Bryant defeats North Little Rock 21-7 to earn back-to-back state titles
The Bryant Hornets won back-to-back state championship with a 21-7 victory over North Little Rock Friday night at War Memorial Stadium.
Bryant won the toss, but deferred to the second half. North Little Rock drove the ball down the field on their first possession before Liam Selhorst missed a 45-yard field goal.
Bryant went three and out on their first possession of the game, but forced the game’s first turnover with 3:59 left in the opening quarter when Darrick Rose picked off a Kareame Cotton pass on the two-yard line to keep the Wildcats out of the end zone.
The Hornets had to punt the ball away five plays later, but picked off their second pass just two plays following the punt when Austin Schroeder picked off Cotton at the Hornet 43-yard line.
Arkansas State commit Ahmad Adams took the next play 26-yards to the Wildcat 27, followed by a 21-yard run by Tanner Anderson that set up a six-yard pass from Austin Ledbetter to Tre’Vun Herron for the first score of the game with 18 seconds remaining in the opening quarter. Brock Funk’s PAT gave Bryant the 7-0 lead.
Both teams swapped possessions before Bryant put together their second scoring drive of the night when Ledbetter connected with Jake Meaders on a 26-yard pass with 6:02 remaining until halftime. Funk’s PAT gave the Hornets a 14-0 advantage, which they would take into the locker room.
The Hornets went three-and-out to begin the second half. North Little Rock then had a six play, 55-yard drive that was capped off by a 21-yard pass from Cotton to Bralin Battles with 8:53 remaining in the third quarter. Selhorst’s PAT pulled the Wildcats within seven at that point.
“It is a different ball game if it is a seven-point ball game,” said Bryant head coach Buck James. “We had the two stops down here in the end zone that was huge. We got the fumble recovery and the stop, and we held them on the field goal, too. They had three or four opportunities where they could have scored, and it would have changed the whole ball game all together. But our kids were resilient. They played hard. Our defense, they bent a lot, but they didn’t break.”
The Hornets answered with a seven play, 80-yard drive that was capped off by a 17-yard pass from Ledbetter to Meaders with 7:20 left in the third quarter. Funk’s PAT gave the Hornets the 21-7 advantage.
North Little Rock appeared as if they would have another successful drive on their next drive, going 62-yards on 11 plays, but Brandon Thomas fumbled and Bryant’s Tanner Wilson recovered on the one-yard line with 5:39 remaining in the third quarter.
Bryant was able to control the final quarter, as both teams went scoreless for the remainder of the game to finish with an undefeated season and the Class 7A state title.
The Hornets put up 309 total yards of offense, to include 203 yards through the air, while the Hornet defense forced four turnovers – including three interceptions and a fumble recovery.
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