guys have to be smart.
“They’ve done well this week,” the coach noted. “When the pressure gets on — all those (Bryant) linemen are seniors but they’ve never been under this kind of pressure before — you hope that the things they’ve been taught will stick with them.”
Calley continued, “Defensively, we’ve got to get pressure on the quarterback. If we can’t get pressure on the quarterback, we’ve got to get hands up. We’ve got to take throwing lanes away. We’ve got to make it hard for him and the least like seven-on-seven as we can, especially on third down. If we drop back and play zone defense, they’ve thrown and caught the ball enough, they’re going to find an open area. We can’t allow that to happen.”
He concluded, saying, “We have to concentrate on us and we can’t get caught up in everything that’s being said around us. Self-discipline — last year, we didn’t always have it. And it was always somebody different. Somebody would seem to snap.
“It goes back to me and not really putting enough pressure on them in practice. I guess I’m getting old, my voice is getting weak and I just don’t scream and yell as much as I used to. I hope they’re aware enough at the situation and disciplined enough not to hurt their team.”
