Now.

What a gorgeous night in little Rock, Arkansas.

And its championship night.

The highest classification in the state of Arkansas does battle tonight.

Here are War Memorial Stadium, a battle of undefeated between the Bryant Hornets and the Bentonville Tigers.

I'm RJ Hawk, along with Bobby Swofford for this one.

And it's a rematch from last year's game, which was a donnybrook of a ball game.

Between these two teams.

What else can you ask for as a fan to think about the two biggest football programs in the state of Arkansas, regardless of classification, the success that Bentonville and have Bryant have had the last decade is almost unmatched, to be quite honest, that you get the largest classification perennial state title contenders.

And last year was a really, really good contest.

Well, let's look at the highlights from last year's game.

Because, you know, Bienville got out to a big lead on Bryant.

Really.

Everybody thought you know what the dynasty is over the runs over a new sheriff in town.

And then Bryant found a way in the second half to come back and win that state championship.

It was the little plays that affected the game.

Big picture Bentonville moved the football up and down the field, but they had to settle for field goals.

Bryant defense stiffened in the red zone and in the second half that came back and cost Bentonville a state championship at the end of the day, because field goals do not get it done in December, you got to be able to punch the ball in the end zone is a huge factor.

While Bryant won a state championship last year is going to be a big reason why one of these teams is going to win a state title today.

One thing to talk about with both these two teams, a lot of seniors on this field, a lot of the people that played in the game last year are playing tonight, minus a couple quarterbacks.

But for the most part, you've got all your key players back.

There is nothing but stars on the field tonight.

Of course, to play for either one of these teams, you got to be a pretty good football player.

Everybody on the field team has got a chance to play at the next level.

We got high level talent.

What else could you expect from the largest classification duking it out tonight?

It's going to be a lot of fun.

It's going to be a cold night.

You can see the fans bundled up here at War Memorial Stadium coming up next.

It's a seven day state championship between Bryant and Bentonville.

You're watching the Centennial Bank state football championship on Arkansas PBS sports.

Goodbye.

Let's now.

Welcome back to War Memorial Stadium as we get you set for today's seven eight state championship game between the Bryant Hornets and the Bentonville Tigers, both undefeated on the season at 12 and zero.

I'm RJ Hawk along with Bobby Swofford.

The captains are making their way out to midfield.

And while they do that, let's take a look at the bracket for both teams as we'll start with the Bryant Hornets and how they got here.

And for the Hornets they had that first round bye.

And then they moved on and played Fayetteville shut out 42.

Nothing in that game.

And they went on to play Rogers.

And probably one of the best high school football games that we've seen all season long to get to the state championships, Bobby.

And they've got a two headed running.

Well, they've really got a three headed running attack.

But the two big ones, T.J.

Hodges, who's going to the University of Arkansas and as well as Robinson, Collin Robinson at the balance of Bryant's offenses, have been the key to their success all season.

You mentioned Hodges signed with the Razorbacks earlier this week 900 yards on the season, but Collin Robinson is right there with him.

But how about 22 rushing touchdowns for Collin Robinson.

They spread the ball over the round very well.

He can't focus on just one player.

Now let's look at the keys to the game for the Bryant Hornets.

And there's a look at Collin Robinson right there I mean both big backs.

But the keys for the Bryant Hornets if they want to win another state championship.

Yeah the first thing they've got to get those two guys going on the ground.

They can't rely on their passing game.

Bryant.

If you're looking for a flaw for the Hornets this year it's been the passing game.

They haven't been consistent in that passing game.

And on defense the defensively they've got to find a way to slow down.

And Bentonville is ground attack.

Well let's look at the Bentonville Tigers 12 and zero on the season.

And they're going to receive the football first.

And they also had that first round bye and moved on into the second round.

Played Springdale much like Bryant blowout fashion.

Then they played Conway in a tie game 2621 to get to that state championship game.

And both Benton Bryant and Bentonville, both these two teams had a tough semifinal game.

Yeah, Bentonville scored in the final 10s to take down Conway to get to another championship game.

And Chris Vigeland the bigger reason why Bentonville is playing for another title.

It's 1500 yards, 15 touchdowns in the day and age of the Ford pass dominating high school football.

Bentonville is power is still the run game and that's why they've been successful.

Keys to the game for the Tigers I think they've got to make Bryant one dimensional.

I got to slow down that run game, try to make them throw the football.

But also more importantly we talked about it in the open RJ you got to finish drives Bentonville move the ball up and down the field.

A season ago in this championship game against Bryant they had to settle for field goals.

If they punch it in the end zone for touchdowns they got a chance.

Well let's head down to the field and talk with the third member of our broadcast team.

She's going to be cold tonight Alyssa how is it down there.

It's not that bad a lot.

Less cold than I anticipated it to be.

But when I talked to coach Jody Grant for Bentonville earlier this week, he said, this is what we wanted.

