Healed Hefley, Bryant erase 20-point deficit
BRYANT — Ren Hefley missed Bryant’s final four games of the regular season because of a left collarbone injury.
On Friday night, the junior quarterback returned to help his team overcome its largest deficit of the season.
Hefley engineered the game-winning drive in the fourth quarter for the Hornets, who defeated Fayetteville 21-20 at Bryant Stadium in the Class 7A quarterfinals despite trailing 20-0 at halftime.
Senior Kris King’s 1-yard run and sophomore Grayson Scoles’ extra-point attempt gave the Hornets a one-point lead with 43 seconds left. Fayetteville had an opportunity to win the game, but junior quarterback Darius Bowers was short by 1 yard on fourth and 4 at the Bulldogs 42 with 12 seconds remaining.
Bryant (10-1), the No. 2 seed from the 7A-Central Conference, will travel to 7A-West Conference champion Bentonville for a semifinal game Friday.
“Those guys played their hearts out,” Bryant Coach Buck James said. “They showed a lot of pride and character, that’s what they did.”
As for Fayetteville (7-5), for the first time since 2014 there will be a new champion in Class 7A.
“They’re a good football team, but we handed it to them in a paper basket,” Fayetteville Coach Billy Dawson. “We had every opportunity to win the football game, there is no doubt.”
Hefley, who did not start Friday but took every snap in the second half after two series in the first half, led the Hornets on a 12-play, 54-yard drive that began with 3:14 remaining and his team trailing 20-14. The drive was set up by a bad snap on a punt attempt by Fayetteville sophomore Huxley Richardson.
On the game-winning drive, Hefley threw two thirdand-10 passes for first downs — one to senior Brandon Murray for 10 yards and another to junior Randy Thomas for 14 yards. Thomas’ reception gave Bryant a first down at the Fayetteville 22 with 2:19 left. Five plays later, King scored from 1 yard out.
“Coaches were calling good plays. Everybody was open,” said Hefley, who was injured in Bryant’s Week 6 game at Little Rock Central. “It all just came together.”
Hefley completed 8 of 21 passes for 104 yards and 1 touchdown.
“It was great,” Hefley said. “I was so blessed to come back out here and play.”
James was pleased with Hefley’s performance.
“It just shows you what type of character he has,” James said. “The guy is taking a chance and a risk being out here. Ren loves his football team. He cares about them. He’s a leader. He does it by example. There’s not enough accolades for him.”
Senior running back Latavion Scott finished with 110 rushing yards on 28 carries for the Hornets.
Junior quarterback Jake Meaders, who started Friday night and filled in for Hefley over Bryant’s final four regular-season games, passed for 43 yards and threw two interceptions.
Fayetteville built its firsthalf advantage with Bowers tossing scoring passes of 23 yards to senior Cody Gray in the first quarter and 16 yards in the second quarter to sophomore Connor Flannigan. Bowers added a 19-yard touchdown run in the second quarter.
Bryant began chipping away at Fayetteville’s lead in the third quarter, with King’s 6-yard touchdown run pulling the Hornets within 20-7 at the 7:19 mark. Then, with 11:52 left in the fourth quarter, Fayetteville senior running back Dan Hinton fumbled at the Bryant 28 and senior defensive back James Polite recovered.
The turnover led to Hefley’s 29-yard touchdown pass to Thomas as Bryant cut the lead to 20-14 with 7:22 remaining.
Bowers completed 18 of 35 passes for 250 yards with 2 touchdowns and 1 interception and added 93 rushing yards and another score on 16 carries. Flannigan led the Bulldogs’ receivers with 8 receptions for 81 yards and 1 touchdown.