Class 7A State Championship Review: Bryant 21, North Little Rock 7

CLASS 7A CHAMPIONSHIP STATISTICS

TEAM STATISTICS

BRYANT NORTH LR First Downs 16 16 Total Offense 52-309 67-203 Rushes - yards 23-106 46-123 Passes - yards 16-29-203 7-21-80 Fumbles Lost 1 1 Interceptions Thrown 1 3 Fourth Down Stopped 0 1 Penalties 5-59 6-50 Punts - Average 7-32.9 5-37.6 Big Plays (10+ yards) 13-244 9-140 Zero or Less Plays 17-(-16) 30-(-48) Sacks By - yards lost 3-(-27) 3-(-15) 3rd Down Conversions(avg to go) 1 of 8 (14.4) 6 of 15 (9.5) 4th Down Conversions(avg to go) 0-0 0-1 (41.0) Punt, Int, Fum Returns - yards 5-31 4-33 Average Drive Start own 34 own 34 Points Off Turnover 7 0 Possession Time 17:56 30:04

STATISTICS BY MICKEY DOYLE

Class 6A State Championship • 2019 • War Memorial Stadium S SEARCY 28, BE ENTON 27

Attendance 10,722 • Partly Cloudy 46 degrees • noon • Time 2:47

DECEMBER 7, LITTLE ROCK —

The Lions wanted to be the best ever in Searcy history, and they are.

Searcy won its first official football state championship with the formula that worked two weeks in a row against the best from the 6A-West in beating Benton, 28-27, for the Class 6A title at War Memorial Stadium.

It was the first appearance in the state championship game for Searcy since losing to Crossett in 1984.

“It’s kind of surreal,” Searcy head coach Mark Kelley said. “We’re excited, but it will be a couple of days before it soaks in.”

Searcy claims a state championship in 1933 along with Russellville and El Dorado long before the modern playoff era. Searcy was 10-0 in 1933 with wins that included small schools like Gurdon, Lonoke, Cotton Plant, Walnut Ridge, and Augusta.

In 2019, the Lions had to beat the top two teams in the 6A-West in successive weeks to claim that title of best in Searcy history.

That included a 50-38 win over Greenwood, winners of the last two Class 6A titles and nine in all, in the semifinals. Searcy racked up 740 yards offense but needed two fourth-quarter interceptions by the defense to hold on.

“They’ve done really well, just like last week,” Kelley said. “We came out and played really fast offensively, then against a well-coached team they’ll make it difficult in the second half. That’s what they did. They stayed on the field with their offense, but we made just enough plays to get the win.” State Championship Numbers 1

Official state championships for Searcy 3

Turnovers by Searcy defensive back Daniel Perry, which included two interceptions in the end zone and a strip and recovery at the 1 1,193

Yards by Searcy in successive weeks against the top two teams in the 6AWest; Benton and Greenwood

In the championship game against the 6A-West winner, Searcy again jumped out to a halftime lead with three first-half touchdowns for a 21-7 cushion behind 316 yards of offense and 14 first downs.

Bryce Dixon threw touchdown passes of 7 yards to Dameon Young and 8 yards to Marlon Crockett in the first quarter.

After Benton’s Garrett Brown threw a 16-yard touchdown pass to Peyton Hudgins a minute into the second quarter, Young scored again on a 1yard touchdown run with 5:57 left before the half for the two-touchdown lead.

Benton scored to open the second half on Brown’s 22-yard touchdown pass to Casey Johnson, but Searcy pushed the lead back to two scores on another Young touchdown run, from two yards out, with 4:06 left in the third quarter.

Searcy looked to put the game away, holding Benton and driving to Benton’s 16 before Cain Simmons intercepted a pass and returned it 98 yards for a touchdown for Benton with 6:45 left. The score was negated due to a block in the back, but Benton scored seven plays later on Jaden Woolbright’s 2-yard run with 4:51 left.

“There were a lot of ups and downs, and we made just enough plays,” Kelley said. “We knew it was going to a fourquarter game and to just be ourselves, keep doing what we’ve done all year. We had a couple of chances to ice the game away and just weren’t able to get there. Then our defense stepped up again and made the plays.”

Benton’s Beau Wright recovered the on-side kick, and Johnson scored on a 20-yard touchdown run with 2:04 left that had the Panthers within, 28-27. Benton elected to go for two points on the conversion, and Brown’s pass intended for tight end Brett Barbaree was high in the back of the end zone.

“We felt like that gave us our best chance right there,” Benton head coach Brad Harris said. “We were in the red zone a lot and didn’t come away with points.”

Searcy recovered the next on-side kick, but punted with 62 seconds left.

Benton’s final heave from Searcy’s 32 was knocked down as time expired.

MOST VALUABLE PLAYER Bryce Dixon ■ QB ■ Searcy

BURLSWORTH AWARD WINNERS Colby Teasley ■ OL ■ Searcy Brett Barbaree ■ DL ■ Benton

SEARCY OFFENSE QB Bryce Dixon SR RB Johnson Guthrie SR WR Marlon Crockett JR SR Tanner Leonard SR SR Dallas Loftis SR LT Colby Teasley SR LG Damone Lockhart JR C Matias Acevedo SO RG Garrett Sheppard JR RT Dawson Casey SR WR Griffin Love SR PK Ethan Klegg SO BENTON DEFENSE DE Caleb Coffman SR NM Justin Walker JR DE Brett Barbaree SR OLB Monterio Mack SR ILB Jaden Woolbright SR ILB Bryce Golleher SR OLB Traevion Maxwell SR CB Austin Drewry SR CB Cade Clark SR S Gianni Vannucci SO S Cain Simmons SO P Preston Barker JR BENTON OFFENSE QB Garrett Brown JR RB Casey Johnson SO WR Braden Murdock SR LT Garrett Davis JR LG Austin Jones SR C Coby Reeves JR RG Tristan Red SR RT Kyree Watkins JR SR Peyton Hudgins SR SR Braxton Slaughter SR WR Jaden Nash SR PK Bryan Araujo JR SEARCY DEFENSE DE Garrett Osmon JR NM Demaceo Whittier SR DE Brock Hohenstien JR OLB Owen Steward SR ILB Hayden Mills SR ILB Branden Benson SR OLB Braden Dodds SR CB Jaquavius Robinson JR CB Daniel Perry SO S Kiley Parker JR S Reid Miles SO P Bryce Dixon SR