We wanted to be able to take down the giant, referring to Brian and what they've been able to accomplish since 2018.

Setting that dynasty, getting here seven of the last eight years, winning six state championships.

But coach Grant also quick to point out don't think twice about the Bentonville Tigers.

This is our fourth time in this state championship game in a row, and this time we want to get back a trophy and not the trophy that we've been taking back with us the last couple of years.

I asked him, how do you do that?

Well, he said, we got to play better football than they did against Springdale and Conway and then have a little bit of luck.

He said we need the base of the football to bounce our way a few times.

As for Quan, Sanders and Bryant, I asked him, what is it like to go back to War Memorial Stadium after their double overtime win over Rogers?

He said, we're so used to playing there 2 to 3 times a year.

We haven't played this year, so it's nice to be back in our home away from home.

They know they have a target on their back in this one as they have all season long.

Guys.

Someone is going home with the trophy tonight, but until that happens, we've got a really good football game ahead of us.

Thank you Alissa, we'll check in with you throughout the ball game tonight as we are just about set and ready to go.

Bryant won the toss.

They elected to defer in this ball game.

And so Bentonville will get the football first to start the seven day state championship game.

Bobby let's look at our officials for this one as we've got a veteran crew leading the charge Tommy Kraft is the referee.

Umpires Robert Burris, linesmen James Durham, line judge Dan Robbins, field judge Justin Brewer.

And our side judge is Mike Durham, and they will be the seven day championship crew.

They've done multiple state championships and, they are also no stranger to War Memorial Stadium.

Yeah.

When you get to a game of this caliber seven eight state championship game, you're always going to have one of your best crews in the state.

And we certainly have that.

And you mentioned they've called plenty of championship games.

The game's not going to be too big for those guys and stripes today.

Hopefully it's not too big for the guys in uniform either.

The weather right now at War Memorial Stadium, 39 degrees here.

There's not much of a wind.

It's just a little chilly down there on the playing surface.

But you get under the lights for a state championship and everything goes out the window is Grayson King is going to pick things up from the 40 yard line.

As we are just about to set and ready to go in the seven state championship game.

Glad to have you along, wherever you may be across the state of Arkansas.

King puts a hand on the air and the ball is away as it'll be taken down at the 13 yard line by Bentonville.

Bringing it up for the Tigers that time it was blue.

That was Aaron Austin who was able to bring it up here.

Excuse me.

No, not.

That was Evan Maule who brought it up the left Stanton left hand side.

And so with 1155 in the opening quarter, Bentonville will start things off first and ten from the 29.

Get the no.

Number zero for this Bentonville offense as we take a look at the Winter Rock automotive starting lineups.

Bielecki you're going to be a quarterback.

But Chris Nicklin, he's the straw that stirs the drink.

Bentonville is going to try to run the football first.

They've got some big time receivers.

In fact two of them committed to play at the University of Arkansas.

But their offense don't let it fool you.

It started by the run.

Game two wide to the near side.

Pick one is the lone back in the backfield.

Slap Becky is the quarterback for the Tigers now three receivers to the left side.

They're going to go down to the flats.

And it's caught that time by Bentonville Blair Irvin and Irvin was able to escape.

Attack on pick up four yards on the play.

And that's a big key for Bentonville offense.

They use that RPO game.

You fake the ball to toss it out to Irvin.

One of those two receivers who was committed to play at Arkansas 670 yards on the season.

He's found the end zone eight times.

Gavin Moment was the one making the tackle for the Hornets.

Stacked receivers to the near side once again dumps it in the flats.

And that time it goes over to Schmitz.

He'll be knocked out of bounds past the 35 out to the 36 yard line.

That'll bring up a third down for the Tigers and third down about four as they play.

Wilson was end to make the tackle.

Schmitz is the kind of the unknown factor in the receiving game.

You've got Provo.

You've got, Irvin committed to play for the Razorbacks.

Schmitz actually leads the team with 40 catches, 720 yards.

He's a threat.

Kind of a three headed monster on the outside.

The receiving corps for Bentonville.

But a huge third down here on the first drive of the contest.

Officially third down and three with the ball at the 36 yard line just underway here in the seven AA state championship game.

The man in motion is Irvin.

And now we've got penalty flags as there was a false start on the Bentonville Tigers.

Bobby, this is a Bentonville Tiger team that averages nine penalties a game.

And if you're going to try to take down a giant like Alyssa said, you're going to have to stay out the penalties.

Yeah.

You got to get out of your own way.

You cannot have those self-inflicted wounds.

And there you have a third and short third and manageable.

But you you get going too early now Bentonville behind the sticks.

And this is not a scenario that you're going to be successful more times than not against a really, really good Bryant defense for wide in the formation.

Slow Becky is in the shotgun has pick one to his left.

Makes the handoff.

Going to look to throw under pressure.

