Bryant not fazed by underdog role
Posted on Thursday, November 20, 2008
Calley
BENTONVILLE — Bryant coach Paul Calley admitted earlier this week that his Hornets played with a chip on their shoulder in beating Springdale 22-13 in the first round of the Class 7 A state playoffs.
It wasn’t so much that the Hornets were picked to lose but the lopsided scores that fans and some media were predicting, including one spread of 35 points.
“ We haven’t won every game over the last two years but we’ve been competitive, ” said Calley, who’s in his sixth season at Bryant with a 45-20-3 record. “ I can’t ever remember getting beat by 35 points. ”
It proved to be motivation for the Hornets, who intercepted Missouricommit Ashton Glaser four times and tailback Chris Rycraw rushed for 212 yards against the Bulldogs.
But then again Bryant (8-3 ) has been proving the naysayers wrong all season.
The Hornets were picked by the 7 A-Central coaches to finish sixth in their league after Bryant lost 18 starters from last year’s 8-2-1 team.
During the course of spring ball, the summer and the 2008 season, Bryant has lost its top three quarterbacks on the depth chart. Sophomore Caleb Milam, who took over in Week 9 at the starter, will be under center Friday as the Hornets travel to Bentonville for Friday’s 7 A quarterfinals at Tiger Stadium.
Senior Ethan Powell was projected to be the starter this year but suffered a seasonending knee injury in spring practice.
Junior Jimi Easterling quarterbacked the Hornets until Week 8 when he tore tendons in his foot and was lost for the season. He had passed for 768 yards and rushed for 221 more before the injury.
Then sophomore Blake Davidson, who replaced Easterling, shattered his index finger the next week against North Little Rock and also was lost for the season, forcing Milam into the scheme.
The Hornets haven’t asked much of Milam, who’s completed 9 of 20 passes for 84 yards.
“ If you look at their earlier films, before they lost all their quarterbacks, they were spinning it around the ballyard pretty good, ” said Bentonville head coach Barry Lunney.
The Hornets will have Rycraw —who’s rushed for 1, 385 yards on 257 carries (5. 3 yards per carry ) — take a direct snap in the spirit of the ever-popular Wildcat formation.
Calley said the Hornets are doing anything and everything they can to find ways to move the ball on offense and so far the Hornets have done it.
“ They’ve made a transition to do what they had to do to be successful, ” Lunney said. “ I give them a bunch of credit because it isn’t easy making that transition. They had to shift horses in the middle of the river, so to speak, and they’ve done a remarkable job with it. ”
After losing to Cabot 14-0, Bryant has reeled off three straight wins against North Little Rock (14-13 ), Little Rock Central (22-13 ) and Springdale (22-13 ).
“ With the and different things we had to deal with, I think it says a lot about the character of our football team to be able to overcome those things, ” Calley said.
The Hornets have only given up 141 points all year for an average of 12. 8 points and only 220 yards per game. Those stats are similar to Bentonville, which has given up 116 points (11. 6 ppg ) and 245 yards per contest.
The Hornets are led on defense by senior defensive back Dijon Benton (6-foot-1, 180 ), who was named to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette’s preseason All-Arkansas team. He has four interceptions, including three in the season opener against Benton at War Memorial Stadium. Junior cornerback Logan Garland leads the team with five interceptions while senior linebacker Austin Humbard is the all-time leader at Bryant with 323 tackles.
The Hornets have forced 22 turnovers on the year.
Offensively, Bryant is averaging 22. 1 points and 269 yards per contest.
The extra element for the Hornets is their kicking game where senior Austin Bradley has connected on six field goals, including three field goals against Springdale.
“ They’ve got a real good kicking game, ” Lunney said. “ When you play good defense and you have a good kicking game, you’ve got a real good chance to win football games that way. ”
Playing Bentonville, the No. 1-ranked team in Class 7 A and the 7 A-West champion, Calley knows his Hornets will be thrown into the underdog role once again this week.
“ Definitely, ” he said. “ We should be. (Bentonville ) should be the favorite and it’s welldeserved. They’ve earned it. ”
But as Bryant showed last week against Springdale, being the underdog can sometimes have its advantages.
FEEDBACK:
Something to say about this topic? Submit a Letter to the Editor online
