Junior linebacker is ‘physical tackler,’ coach says
BRYANT — When Buck James took the reins at Bryant in the spring of 2016, freshman Jakob Neel immediately came to the coach’s attention.
“Our defensive coordinator had tagged him to watch,” said James, who led Camden Fairview to its only state championship in 2012. “He’s a guy who showed up in the weight room as a ninthgrader, in summer practices and in two-a-days.
“You could just tell he’s a different cut of kid than generally what you have as a sophomore. Then he showed up this year basically as our leader on the defense.”
Neel, a 6-1, 220-pound junior linebacker, led the Hornets to their second straight Class 7A state-semifinal finish, matching their best showing ever.
The two-year starter is the
Defensive Player of the Year for 2017.
“He’s a big strong kid who can run,” James said. “He does a really good job in the coverage game. He runs extremely well for a guy his size. He’s a very good weightroom guy and a smart kid.
“He is really a physical tackler. When you watch him tackle, the runner generally goes backward.”
Neel was Bryant’s leading tackler in 2017 with 126 — 50 more than any other Hornet. He also led in sacks with 5 and was seventh with 5 tackles for loss. He broke up 3 passes to rank fifth.
Bryant has consistently been one of the s tate’s better programs, having won 7A- C e nt r a l s t at e championships in 2010, ’11 and ’13, and 59 games since 2009. The Hornets won seven in 2012 but recorded nine-win seasons in ’14, ’15 and ’16.
But they had never advanced past the state quarterfinals.
James took over the program after Paul Calley (10341-4 and five league titles in 13 seasons) moved to Haskell Harmony Grove.
“It was not in bad shape when I got here,” James said. “I thought we had to get stronger. I thought we had to get in better shape, where we could play harder and play longer and try to eliminate injuries.
“Just doing that alone has helped us.”
Neel bought in to the new philosophy immediately.
“The coaches before were good, but Coach James works us harder,” he said. “He’s more determined, and that makes us more determined. That’s the difference.”
Neel said that from the beginning, he was just trying to get bigger and stronger in order to play as a sophomore.
“I played every game as a sophomore,” he said. “I put on a little bit of weight, but it was really from my sophomore to junior season that made the difference. I put on 20 pounds just from the weight room and eating right.”
Neel said the semifinal appearance during his sophomore season, when the Hornets fell to North Little Rock, changed the program.
“That showed we were more serious about it,” he said. “It set a standard for Bryant. That’s what we’ve got to do every year. It’s like an expectation now. This year, we wanted to win the state championship.”
In 2017, the Hornets started 8-0 before losing their 7A-Central showdown with North Little Rock, 25-14. They finished the regular season 9-1 after a 42-31 win over Conway that secured the league’s second seed to the playoffs.
After a first-round bye, the Hornets beat Fayetteville, the defending state champion, in the quarterfinals, 21-20. But they lost in the semifinals, 44-14, to Bentonville, top seed from the West and state champion in 2010, ’13 and ’14.
Despite the year’s success, Ne e l sai d the loss was disappointing.
“It’s just sad to lose in back-to-back semifinals,” he said. “Everybody was wanting to go further, so it’s motivation for next year, big-time.”
Neel, who sports better than a 3.0 grade- point average, said he would love to play collegiately. James said he has already drawn interest from some Division II schools.
For his senior season, Neel said, his individual goal is to increase his speed. The team goal, of course, is to win that elusive state championship.
“We did good and stuff last year, but we have high expectations,” he said. “That’s making us work harder because we don’t want to feel that again.”
The Hornets graduated 28 seniors, but Neel’s class will outnumber that one.
“Next year will be a good year,” James said.