By Rob Patrick
Photos by Kevin Nagle
CABOT — The way it started, the freshman football game between the unbeaten Bryant Hornets and the unbeaten Cabot South Panthers looked like it might be one of those games in which the team that had the ball last might win. Between them, they scored 29 points in just the first quarter.
But, after that, there was only one other touchdown, a 77-yard run by Cabot South’s bruising fullback Keith Pledger on the first play of the second half. That proved to be enough to give the Panthers a 20-15 win.[more]
The Hornets moved the football every time they had it — they never punted — they just couldn’t hang onto it. Coming in, they’d turned the ball over just three times in four previous games but, on Thursday night, they suffered four turnovers to undermine their effort.
Against any team from Cabot, it’s usually crucial to take advantage of every opportunity because with the Panthers’ grind it out, clock-eating, game-shortening offense out of the winged-T, an opponent usually doesn’t get many.
Ironically, the Bryant defense didn’t allow the Panthers to hammer out long touchdown drives as the Panthers are wont to do. Instead, Cabot South scored on two big offensive plays — Pledger’s run and a quarterback sneak by Kason Kimbrell that broke for 55 yards and a TD — plus an 85-yard kickoff return for a touchdown by Chris Henry.
“We didn’t have a good week of practice and it showed,” mentioned Hornets head coach Kenny Horn. “I still think we’re better than them and I’d try them again next week to prove it. But it is what it is right now. They got us and we didn’t.
“Hopefully, more importantly, these kids will learn from it and when they go to playing Friday night games, they’ll remember that,” he added. “That’s what we’re here for.”
The Hornets freshmen will actually be playing at Conway White next Thursday.
Though the Panthers didn’t cash in any of their sustained drives, they were able to eat up enough clock to limit Bryant to just two second-half possessions. One ended with an interception, the other on a fumble, both in Panther territory. The last one came with just under three minutes to play after the Hornets gained possession on Cabot’s lone turnover, a fumble that Bryant’s Jimmy McCann recovered with 4:33 left.
Bryant took over its own 30 and quarterback Wesley Akers kept for 14 yards. A play later, he scrambled for 5 to set up a third-and-5 from the Hornets 19. Akers completed a pass at the right sideline by Colton Burton who broke a tackle, turned up the sideline staying in bounds and laced his way inside the Cabot 30. But, along the way, the ball was knocked out of his hands and the Panthers recovered at the 32.
Aided by a personal foul penalty that helped get them out of a first-and-15 situation, the Panthers drove to the Bryant 20 where they ran out of downs with :05 showing.
Bryant’s last-ditch effort, however, ended with a sack.
The Hornets were prepared for Cabot South’s onside kicks which they used almost every opportunity. On the opener, Madre London recovered for Bryant at midfield. Two plays later, Akers completed a 17-yard pass to Grayson Giles to get the ball to the 31. London then slashed for 7 yards to the 24. From there, Akers tossed to Giles on a bubble screen. Giles turned it into a touchdown.
Bryce Denker added the extra point after a penalty ended the Hornets’ two-point play before it got started.
Cabot South answered with a three-play, 64-yard drive that concluded with Kimbrell’s third-and-1 sneak that broke for an answering touchdown.
The Panthers were set to match Bryant’s point-after kick but when the Hornets jumped offsides before the snap, the ball was moved up to within two yards of the goal line. Cabot switched out the kicking unit for the offense and Pledger muscled into the end zone.
Pledger would finish with 145 yards on 16 carries.
The Panthers’ subsequent onside kick didn’t go the requisite 10 yards before being touched so Bryant had good field position again at the Cabot 49. They needed seven plays to regain the lead. London got the drive started with a 14-yard run. He would finish it with a 3-yard touchdown run. Along the way, Akers kept to convert a third-and-3 at the Cabot 28.
London added a run out of the Wildcat formation for the two-point conversion that had Bryant up 15-8.
On the ensuing kickoff, however, Henry got loose on a return for a touchdown that cut the lead to one point. But it stayed that way when the Hornets squelched the two-point conversion attempt. Austin May, Giles and Tanner Rich sniffed out the run.
Colton Burton recovered the next pooch kick at the Bryant 39 and the Hornets started another convincing drive, overcoming a holding penalty along he way. London had a run for 15 yards then Akers’ pass to Luke Howard converted a third down. The Hornets reached the Cabot 14 when, on a third down, Akers, on an option, tossed a pitch a little late to London who couldn’t control it. Cabot South recovered at the 15.
