Hornets earn ugly win on road, defeat Fort Smith Northside 48-7
FORT SMITH -- The Bryant Hornets (3-1, 1-0) kicked off 7A Central action with a win Friday night, despite an ugly and sluggish first half.
Coming off a bye week, Bryant traveled to Fort Smith Northside in Week 4 and won 48-7.
“It is always good to get the win, but ugly it was,” said Head Coach Quad Sanders. “Most of it was self-inflicted. That’s what we have to get cleaned up as a team.”
Rain continued into the night on Friday, but not water falling from the sky. Instead, penalty flags pointing at Bryant slammed the ground most of the night as Bryant was penalized 13 times for nearly 150 yards.
Northside was whistled twice, one being an unsportsmanlike conduct foul following a touchdown in the first half.
“I think all (the flags) came from one referee,” Sanders added.
The win comes on the heels of the Hornets first loss in 55 games against Arkansas teams, a onepoint defeat to Parkview in Week 2.
Bryant started strong with a Drake Fowler interception on Northside’s first snap of the game before driving down for a 21-yard field goal to lead 3-0 with 8:41 to go in the first. Punts would be traded the next three combined drives before Fowler snatched another interception in the frame.
Bryant would lead 3-0 after one quarter.
After not seeing any time in the opening frame, running back
James Martin entered and quickly exited as he fumbled on his first carry with Bryant deep in Grizzlies territory.
Northside would punt back before Bryant went 49 yards on five straight completions from quarterback Jordan Walker. The gunslinger would hit Mytorian Singleton for the 13-yard score with 7:49 to go in the half. Bryant would lead 10-0.
The Hornets would add to the lead with another Walker-singleton connection, this time from 16 yards away. The pass would narrowly miss the fingers of two Northside defenders as Singleton picked the ball off the turf.
Bryant would lead 17-0 with 4:04 to go in the second.
Walker would continue to light things up through the air, hitting Carter
Ratliff for an 18-yard touchdown with 1:48 to go in the half.
Ratliff also made possibly the catch of the night with a one-handed grab for a big first down earlier in the game.
Bryant would lead 24-0. Wanting to get to halftime to catch a breath and slow down, the Hornets would be forced off the field following a Walker interception.
The Hornets defense would see its only miscue of the night moments later as Northside scored on a 15-yard pass and catch to trim the Hornets lead to 24-7 with under a minute to go.
Chaos looked to be forming as pushing and shoving drew a flag on Northside following the score.
Bryant would immediately follow with a 15-yard penalty on the ensuing kickoff before heading into the break.
Already with a big lead, the Hornets turned things around for the better in the second half, quickly scoring out of the gate on a 55-yard bomb to Cason Trickey for the score. Bryant would lead 31-7 with 10:39 to tick in the third.
Northside’s offense in the second half consisted of two more interceptions and four punts.
“Defense played well tonight,” Sanders said. “We got much-needed turnovers and capitalized on opportunities that we had missed previous games. That’s big.”
Bryant would add a 27-yard field goal and touchdowns from fourth and fifth running backs Myron Thrash and Collin Robinson.
Thrash and Zekariah Kertis Jones would hold down the ground duties in the second half, combining for 128 yards for the Hornets.
“We are loaded at the running back position,” Sanders said. “If something happens to James or Daniel we won’t miss a beat. They all can run.”
Walker would not play much of the second half, ending his night with well over 350 yards passing and four touchdowns through the air.
“They loaded the box on us to stop the run and it was something they hadn’t shown,” Sanders said. “We just started throwing the ball like we should have. You can only stop one so you have to choose. If you are going to stop the run then stop the run. If you are going to stop the pass then stop the pass.”
Bryant’s ground game
was held in check in the first half, mainly due to Daniel Anderson going down with an injured leg.
Sanders said the severity of the injury is unknown at this time.
“That is big,” Sanders added. “We are really going to need him down the stretch.”
Sophomore quarterback Jeremiah Motes played important minutes in the second half, taking over for Walker in the third.
“We have to keep both
of them ready to play,” Sanders said. “Whenever you can get quality reps out of them you have to do that. Right now, Motes is where Jordan was last year. We have to get him quality reps so he can be ready to go when we need him.”
Anderson was seen on crutches on the sideline following his exit.
The Hornets return home in Week 5 with a visit from Jonesboro as 7A Central action continues.
Sanders is familiar with Jonesboro after signing a contract to be the program’s head coach in the offseason.
However, the resignation of Buck James at Bryant led the former Hornets defensive coordinator back to Saline County shortly before the start of the 2023 season.
Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. at Hornet Stadium.