Bryant/Cabot lock up in titanic 7A-Central matchup

By Jeff Halpern | Photo by Jimmy Jones

Nothing gets the attention of football fans, players and coaches than a matchup between No. 1 and No. 2. 

That is the case Friday night when the top two teams in SB Live’s Arkansas rankings meet. The No. 1 Bryant Hornets (6-0, 4-0 7A-Central) host the No. 2 Cabot Panthers (6-1, 4-0) at Everett Field at Hornet Stadium.

“We’ve been through the situation the last five years and the Cabot-North Little Rock-Conway gauntlet is a tough stretch,” said Bryant head coach Buck James, whose team has won the past four state championships and has won its last 47 games against In-state competition. “We need to go out and do what you’re supposed to do. We have a lot of lofty goals and expectations. This is why you play high school football. You know both teams and their communities are going to be excited and it’s a great challenge.”

The winner stays in first place in the 7A Central. Bryant still has to play North Little Rock (4-3, 3-1) and No. 2 Conway (6-1, 3-1). Cabot closes the season against Fort Smith Northside (3-4, 2-2) and North Little Rock.

Cabot head coach Scott Reed, whose team jumped from No. 5 to No. 2 in the SB Live Arkansas rankings when it defeated No. 2 Conway 35-20 on Oct. 7 knows the chance to win the 7A-Central is right in front of him, but also knows his team has plenty of big football games left on the schedule.

“I don’t like to get wrapped up in all of those things because we know we have to play very well every week and we have two more big games against Fort Smith Northside and North Little Rock and we haven’t beat North Little Rock in a while,” said Reed. “This is a big game when it comes to seeding, but any way you slice it, we feel like we have a lot of football left to play.”

Bryant, who had a game against Denton (Texas) Ryan canceled due to lightning on Sept. 2, has outscored its opponents 202-52. Its closest victory was 20-10 over No. 13 Little Rock Parkview on Sept. 9.

“They are very good again,” said Reed. “I think they are very solid in every area. They run the ball well, have solid tacklers and don’t get get out of position. Every week, it looks like they are in control. Offensively, they are balanced and explosive and there’s a reason they haven’t lost a game to an in-state team in four years.”

The Hornets are led by sophomore quarterback Jordan Walker, who has thrown for 1000 yards with 11 touchdowns and 3 interceptions. James Martin leads the Hornets in rushing with 324 yards and 8 touchdowns while Chris Gannaway has 238 yards and 5 touchdowns. Mytorian Singleton leads the Hornets in receptions with 22 catches for 317 yards and 4 touchdowns.

On defense, seven players have at least 20 tackles. Defensive lineman Tyler Mosely leads the team in tackles with 30 tackles including 8 for losses. Fellow lineman T.J. Lindsey had 29 tackles including 3 for losses. Linebacker Jaylon Brown and Ethan Primus lead the team with 2 interceptions.

With five of the Hornets games being decided by at least 19 points, James said he has been able to give his backups a lot of work in the second half of games.

Cabot is led by quarterback Abe Owen, who has thrown for 786 yards on 56-of-119 attempts with 6 touchdowns. He’s also rushed for 446 yards and 10 touchdowns. Evion Jimmerson leads the Panthers in rushing with 781 yards and 8 touchdowns. He’s also caught 5 passes for 143 yards and 1 touchdown. Hayes Cox leads the Panthers in receiving with 15 matches for 222 yards. Gavin Reardon has 11 catches for 93 yards and 2 touchdowns.

On defense, Gavin Vest leads the Panthers with 29 tackles. Defensive back Andrew Rohauer has 27 tackles and linebacker Logan Eason has 24 tackles, 8 for losses and 2 interceptions.

“Cabot is good for a reason and they are a strong physical team looks like a Scott Reed-coached team and I’ve been going against him since he was at El Dorado and I was at Camden Fairview,” said James.

Reed said his team has to be balanced on offense. Against Conway, the Panthers ran the ball for 245 yards on 48 attempts, but he said they threw the ball 34 times in a 31-28 victory over Fayetteville. Reed said running the ball worked against Conway which likes to play at a fast pace, but balance is needed against Bryant.

On defense, he said his team needs to be disciplined and play in space. Reed said after the Conway game that his team is playing the best defense it has in the six years he’s been at Cabot.

“Bryant and Conway are two different teams and every week your scheme changes,” said Reed.

Cabot held Conway to 69 yards rushing and held quarterback Donovyn Olomo to 135 yards passing on 20-of-38 attempts and intercepted 2 passes. The Panthers also recovered 2 fumbles.

James his team has to control the line of scrimmage. He likes the way his offensive line, which has four new starters has come together. He wants his team to be able to run the ball, stop the run and force Cabot to defend the field horizontally and vertically and keep penalties and turnovers to a minimum.

“Cabot is a lot bigger than us on both sides and controlling the line of scrimmage is vital,” said James. “If they run the ball, then that opens a lot of things up. We have to be disciplined because Cabot likes to use a lot of eye candy on offense.

“We’ve played in a lot of big games over the years, and It’s a big deal. We’re not going to do anything different.”

Reed said, “When you look at Bryant and what they’ve done is impressive. They’ve had the target on their back and have dominated 7A like no one has done in a while.”