Lopsided Victory
10 TDS, 3 by special teams, gives Bryant 23rd straight
BRYANT 70, LR SOUTHWEST 0
LITTLE ROCK — Following a forced bye in Week 6 after Little Rock Central canceled due to COVID-19, the Bryant Hornets (6-0, 3-0) got back to business Friday as they dominated Little Rock Southwest (0-4, 0-1) on the road by a final of 70-0. The victory was Bryant’s 23rd straight, dating back to 2018.
“I thought we played well,” said Head Coach Buck James. “I thought our kids had a lot of energy. They played hard and we had things that we wanted to work on. We got a 2-minute drill in and our special teams performed well. Overall, I am proud of our kids. I thought we were pretty sharp after being off a week.”
The Hornets jumped on Southwest literally from the start, forcing a fumble on the first play of the game.
Two plays later, the Hornets were up 7-0 after running back Xavier Foote rushed in from 16 yards away with 11:32 left in the first quarter.
A short time later, Bryant would be up 14-0 after taking the rock 70 yards
in a 1:03 span as senior gunslinger Austin Ledbetter found Hayden Schrader for a 41-yard TD strike with 7:26 still to go in the opening frame.
Following another Southwest punt, Bryant again would score in a little over a minute, going 40 yards in four plays as the Ledbetter/schrader connection played déjà vu, this time from 12 yards for a 21-0 lead at the 51-second mark of the first.
With no answer from the Gryphons, the Hornets continued its dominance, scoring in 32 seconds as Ledbetter found junior receiver Blake Everett from 12 yards away. Bryant led 28-0 with 10:33 left in the half.
Aside from an explosive offensive output, the Hornets special teams had a great game, including one of three touchdowns on Southwest’s next series — a blocked punt recovered in the end zone by Carter Moore for the 35-0 advantage.
Bryant would quickly be up 42-0 on its next series, scoring on another Foote TD run from 8 yards out.
With its defense rolling, Bryant’s offense, too, continued its dominance, adding another TD with Jamarien Bracey trucking in untouched from the 6 with 24 seconds left in the half.
With the score looking to be locked in and headed into halftime, Bryant had other plans as Robert Hendrix recovered the muffed kickoff in the end zone for a second special team’s touchdown and a 56-0 Hornets lead.
To add insult to injury, the Hornets returned to the field in the second half and immediately continued its scoring barrage as Jordan Knox returned the third-quarter kickoff 85 yards for the score after initially fumbling the kick.
Bryant would lead 63-0 early in the third.
The Hornets three special teams touchdowns had James excited following the game.
“That was our second-team kick return squad,” James said. “They get reps in practice like the ones do, but when (Knox) fumbled the snap and they overpursued, he has enough speed that you aren’t going to catch him. We scored three times on special teams and that is huge.
“I think our kids do a really good job of understanding the importance of special teams and I think Coach Pendergrass does a phenomenal job with those guys. That is an important job of our football team.”
The Hornets would turn the ball over on downs its first drive of the half before backup quarterback Carson Burnett rushed in for the 5-yard score later in the half, capping the score at 70-0.
Bryant gained 404 yards on 32 plays while its defense gave up only 108 on the night.
Ledbetter finished his night completing 11 of 15 pass attempts for 213 yards and three scores — all in the first half.
The ground game saw four rushers with Bracey and Chris Gannaway both leading with five carries and 58 yards each. Foote followed with three touches for 38 yards and a pair of scores.
Receiving, Knox and Schrader both gained 53 yards through the air, combing for five catches. Schrader’s two
TDS gives him five on the season.
Eight different receivers would catch passes in the win.
Looking at the rest of the regular season, Bryant enters its “toughest stretch,” with Cabot, North Little Rock and Conway remaining.
“This stretch here is a very important run,” James said. “Those three teams that we’ve got coming up, you can’t overlook one from the other. This is the meat and potatoes of our schedule and we’ve got to stay healthy, number one, and we’ve got to keep getting better. I don’t think we have peaked yet. I feel like we can get better and execute.”
Cabot did not play in Week 7 as Little Rock Central canceled its third straight game.
North Little Rock defeated Little Rock Catholic 49-10, while Conway got past Fort Smith Northside easily, winning 48-12.
James added that there were as many as six sophomores starting on both sides of the ball Friday, many of which had never started a game in their careers.
Kickoff against Cabot in Week 8 is set for 7 p.m. and will follow homecoming festivities, which begin at 6:30 at Hornet Stadium.