No. 1 Bryant routs Fort Smith Southside

BRYANT — Bryant might have been missing its starting quarterback, but the top-ranked Hornets had enough in their arsenal to handle Fort Smith Southside 30-19 on Friday night.

Backup quarterback Jake Meaders replaced injured starter Ren Hefley and completed 18 of 27 passes for 264 yards and 1 touchdown, and the Bryant defense held the Mavericks in check for much of the game to pick up 30-19 victory in 7A-Central Conference play at Hornets Stadium.

Junior running back Latavion Scott carried 19 times for 101 and 1 touchdown for Bryant (7-0, 4-0), which sputtered on offense early before getting in gear and pulling away.

“A win is a win,” Bryant coach Buck James said. “We played just well enough to win. Defensively, I thought we played well, especially on that goal-line stand there in the third quarter.

“But we’ve got to play better for four quarters.”

Bryant finished with 410 yards of offense in its first game without Hefley, who is expected to miss at least the remainder of the regular season after suffering a broken collarbone last week against Little Rock Central. If Bryant is able to get a first-round bye in the Class 7A state playoffs, it will buy the junior an extra week to heal, but Meaders showed he was more than capable of picking up the slack.

The sophomore misfired on his first three passes but went 13 of 16 for 201 yards the rest of the first half to give the Hornets 17-3 lead at intermission.

“I thought he did good for his first high school start,” James said. “Southside did some things that didn’t allow him to get loose on the things that he does well, but you’ve gotta give credit to them. They’ve got a good defense.”

Junior quarterback Taye Gatewood finished 14 of 29 passing for 183 yards, 1 touchdown and 2 interceptions for Southside (1-6, 0-4). Junior wide receiver Tyrese Solomon caught 7 passes for 163 yards and 1 touchdown.

Southside, which has lost four games in a row, grabbed a 3-0 lead on senior kicker Conner Robles’ 35-yard field goal with 2 minutes, 19 seconds left in the first quarter. Bryant took its first lead with 10:51 remaining in the second quarter on an 11-yard touchdown run from senior utility back Cameron Vail, capping an 11-play, 77-yard drive.

The Hornets later upped their advantage to 14-3 on Meaders’ 40-yard scoring toss to senior wide receiver Brandon Murray at the 3:23 mark of the quarter and took a 14-point lead into the locker room on junior kicker Martin Ramirez’s 20-yard field goal with 20 seconds left in the half.

The Mavericks took the opening kickoff of the second half and moved 90 yards but were stopped on four consecutive plays after having a first-and-goal on the Hornets’ 1-yard line. Bryant capitalized by driving 85 yards in 18 plays and got a 28-yard field goal from Ramirez to open up a 20-3 lead.

Scott’s 24-yard touchdown run with 9:37 to go in the fourth quarter made it 27-3 before Gatewood found Solomon for a 29-yard touchdown with 7:02 showing. Ramirez added a 23-yard field goal with 1:12 left in the game to push Bryant’s margin to 30-11, but junior returner Ricardo Savoy returned the ensuing kickoff 84 yards for a touchdown to get the Mavericks closer.