Panther Game Preview Salt Bowl XXIV

SALT BOWL XXIV

BENTON PANTHERS VS. BRYANT HORNETS War

Memorial Stadium

Saturday, August 26, 2023

501-326-2700

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Good luck, Hornets and Panthers!

Benton linebackers bigger, Pummeling

By Tony Lenahan tlenahan@bentoncourier.com

The Benton linebackers have been a strong point for the Panther defense for years and that fact did not change last season when Benton reached the 6A state semifinals before falling late to the Greenwood Bulldogs, which pushed eventual champion Pulaski Academy to the limit before falling by a touchdown.

In fact, it was a young Benton linebacker which led Saline County in tackles. Now a junior, Walter Hicks was a sophomore when he tabulated 126 tackles, including 12 for lost yardage and eight sacks. Hicks also had an interception and fumble return for touch-

better going into 2023 Panthers

downs.

“Every kid is just instinctual,” said Benton Head Coach Brad Harris, a former defensive coordinator before taking over the head-coaching reins in 2016. “There are some that are more blessed, I guess you can say. He just has a nose for the football. He understands, reads things really well. He reacts and triggers, and is really fast to the football, fast on the field, and he can tackle. He’s kind of like a kid we had a couple years ago in Tim Dezort. He can tackle, man. Walter Hicks is that guy. You have to get him on the field. He got on the field and just showed out for us.”

Hicks credits his effectiveness on the field to his love of the game and hard work.

“I guess just I kind of find joy in trying to get better every day, working hard,” Hicks said. “I like to compete with other people my age to get better. I try to stand out and be a leader amongst them, too.

“They kind of say it’s the quarterback of the defense and I kind of like to be the leader out there. Also, you get to come downhill and hit anybody as hard as you can. I love it.”

Not only do the Panthers return Hicks as a starter, senior Chase Harding, who had 86 tackles, five for loss, also returns bigger and better, too.

“Chase is going to fit in really well,” Harris said. “He’s gotten big, he’s strong. He benchpressed 355 at the end of the year and power cleaned 325. He’s 6-0, 245, big, physical in the middle, man. He’s going to be a dude for us. When he puts his hands on you, you go down. He’s had a really good offseason.”

Harding is looking to go all the way this season after last year’s heartbreaking loss in the semis.

“Last year was pretty heart-breaking because we thought we had a good shot at going all the way,” Harding said,” but this year I think … almost everybody on our team has their mind set on a state championship and conference title. We’re all pretty pumped for this season coming up.”

Harding moves from weak side linebacker last season to middle this year, taking over for graduated starter Jake Jones, who put up 97 tackles a season ago. Not only was he an effective stopper last season, Harding credits his bigger frame for putting runners on the ground.

“I’d say definitely my size and strength,” he said. “It plays a big role whenever you have a running back running through the middle and they meet me in the gap and don’t go anywhere.”

The two returning linebacking starters will also get some help as senior Nick Wright will play weakside this year, with seniors Jake Herbner and Alvin Allen rotating in, to name a few.

“I think this year we just have a lot of depth,” Hicks said. “Me and Chase are returning starters. Chase is big as can be this year. He’s a good leader out there, as well, one of two senior linebackers out there. And then we’ve got Nick Wright and he can fly around and hit people.

“Then we’ve got Jack Johnson, Ty Matyja, they’re really good on the field. Alvin (Allen) is probably the strongest dude on our team, especially pound for pound. He’s very quick. He can fly around the field.”

“We have like a brotherhood,” Harding said. “We’ve known each other for a while, real close and all of us are strong. We’re all over the 1,300-pound club we have in the weight room. We just bond together really good.”

Herbner finished with 44 tackles last season rotating in, adding two sacks.

“He’s really aggressive, gets after it, really instinctual,” Harris said. “He’s competing for one of those spots right now.”

Not only are the Panthers trying to get the bad taste of their semis loss out of their mouth, but they are also trying to snap a long losing streak to their rival when they

open the season against five-time 7A state champion Bryant Hornets in the Salt Bowl on Saturday, Aug. 26, at War Memorial Stadium.

Herbner told of what playing in the Salt Bowl means to him.

“It’s pretty big,” he said. “We’ve all kind of celebrated it growing up and it’s real cool to play in it, especially these past two years. We’ve all gotten more involved these past two years and it just means something to everybody in the community.”

Wright recorded 31 tackles and three sacks last season and added, “I’ve been watching it since a little kid. I want to see Benton win. We haven’t won in a long time and it would be great to be on the field when it happens.”

In his final season to play in the Salt Bowl, Allen plans to enjoy every moment.

“It’s a game we’ve looked forward to probably since we were in elementary school,” he said. “You grow up going to it and watching the older kids play. You always dream of playing in it, and once you play in it, it’s kind of a surreal moment for you.”

According to Harding, the Panthers just have to work harder against a tough opponent.

“We really just have to outpractice and outplay Bryant,” he said. “Bryant is a worthy opponent. It’s a good chance for us to play a team we only get to play once a year at such a high scale. We’ve been extra conditioning at practice, putting the extra work in, everything we can to compete with a team that’s as high-caliber as they are.

As for the Salt Bowl itself, Harding said, “It’s a completely different atmosphere than anything else. It’s probably one of the biggest games in the state of Arkansas football, high school-wise. Just the fans coming out and cheering … there’s sometimes you can’t even hear the play call because the fans are so loud. It gets your heart pumping.”

Hicks attributes the losing streak to the Panthers getting into their own heads at times, but expects a perfect season if Benton does what it needs to do.

