Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Hornets top Bulldogs
LaTavion Scott rushed for 195 yards as Bryant held off Fayetteville 28-25 in the quarterfinals of the Class 7A playoffs.
BRYANT — Senior tailback Latavion Scott carried 23 times for 195 yards and the go-ahead touchdown late in the third quarter as Bryant held off Fayetteville 28-25 in the quarterfinals of the Class 7A playoffs Friday night at Hornet Stadium.
Bryant (9-2) will host 7A-Central rival Fort Smith Northside in next week’s semifinals. Bryant, which will be making its third consecutive semifinal appearance under coach Buck James, won the weather-shortened regular-season meeting 16-7 on Sept. 21 at home.
Fayetteville (9-3) had a chance to send the game into overtime, but junior Huxley Richardson’s 23-yard fieldgoal attempt missed wide right after being tipped by senior Jakob Neel with 19 seconds remaining.
The outcome being decided, literally, by a fingernail wasn’t surprising since the schools’ three previous meetings — all in the last year — were decided by one point, including a 36-35 Fayetteville decision Sept. 14 at Hornet Stadium.
“Isn’t it a heck of a rivalry?” James said. “It’s two evenly matched teams. You hate that somebody has to lose that game. We could have lost it as easily as we won it. We could have been in overtime and lost it.”
Trailing 14-10 at halftime, Fayetteville opened the second half with a nine-play, 67-yard drive capped by junior wide receiver Beau Stuckey’s 2-yard touchdown run with 8:46 remaining in the third quarter.
The Hornets, 7A-Central’s No. 2 playoff seed, regained the lead for good, 21-17, after Scott ran 63 yards for a touchdown with 4:47 remaining in the third quarter.
Fueled by a 43-yard pass completion from senior quarterback Ren Hefley to sophomore wide receiver Hayden Schrader, Bryant extended its lead to 28-17 on a 2-yard touchdown run by junior tailback Ahmad Adams with 8:19 remaining in the game.
Fayetteville followed with a 14-play, 76-yard drive, ending on a 9-yard touchdown pass from senior quarterback Darius Bowers to junior wide receiver Connor Flannigan with 3:28 remaining. Bowers swept left end for two points to make it 28-25.
After forcing a three and out, Fayetteville drove from its 45 to the Bryant 6, where Bowers threw incomplete on third down with 23 seconds remaining.
Neel, from the middle of the line, then re-directed Richardson’s field-goal attempt from the right hash mark on fourth down.
Hefley finished 10 of 24 for 158 yards and 2 touchdowns. Bowers completed 26 of 37 passes for 275 yards and 2 touchdowns. The Bulldogs, 7A-West’s No. 3 seed, finished with a 385-369 advantage in total yardage.
Richardson had given Fayetteville a 3-0 lead on a 20-yard field goal with 6:15 remaining in the first quarter. Hefley threw a 13-yard touchdown pass to Schrader and a 65-yard touchdown pass to senior wide receiver Josh Robinson in the second quarter to give the Hornets a 14-3 lead.
Fayetteville made it 14-10 at halftime on a 7-yard touchdown pass from Bowers to Stuckey with 1:32 remaining in the second quarter.
“It was a good game,” Bulldogs coach Billy Dawson said. “It’s two good teams. That’s what you get.”