Bryant earns first state title, defeats North Little Rock

In front of 20,631 at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock, Bryant took down defending Class 7A state champion North Little Rock 27-7 on Saturday night for its first state championship.

“They’ve got a heck of a football team. They beat us up last time,” said Bryant Coach Buck James of North Little Rock, who won the teams’ first meeting 34-28 on Oct. 26. “They hit us in the mouth. We bled. We spit blood out. We didn’t like it.

“You have to be as physical as them. You have to be where you’re supposed to be. That’s what our kids did.”

Senior running back Latavion Scott rushed for 153 yards and 3 touchdowns on 31 carries to lead the Hornets (11-2). He scored on runs of 33 yards and two 1-yard runs.

North Little Rock (12-1) saw its 25-game winning streak — the state’s longest entering Saturday — come to an end at the hands of the Hornets. The Charging Wildcats were limited to a season-low 187 yards and turned the ball over twice.

“It was their night,” North Little Rock Coach Jamie Mitchell said. “They were better than we were.”

After a scoreless first quarter, Bryant took a 7-0 lead with 8:16 left in the second quarter on Scott’s 33-yard touchdown run.

North Little Rock forced Bryant to punt with 1:38 left before halftime. Sophomore Austin Ledbetter’s punt was muffed by North Little Rock’s Oscar Adaway at the Bryant 30 and Hornets wide receiver Hayden Schrader recovered at the 35-yard line.

With seven seconds left in the second quarter, Scott scored from one yard out to make it 13-0, but sophomore Brock Funk’s point-after attempt was no good.

Bryant extended its lead to 20-0 with 5:36 left in the third quarter on Scott’s second 1-yard run of the game, which was set up by Ledbetter’s 23-yard pass to senior wide receiver Grant Botti to the North Little Rock 2.

The Charging Wildcats pulled within 20-7 with 3:56 remaining in the third quarter on sophomore quarterback Kareame Cotton’s 12-yard touchdown pass to senior tight end Drew Martin.

Bryant sealed the victory with senior defensive end Nate Wallace’s 78-yard fumble recovery return for a touch- down after teammate Kajuan Robinson sacked Cotton.

Junior running back Brandon Thomas led the Charging Wildcats offensively with 146 yards on 15 carries.

This is James’ second state championship as a head coach, having also led Camden Fairview to a Class 5A title in 2012.