“I think a lot of it is just our confidence going into the game,” Hicks said. “We have to know we can win for us to win. A lot of people just kind of give up before it even starts. This year we have to hit them full speed.

“We just have to go win conference and then go win state. I don’t think we should lose a game this year if we play the best we can.”

It’s Benton’s year to topple rivals

Itwill no doubt be a tough task to take down the five-time reigning 7A state champs, but this is the Benton Panthers year to do it. The Panthers are currently on an eight-game Salt Bowl losing streak to rival state champion Bryant Hornets, and haven’t won since sweeping the Salt Bowl and beating Bryant in the playoffs in 2005, tying 14-14 in 2014, but Benton has the personnel to do it in Salt Bowl XXIV.

The Panthers return a proven quarterback in Cline Hooten who exceeded expectations when he took over the starting job midseason due to an injury. Benton has and excellent 1-2 punch at running back with 4-star Arkansas commit Braylen Russell, leading Saline County in carries, yards and touchdowns while playing with a broken bone in his foot last year, and Chris Barnard, the would-be starter if not for Russell, who averaged 11.2 yards per carry. Benton also returns a talented receiving corps led by juniors Maddox Davis and Elias Payne, the best receiving duo in Saline.

Though the Panthers lost a couple studs on the defensive side of the ball, they do return eight starters led by Peyton McNeely on the line, Saline County leading tackler Walter Hicks and Chase Harding at linebacker, and Barnard and J. Thomas Pepper in the secondary, which improved every game last season with three starters back. The Panthers return 4 of the 6 leading tacklers in the county from a year ago, who are even better this year.

Obviously the Hornets have proven they are not slouches, but former Bryant Coach Buck James went to Conway over the summer, and though new coach Quad Sanders led that Hornet defense to those five titles, the Panthers could take advantage of even a little tweak to the Bryant system.

The Hornets also won’t have state championship game MVP quarterback Gideon Motes, who will concentrate on baseball, and defensive lineman TJ Lindsey, with almost 30 scholarship offers from major DI programs, transferring to IMG Academy. Bryant also lost county tackle-for-loss leader defensive lineman Tyler Mosley to graduation.

While the Bryant defense seems to reload every year, those are two huge losses to overcome. Benton gets the best of Bryant, 27-17.

Tony Lenahan

TONY’S TAKE

Aug. 26 vs Bryant (Salt Bowl)

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Panthers try to snap skid vs. champs

By Tony Lenahan tlenahan@bentoncourier.com

The Benton Panthers dominated the Bryant Hornets through the first 25 years of their rivalry, which began with the Panthers shutting out the Hornets 28-0 in 1974. In fact, Benton held a 22-3 advantage over the Hornets after beating their rivals 17-14 in 1998. But since then, it’s been all Bryant. The Hornets have gone 21-2-2 with a 42-7 victory over Benton in 1999 and winning 44-17 in Salt Bowl I in 2000 before last year’s 38-17 Bryant win in Salt Bowl XXIII, its eighth straight over the Panthers since a 14-14 tie in Salt Bowl XV. Both of the Panthers wins since 1998 came in the same year, 2005, a 14-7 victory in Salt Bowl VI and 35-28 win in the playoffs. The two teams also tied 34-34 in Salt Bowl IV.

So with the early Benton dominance and late Bryant supremacy, the two teams are

now tied 24-24-2 in their 50 career games against one another. The Panthers have a chance to keep the once big edge over the Hornets, or Bryant to turn a new page in the 50-year rivalry with Salt Bowl XXIV at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock on Saturday, Aug. 26.

This year’s matchup should be a good one as the five-time reigning 7A champion Hornets return 13 starters, eight on offense, including senior running back James Martin, who led the Hornets with 707 yards and 17 touchdowns on the ground. They also return Saline County’s leading receiver in Mytorian Singleton, who had 46 catches for 716 yards and eight TDs last year, not to mention an experienced quarterback in junior Jordan Walker, who passed for 1,786 yards and 18 TDs, and also a threat to run. Though losing some key cogs on the defense, Bryant still returns some playmak-

ers as five starters return. Both Bryant and Benton are predicted to win their respective conferences as the Panthers were just a late TD away from reaching the 6A title game for the first time since 2019 last year and return 14 starters this season. It starts with senior 4-star Arkansas Razorbacks commit Braylen Russell, who led the county with 1,668 yards and 26 TDs on 244 attempts, while also catching over 20 balls. Senior Cline Hooten was exceptional as the starting quarterback for the last half of the season throwing for over 1,300 yards and 11 TDs. Hooten has fast receivers to throw to, too, as junior Maddox

Publisher:

Rhonda Overbey

Editor:

Randal Seyler

Designer:

Tony Lenahan

Davis had 45 receptions for a county-leading 720 yards with five TDs, and junior Elias Payne, who is questionable for the Salt Bowl, catching 31 for 469 and five TDs.

The Panthers also return eight defensive starters, including linemen Peyton McNeely and Ian Alvarez, linebackers Walter Hicks and Chase Harding, and secondary players Chris Barnard, J. Thomas Pepper and Gary Rideout.

This season’s Salt Bowl is themed “Salt Season” and kicks off at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 26, at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock.

STAFF

Writers:

Tony Lenahan

Josh Briggs

Photographers:

Rick Nation

Tony Gatlin Photo.

Jimmy Jones

Tony Lenahan

Advertising Representatives:

Glenn Waits

Brodie Dunnahoo

Lisa McElrath

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