The Bryant Hornets had a dominating performance against the Benton Panthers in the 2020 Salt Bowl at War Memorial Stadium, earning a 48-7 victory after jumping out to a 42-0 halftime lead.
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The Hornets racked up 511 yards of offense compared to the Panthers 260 yards.
Bryant head coach Buck James gave his thoughts on how his team performed.
“I’m proud of the way we bounced back and played,” said James. “We didn’t play particularly well on defense early, but we were able to make some stops and gave our offense some momentum. I bet they held onto the ball for 17-18 minutes in the first half, and we scored 20 points with just having the ball for a few minutes in the first half. I think we can improve on what we did defensively.”
James gave credit to the effort Benton put out in the game.
“They are a good offensive football team,” said James. “They have some weapons and for our team to do what they did and respond the way that they did, I think it gives us something to build on.”
The Hornets got their first score on an 18-yard pass from Austin Ledbetter to Joseph Young with 2:48 remaining in the opening quarter. A blocked PAT gave the Hornets the 6-0 advantage.
Ledbetter finished the night 8-of-14 passing for 232 yards and 4 touchdowns, while Young finished with 3 receptions for 153 yards and 3 touchdowns.
After holding Benton on their next possession, Bryant struck pay dirt again on a 63-yard run by Jamarien Bracey with 37 seconds remaining in the first quarter. Brock Funk added the PAT to put the Hornets up 13-0.
Bracey, who transferred to Bryant from Rison in the offseason, finished the night with three carries for 96 yards and a touchdown on offense. James spoke about Bracey and his other running backs.
“He is a very talented young man,” said James. “He played linebacker for us tonight and played on special teams and when he got the ball he was electrifying. I’ve said it all along, I think we’ve got three of the best running backs that I’ve ever coached, and those guys responded tonight. We didn’t run the ball well in our scrimmage, but when we can run the ball like that it will open up our passing game.”
Benton went three-and-out on their next possession. The Hornets struck again on a 23-yard run by Tanner Anderson on the first play of the second quarter. Funk’s PAT gave the Hornets the 20-0 advantage.
Anderson finished the game with 6 carries for 73-yards and a touchdown.
Benton was able to drive the field on their next possession, but stalled at the 16-yard line. They would attempt a 33-yard field goal, but a bad snap killed any chance of a kick and allowed the Bryant defense to force an end to the play.
The Hornets then went on an 8-play, 77-yard drive that was capped off by a 15-yard touchdown run by Anderson with 4:28 remaining in the first half. Funk’s PAT gave Bryant the 27-0 advantage.
After holding the Panthers once again on defense the Hornets struck on a 74-yard touchdown pass from Ledbetter to Young. Ledbetter then connected with Hayden Schrader for the two-point-conversion to give the Hornets the 35-point advantage.
Benton’s Casey Johnson fumbled on the Panther’s first play of the next possession, and Bracey recovered the loose ball for the Hornets. A 20-yard pass from Ledbetter to Schrader with 43-seconds remaining in the half gave the Hornets the 42-0 advantage, which they enjoyed at the half.
The Hornets scored their final points on the second play of the third quarter on a 62-yard pass from Ledbetter to Young.
Benton was able to get on the board on a 15-yard pass from Garrett Brown to Cameron Harris with 10:15 remaining in the game. A successful PAT brought us to the final score of 48-7.
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