Sparked by a pair of tackles for losses by Jimmy McCann, the Hornets forced Cabot to punt — the only punt of the game, as it turned out. Kicking from the goal line, Pledger lifted a high kick to near midfield where Miller tried to haul it in only to have it drop. In a scramble, the ball reached the 28 where it was controlled by the Panthers’ Josh Mathis.
“We had them down in the first half,” Horn asserted. “Even when we fumbled we had them stuck down inside their 10. If we don’t fumble the punt right there, we have a chance to make it a two-score lead.”
For the most part, it just wound up costing the Hornets time because the defense stepped up again. On a third-and-1 from the 19, Giles, May, Tanner and Matt Mears piled up Zach Launius for a loss of 5. A fourth-down pass — Cabot’s only one of the game — was caught by Pledger but held to a yard. The ball went over on downs to Bryant with just 1:39 left in the half.
A dropped pass and a sack by Cabot’s Aaron Henry kept Bryant from getting anything going despite a 15-yard pass from Akers to Giles on the last play of the half.
To start the third quarter, Henry slipped down on the kickoff return and Cabot started from its own 23. But, on first down, Pledger bulled through the crowd at the line of scrimmage and bolted 77 yards for a go-ahead touchdown.
A two-point try fell so the Hornets were in good position to regain the advantage.
Keyed by a middle screen to London that broke for 24 yards, the Hornets overcame a holding penalty that created a second-and-25 situation. Akers kept to convert the first down but, a play later, he had to fall on the ball when it was knocked from his hands back at the 28. On third-and-13 from there, Akers’ pass was wrestled away for the intended receiver by Cabot’s Jake Vaughn with 3:47 left in the third quarter.
The Hornets defense made a bid to get the ball right back. But a major gamble by the Panthers head coach Lee Melder paid off. Despite being deep in its own end with a fourth-and-4 from their own 27, Launius got just enough for the first down.
Had the Hornets held, the offense would’ve returned to the field with very little real estate between them and a go-ahead score.
The Panthers used up the rest of the third quarter. Before the end of the period, however, a procedure penalty had them back at their own 41. Kimbrell was stopped for no gain then Amador Gaspar dropped Brendon Manley for a loss.
The Hornets caught another bad break — one that was hard to understand. Kimbrell attemped a pass under pressure and it was intercepted by Browning and returned to the Cabot 25. But, despite the fact that Browning was going for the ball and actually caught it, he was flagged for pass interference.
So, instead of Bryant in possession 25 yards away from a go-ahead score, the penalty had enabled the Panthers to convert that third-and-long with the automatic first down that comes with interference.
Cabot proceeded to drive to the Bryant 27 behind Pledger and the straight-ahead blocking of the stout offensive line. On second-and-3, however, Kimbrell bobbled the snap then fumbled it and McCann recovered for Bryant with 4:33 left to play, setting up Bryant last, best chance to put together a comeback.
CABOT SOUTH 20, BRYANT 15
Score by quarters
BRYANT 15 0 0 0 — 15
Cabot South 14 0 6 0 — 20
Scoring summary
First quarter
BRYANT — Giles 24 pass from Akers (Denker kick), 6:14
CABOT SOUTH — Kimbrell 55 run (Pledger run), 4:48
BRYANT — London 3 run (London run), 1:58
CABOT SOUTH — Henry 85 kickoff return (run failed), 1:40
Third quarter
CABOT SOUTH — Pledger 77 run (run failed), 7:36
Team stats
Bryant Cabot South
First downs 13 8
Rushes-yds 24-95 30-204
Passing 9-16-1 1-1-0
Passing yds 120 1
Punts-avg 0-00.0 0-00.0
Fumbles-lost 5-3 2-1
Penalties-yds 7-67 4-20
INDIVIDUAL STATS
Rushing: BRYANT, London 13-75, Akers 10-19, Miller 1-1; CABOT SOUTH, Pledger 16-145, Kimbrell 6-53, Henry 3-13, Stone 1-1, Launius 2-0, Manley 2-(-6).
Passing (C-A-I-Y): BRYANT, Akers 9-16-1-120; CABOT SOUTH, Kimbrell 1-1-0-1.
Receiving: BRYANT, Giles 3-56, May 2-12, London 1-24, Burton 1-19, Howard 1-11, Browning 1-(-2); CABOT SOUTH, Pledger 1-1.
