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Bryant braces for Cyclones after passing by Zebras
The winner will put themselves a game ahead of everyone else in the conference. Bryant comes in 4-0-1 and Russellville is 3-2 after upsetting the Little Rock Central Tigers 23-0. The Hornets beat Pine Bluff 30-12. "They're very, very good on defense," Pine Bluff head coach Bobby Bolding said after facing Bryant. "They were very impressive, even more so than they were on film. I thought their defense was the difference." Bolding echoes the statements made by Bryant's opponents all season. The Hornets defense is led by long time veteran Bryant defensive coordinator Steve Griffith. "They just have a very good defense," Bolding said. "That's all I can tell you. I said that their defense is what scared me the most and you saw why. They are for real."
The Hornets forced three Zebra turnovers, allowed just one offensive touchdown and limited Pine Bluff to just 49 rushing yards on 22 carries. The Zebras threw two interceptions one by Claude Johnson and one by Sebastian Stargell in their own terri- tory in the first quarter, giftwrapping six points from Bryant kicker Austin Bradley, who kicked three field goals and three extra points on Friday. Bradley kicked another field goal with 5:19 to play in the first to put Bryant up 9-0, but the Zebras answered immediately. Mostly ineffective during its first three possessions, it took just two plays for the Pine Bluff offense to strike on a 60-yard touchdown. The two-point conversion attempt failed, making the score 9-6 after a quarter. Parker threw his first touchdown of the game an 8-yarder to Jake Jackson and stretched the margin to 16-6 with 11:26 to go in the half. However, a defensive play kept Pine Bluff in the game for the time being. After a Zebra punt, Parker made his only mistake of the night, when Pine Bluff linebacker Martez Glass picked off a Parker pass. Glass returned the interception for a 58-yard score. After a failed two-point attempt, the Hornets led just 16-12. The momentum Pine Bluff had from Glass' play would soon vanish, as Parker directed a 7-play, 73-yard scoring drive that ended with his 10-yard touchdown pass to Jackson with 50 seconds to play in the first half. The score put Bryant's advantage at 23-12 going into halftime, and the Zebras wouldn't threaten again. "That was a big score," Bolding said. "We came out and stopped them on their first possession of the second half, then we drive all the way down the field and throw a pick. If we score right there, it's a different ball game." The lone score of the second half was a 28-yard touchdown toss from Parker to Kaleb Jobe with 30 seconds to play in the third quarter. The real story of the second half was the Bryant defense. The Hornets swarmed on the Pine Bluff offense during the second 24 minutes, limiting the Zebras to just 81 total yards and no points. Score by quarters
Scoring summary 1st 10:35 Bryant - Bradley 27-yard field goal 1st 7:49 Bryant - Bradley 34-yard field goal 1st 5:19 Bryant - Bradley 39-yard field goal 1st 3:30 Pine Bluff - Johnson 60-yard pass to Mayo (conversion failed) 2nd 11:26 Bryant - Parker 8-yard pass to Jackson (Bradley kick) 2nd 4:38 Pine Bluff - Glass 58-yard interception return (conversion failed) 2nd :50 Bryant - Parker 10-yard pass to Jackson (Bradley kick) 3rd :30 Bryant - Parker 28-yard pass to Masters (Bradley kick) |
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