By Rob Patrick
Photos by Rick Nation
It’s good to know that, even with the new artificial surface, the magic of the enchanted North end zone at Bryant Stadium is still that way.
When the battle between the Bryant Hornets and the Conway Wampus Cats wound up being contested in overtime at the North end, longtime Bryant fans had to know it was all going to work out. Something strange and wonderful would happen and the Bryant Hornets would win.[more]
And, sure enough, in the second overtime, after the Hornets had held Conway to a field goal, junior running back Jacob Powell slashed off left tackle on a third-down play and reached the lip of the goal-line. As he lunged with the ball outstretched, straining to break the plane, the ball came loose.
If Conway recovered, the Wampus Cats would have a victory and keep their unbeaten record intact.
But this was, after all, in the enchanted North end zone at Bryant Stadium. And, lo and behold, Hornets senior Marcus Harris was there to cover the ball in the end zone for a touchdown.
Bryant had won.
The officials started to leave the field as Bryant students and fans charged onto it to celebrate. Then someone realized that, at the end of the season, when every point may count in a tiebreaking situation (particularly with the new convoluted playoff seeding system), that an extra point needed to be attempted.
The field was cleared and when the teams were called back out onto the field, many of the Conway fans began to celebrate, thinking that the initial ruling had been overturned, that Powell had been ruled down short of the end zone and Bryant was going to have to go for it on fourth down.
It was particularly confusing when the Conway players remained stationary on the sideline while Bryant celebrated.
But, as it turned out, the extra point was all that was left. Jace Denker booted it and the final was officially 34-30.
Hearken back now to the 2008 season when the Hornets were hosting the North Little Rock Charging Wildcats. Overtime came after the teams battled to a 7-7 tie and the following is my account from the late Bryant Times newspaper including a little of the history of the North end zone magic:
At the coin toss to start the overtime between the Bryant Hornets and the North Little Rock Charging Wildcats, both teams had their plans. Most in that spot win the toss and choose to play defense first so they know what they need to do when they take their turn to try to score from the opponent’s 10-yard line. The other team then chooses which end of the field to play on.
Often that comes down to where the footing might be best or which way the wind is blowing or where the scoreboard is. And when North Little Rock won the toss and chose to play defense as expected, the Hornets didn’t hesitate to choose the north end zone but it wasn’t for any of those reasons.
“We knew if we got the choice we’d be going to that end zone,” acknowledged Bryant defensive coordinator Steve Griffith, “That’s the enchanted end zone, where we always seem to come up with a big win. It just seems like every time there’s a big play at the end of a game for us, it’s happened in that north end zone.”
It happened again.
The Hornets scored on their first play, a 10-yard run by Chris Rycraw, taking a direct snap in a variation of the popular Wildcat formation. North Little Rock, in turn, got the end zone in three plays, consecutive runs by tailback Michael Tillman behind the Charging Wildcats’ massive offensive line and bowling ball fullback Marcus Fields (5-7, 240).
On the extra-point attempt, however, the snap was behind holder James Kelley, who did a great job of reaching back and getting the ball on the tee. But the timing was messed up and kicker Kyle Cromer pulled the ball wide of the uprights to the left and the Hornets celebrated another north-end-zone victory.
“It’s just been a good spot for us and we wanted to come back down there and play,” Griffith noted.
“We were due for something good to happen,” added head coach Paul Calley. “That’s our lucky end zone.”
The enchantment, if you will, dates back to the season that turned around the Bryant program, 1999. The most memorable of many noted victories in that 10-0 regular-season campaign came in a shootout with Pine Bluff, a team Bryant had never defeated. It was a watershed moment that season. Both teams were 4-0 but Pine Bluff, led by quarterback Mark Bradley who went on to fame with Oklahoma and is currently playing wide receiver for the Kansas City Chiefs, was ranked sixth in the state and the Hornets, 14 years removed from the program’s last winning season, were not.
Bryant would rack up 541 yards of offense and force seven turnovers. They piled up a 35-0 lead at the half but Pine Bluff came storming back in the third quarter and got within 41-31 with 10 minutes still to play in the game. The Zebras had the momentum and the football after recovering an onside kick near midfield. On a third-down play, Bradley overthrew his intended receiver deep down the right side and Matt White intercepted, returning 67 yards to that north end zone to stem the tide.
