Nate Olson: Bryant/Conway matchup biggest in Arkansas high school football history
Do you know what was the most common question that was asked in the wake of Buck James leaving Bryant for 7A-Central Conference rival Conway? It wasn’t, “Why did he leave?” (Although that was a big one.) It wasn’t, “Who will be the next head coach?” It was, “When and where does Bryant play Conway this season?”
On May 30, just a few days removed from the end of school and a few days until the summer offseason for both teams began, everyone in 212 and Wampus Cat nations was ready for the two teams to collide.
Too bad, both sides would have to wait until the final week of the regular season at Conway. All fans were just hoping that neither team stubbed their toes along the way so the game would be for the undefeated, undisputed 7A-Central Conference championship. A game that Conway has lost twice the past two seasons with those stakes on the line. In fact, the Wampus Cats haven’t beaten the Hornets since 2014. That was before James even got to Bryant and began his string of 53 straight in-state wins and five 7A-Central Conference championships. James was 80-9 in seven seasons at BHS.
And now, this week, the entire state is watching as James faces his old team for a league title. It’s just as big, if not bigger, than we all thought it would be in the early summer. Both schools are selling out of pre-sale tickets and Conway officials are bracing for a capacity crowd. It will have the feel of a playoff or state championship game and be unbelievably electric.
Arkansas’ rich high school football tradition has had its share of big games through the years, but there is little doubt this one is the biggest. This one game really could change the course of history and one man who rewrote history at one school could do it at another while destroying the legacy he built.
What James did at Bryant was amazing. He took a solid program which hadn’t been to the playoff semifinals and made it a dynasty. Over a five-year span, Bryant was nearly unbeatable and notched five straight state championships. Heading into June, Bryant was almost a shoo-in to win a sixth, but that is when all heck broke loose.
James bolted for Conway to try to pull off the same magic he did in Bryant with a team that has seen its season end in the semifinals the past three seasons. If Conway wins Friday night, James takes a big step in leading the undefeated Wampus Cats to a state championship berth. A No. 1 seed would mean home-field advantage and two winnable games against 7A-West teams. A Bryant loss would be a roadblock in the Hornets’ path to Little Rock. The No. 2 seed would most likely have to travel to undefeated Fayetteville on Thanksgiving weekend to play Fayetteville and its high-octane offense led by Minnesota commit Drake Lindsey. Bryant hasn’t had to win a road playoff game during any of its five title-game runs. Beating Fayetteville would be a tough task.
So, if Bryant loses, the title streak might end. The consecutive winning streak against in-state opponents has already ended during a Week 3, 28-27 loss to Class 5A Little Rock Parkview. Could this game this week end the entire 212 dynasty? That is very possible.
Of course, first-year head coach Quad Sanders, the brilliant, decorated, former Hornets defensive coordinator, would be quick to point out that even a loss this week might not keep Bryant out of the title game. Five years ago, the Hornets suffered a loss to North Little Rock in the regular season and came back a few weeks later and beat them for the title. A playoff loss to Fayetteville or anyone before Little Rock? Bryant has talent stockpiled for a few years to fuel more runs. Sanders would feel determined to win one next year and would have the talent to do it.
But Conway has James, and if he were to win Friday night and run the table, he might just produce the same kind of run he did in Saline County. That could flip the script on Bryant, where they would spend the next few years being owned by James. This game and conference championship would be all he’d need to light a fire that could burn for the next four or five years in Faulkner County.
It would be salt in the wound for Bryant, which reaped the rewards of hiring the veteran coach only to see the tables turned on them in an instant. That would be a bitter pill to swallow time and again, seeing a guy who built your program slowly tear it down.
However, those close to the Bryant program sing Sanders’ praises. They speak of more energy and good vibes that surround the program now that the younger Sanders has taken over and swear that some of the weaknesses that were around last year have disappeared with Sanders’ appointment after he had originally taken the Jonesboro head-coaching job only to step down to fill his former mentor’s role.
If Bryant wins, it could be the same song, different verse. The Hornets return several key players next year, including quarterback Jordan Walker, so if BHS wins six in a row, they will likely be picked to win seven next year.
Conway won’t have an experienced QB next year as three-year starter Donovyn Omolo will be graduated. James will have some spots to fill and that might even include his staff. Will another failed trip to Little Rock lead to another next year and delay his quest for a title another two or three years, which some pundits had predicted anyway?
There are so many twists and turns to this, and so you see how pivotal Friday night’s game is. James downplays the move and the bitterness it might have caused in its wake, but it rocked Bryant players and the community to the core. It was a curveball no one saw coming. ‘Shocked’ is the word so many Hornets have used. Bryant players know their old coach is using them as a steppingstone, and that doesn’t sit well with them. It was James who drilled that pride into them to expect nothing less than victory. They aren’t going to just let James steal their supremacy without locking horns.
Expect physicality, emotion and drama on Friday night. One way or another, history will be made, and this game will be remembered by both sides for decades to come.
--Nate Olson I nate@scorebooklive.com I @ndosports
Photo by Jimmy Jones
