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Class 7A State Championship Review: Bryant 27, North Little Rock 17
Class 7A State Championship • 2020 • War Memorial Stadium B BRYANT 27, NORTH LI ITTLE R ROCK 17
Attendance 7,828 • Sunny 58 degrees • Kickoff noon • Time 2:30
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DECEMBER 5, LITTLE ROCK —
The James Gang rode into history on a sunny Saturday afternoon.
The Bryant Hornets and head coach Buck James completed a perfect season with a 27-17 win over North Little Rock for the Class 7A championship before 7,828 at War Memorial Stadium.
Bryant finished the season 13-0 for its third-straight state title, marking the first three-peat in the state’s largest classification since Pine Bluff in 19931995.
“I told our coaches that I know how good one felt and how good two felt, I couldn’t imagine how three’s going to feel,” James said. “We’ve got a chance to four-peat. That gives these guys in the offseason a chance to come back and do some great things themselves. It leaves a legacy. That’s what high school athletics should be about.”
The Hornets also finished the season with a 30-game winning streak, the longest in the state’s largest classification since Little Rock High, and Central, won 35 straight from 1955 into 1958.
Bryant started the season No. 1 in the Arkansas Sports Media Poll, stayed No. 1 throughout and finished at the top to become the first team to do that since the legendary Springdale Bulldogs of 2005.
“I saw them play,” James said. “They were a very good football team. The thing I’m proud of is we’ve done it three times in a row. They did it once. They did it with a bunch of college football players. We did it with a bunch of good high school football players.”
The Hornets applied the Arkansas Activities Association’s Sportsmanship Rule, which starts the game clock State Championship Numbers 10
Perfect seasons in the state’s largest classification since its merger into the playoff format in 1983, including 2019 and 2020 by Bryant 83
Offensive touchdowns scored by Bryant, including 42 rushing and 41 passing during the season
running continuously once a team leads by at least 35 points in the second half, eight times during the season and 18 times during the past two seasons.
Bryant also finished No. 24 in the nation in the final High School Football America ranking and No. 29 in the final Maxpreps ranking.
The Hornets did it all behind a balanced offense that finished with 3,088 yards and 42 touchdowns rushing and 3,215 yards and 41 touchdowns passing, an unprecedented feat of balance in the state’s largest classification. Six times during the season, Bryant had at least four touchdown runs. Seven times, the Hornets had at least four touchdown passes.
“I think our balance is the reason why I’m talking to you right now,” James said. “We could run the football as well as throw the football.”
Quarterback Austin Ledbetter guided Bryant to undefeated seasons as a junior and a senior, throwing for 3,085 yards and 41 touchdowns against just four interceptions as a senior and 7,006 yards and 96 touchdowns in his career.
“I will go on record as saying he’s probably the best quarterback to play in Arkansas history,” James said. “The guy’s a winner. He hasn’t lost a game since the nine-grade year. He’s a leader among men.”
When Bryant drubbed North Little Rock, 58-21, in a 7A-Central game in October, Ledbetter threw for 534 yards and five touchdowns. Faced with the same prospect six weeks later, North Little Rock had to try something different.
“We went to a three-man front to really shore up against their passing game,” North Little Rock head coach J.R. Eldridge said. “We limited them a little bit, but it gave them more opportunities to run.”
The Hornets simply turned to its ground game and ran the ball 42 times for 274 yards and all four of their touchdowns in the title game.
Bruising running back Tanner Anderson answered with 18 carries for 146 yards and scores of 7 and 25 yards in earning the game’s Most Valuable Player award. Jamarien Bracy added 14 carries for 94 yards and touchdowns of 9 and 10 yards.
Bryant led 20-0 with 2:03 left before halftime before North Little Rock scored on Fredrick O’Donald’s 2-yard scoring run with eight seconds left in the half.
MOST VALUABLE PLAYER Tanner Anderson ■ RB ■ Bryant BURLSWORTH AWARD WINNERS Rodricho Martin ■ DE ■ Bryant Deandre Jones ■ OL ■ North LR
BRYANT OFFENSE QB Austin Ledbetter SR RB Tanner Anderson SR WR Clay Curtis SR SR Cory Nichols SO LT Will Diggins JR LG Jason Shifflet JR C Jack Powell SR RG Parker Elswick SR RT Brooks Edmonson JR SR Hayden Schrader SR WR Robert Hendrix JR PK Brock Funk SR NORTH LR DEFENSE DE Marcus Stovall JR NM Braxton Johnson JR DE Isiah Jones SR OLB Tavion Akins JR ILB Robert Burgess SO OLB Deontae Young SO DB Ricky Reed SR CB Amarion Williams SR CB Randall Abrams SR S Davian Vayson JR S Zaylon Robinson SR P Liam Slehorst SR NORTH LR OFFENSE QB Kareame Cotton SR RB Fredrick O’Donald SR WR Jiquori Stewart JR SR Felix Wade JR LT Deandre Jones SR LG Brian Hobby SR C Zephaniah Williams JR RG Shamar Evans SR RT Corlis Farmer JR SR Jaylon Glosson SR WR Chris Jefferson SR PK Liam Selhorst SR BRYANT DEFENSE DE Brayden Godwin SR DT Brandon Jones JR DT Andy Scott SR DE Rodricho Martin SR OLB Koby Melton SR MLB Myles Alridge SR OLB Hart Penfield SR CB Kyle Knox SR CB LaQuav Brumfield SR S Austin Schroeder SR S Kaleb Knox SR P Noah Davis SR
CLASS 7A CHAMPIONSHIP STATISTICS
TEAM STATISTICS
BRYANT NORTH LR First Downs 22 18 Total Offense 58-401 60-289 Rushes - yards 42-274 41-205 Passes - yards 11-16-127 7-19-84 Fumbles Lost 0 0 Interceptions Thrown 0 2 Fourth Down Stopped 2 1 Penalties 5-25 5-55 Punts - Average 2-23.5 2-43.5 Big Plays (10+ yards) 17-290 12-208 Zero or Less Plays 12-(6) 19-(-24) Sacks By - yards lost 3-17 1-4 3rd Down Conversions(avg to go) 4 of 9 (5.7) 2 of 12 (8.2) 4th Down Conversions(avg to go) 1 of 3 (3.7) 3 of 4 (8.0) Punt, Int, Fum Returns - yards 2-56 1-(-1) Average Drive Start own 33 own 33 Points Off Turnover 6 0 Possession Time 25:18 22:42