White, who rushed for 204 yards on the night, would add a 42-yard run for a touchdown (to the north end zone) late in the game to cap off the wild 55-31 Bryant win.
White was also a key figure in a triple overtime win by the Hornets over Lake Hamilton in 2001.
All three overtimes were played on the north end and White scored in the first extra period and in the third, putting the Hornets ahead 37-31. In the second OT, the Hornets had to score on a fourth-down play from the 9 to keep the game going and quarterback Lance Parker rolled out to find Jonathan Jameson for the score that sent it to the third extra period.
This time, Bryant scored first on White’s 1-yard plunge set up by a 14-yard pass from Parker to Zach Cardinal. But the extra point was no good leaving the door open for the Wolves to win it with a touchdown and extra point. Lake Hamilton used a halfback pass only to have Brandon St. Pierre intercept in the back of that north end zone to end it.
The next year, the No. 1-ranked Conway Wampus Cats with their thunder and lightning run game featuring speedy Kevin Wardlow and powerful Peyton Hillis who both went over 1,000 yards rushing that season. Hillis, of course, went on to star for the Arkansas Razorbacks and is a rookie this year playing for the Denver Broncos (now the Cleveland Browns).
In another overtime game played at the north end of Bryant Stadium, Conway got the first stab at scoring and reached the 2 where, on third down, the 6-1, 235-pound Hillis got to the lip of the goal line where he met Bryant’s 5-11, 170-pound safety Bryan Griffith who somehow denied him the end zone.
The Wampus Cats lined up to go for it on fourth down but a procedure penalty backed them up to the 6 and they decided to attempt a field goal that was somehow missed. Bryant brought on its own kicker Todd Bryan who drilled his kick to win it 36-33.
Perhaps the most noteworthy of the north end zone charms came on a damp October night in 2004. The defending state champion Little Rock Central Tigers, on their way to a second title in a row, came to Bryant riding a 19-game winning streak. Their vaunted defense had allowed just 3 points in their first five games but the Hornets found a way to build a 15-7 lead going into the fourth quarter on a pair of touchdown pass from Anthony Mask to Richie Wood and a field goal by Bryan.
But Central rallied in the fourth quarter, trimming the lead to 15-13 with just under 10 minutes left. The Hornets held on until late in the game. Central, down to probably its last possession after a goal line stand earlier in the quarter by the Bryant defense, drove for a go-ahead touchdown with Mickey Dean taking it into the south end zone from 11 yards out with 1:46 to go.
It looked like the Tigers would escape with their winning streak and national ranking intact but Mask, who was 30 of 54 passing in the game, hit Wood with a couple of short throws and the Hornets converted a fourth down as they marched to the Central 15. A clutch catch by Brandon Butler out of the backfield converted a third down to get them there with less than 30 second to play.
But three incompletions followed and the Hornets were down to their last snap. Mask rolled slightly to his right and rifled a pass to Dustin Holland, who had pulled up between a pair of Central defenders a yard beyond the goal line. Holland grasped the throw and Bryant had regained the lead with :08.3 showing on the clock.Bryant won it 22-19. It was the only loss over more than two seasons for Central.
Even last year (2007), the north end zone proved to be the scene of another dramatic win. In what turned out to be a game for the championship of the 7A-Central Conference, Bryant and Russellville had battled to a 7-7 deadlock. Late in the game, Bryant made a defensive stand and the offense got one last chance to win it in regulation. Key runs by Aspen Trevino and a pass from Logan Parker to Jake Jackson fueled the drive. But they needed a leaping, spinning catch by Taylor Masters to get to the 17 with 39 seconds left. Parker centered the ball on the field with a 2-yard keeper and the Hornets let the time roll down to :03.7 before calling their final timeout.
Despite a pair of “icing” timeouts by Russellville, Austin Bradley came on to drill a 33-yard field goal out of the hold of Ethan Powell to win it.
There have been others, but one more can definitely be added to the list on an “enchanting” Halloween night in 2008.
One more time, too, in 2010.