And he's going to be slung down in the backfield all the way back at the 13 yard line.

Coming in for the sack was Sam Nelson.

Sam Nelson is able to pin his ears back.

That's because that's how big that that false start penalty is able to just get a jump start on the quarterback.

The big time defensive end makes the play.

And now Bentonville has got a player down.

But now it's fourth and long.

It's third and short goes to punting situation.

And that is Slapjack who's down back at the 12 yard line.

And this is the defense for the Hornets.

As we talked about Sam Nelson defensive end was the one that made the sack and slung him to the ground.

And he was holding his shoulder when he was down there.

Let's go down real quick to Alyssa and see if she had a better look at it from the field.

Melissa.

Yeah, guys.

When he was taken down to the ground, it looked like he might have landed on that shoulder.

Funny.

It looks like it is this left shoulder that they're going to.

Hopefully I can follow them back and see if I can get some more information on Cole.

But he is moving and it seems like maybe shaken up.

Hopefully they can get their QB1 in the game, but keep him in the game back on his feet.

That's a good sign.

Thank you Alissa.

But also taking a knee to the back of the head there.

As you look at the end of this play, just kind of coming through the does aftermath of the the sack and hopefully he's okay can finish this football game now behind.

So Cooper Nix is going to come on to punt for Bentonville as Jacoby Boone is back for the Hornets.

Boone is going to stand at the 47 yard line.

Nix is going to put a foot into it.

It's a good kick that will hit down at the 49 and take a Bentonville.

Roll inside the 40 and oh be able to get it down at the 38 yard line.

So that's where the Hornets will have it.

First and ten for their first drive here in the seven AA state championship game.

When you look at this game as a whole RJ remember that false start.

It's a third and manageable now and they'll have to turn the football over.

And now Bryant with their starting offense going to take the field take a look at the starting lineup for the Hornets and them.

We talked about TJ Hodges.

But what kind of play do they get there from their offense Jeremiah Moats moats the senior quarterback who his brother was an MVP in the state championship game, moved away to Michigan and then has come back for his senior year.

And now they're going to do a pitch play right up the middle that time.

And that goes to TJ Hodges.

And he's able to get about five yards on the play to bring up second down.

That's just moving things around.

Bryan's going to try to attack all levels of this Bentonville defense.

The other run game that time a little pop pass.

And they pick up five.

Moving ahead of the chains ball at the 43 yard line as moats is going to swing it out.

And it was dropped that time by Zach Curtis Jones pick back up goes left side has running lanes.

And he's off to the races.

Out to the 30 2520 down to the ten.

Get stumbled and tripped up down at the two yard line.

That's why RJ he's signed to play at the University of Arkansas.

That was actually a backwards pass from moats to Hodges.

And they swing it out to him.

He makes the play.

Can't make the catch.

But there is a flag at the 30 yard line.

But here's a really good look at Hodges.

Picks up the football.

The entire momentum of the defense is flow on one side goes back the other direction.

But we'll see if it stands back.

Offense Ten-yard penalty from the spot.

The foul results in a first down.

That is a big, big penalty against Bryant.

Wipes out a massive play but still going to be first down yardage.

The penalty pushes the ball back to the Bentonville 40.

Brett gets lucky.

They recover the fumble and create something out of nothing.

So it's the ball at the 40 yard line.

It's a first and ten as moats will be in the shotgun with the tide formation and around play.

This time they're going to get into the hands of Zachary Kearse Jones.

And he'll take it for about three yards to bring up second down.

Try to get the ball to Curtis Jones again.

Try to use that momentum of the Bentonville defense going side to side looking for a cutback lane Ben Bill does a nice job of shutting down to just three down the clock.

Rolling here in the first quarter.

Ball at the 37 yard line.

Here's a pitch that goes left side.

It's the Curtis Jones.

And he's trying to get the edge and he'll be slung down.

Looks like it was.

It's going to be about a half yard shy of the first down as it was Mason Meyer who came in to make the tackle.

And it'll bring up a third down and a half a yard.

Third down and one.

They hand it off trying to cut it back up.

This is Robinson, and Robinson has nowhere to go.

He's going to just struggle to get it back to the line of scrimmage is Mason Meyer was once again there.

And that's going to bring up a fourth down and one.

We'll check in with Alison here in just a moment.

You get the status update on on the Ben Bill quarterback two wide in the near side.

Hornets going to go for it.

Fourth down and one to Robinson.

They go straight ahead and he'll get the first down as he crosses over the 30 yard line to pick up the first down.

And while they reset the chains let's check in with Alissa.

They took Coastal Becky into the tent just to check on him.

They said he took a shot to the back of the head.

Wanted to put him through concussion protocol.

He has passed just a little painful, but he will be back out there when Bentonville offense gets back on the field.

Thank you alyssum.

First down and ten ball at the 29 yard line.

Mo is going to look to throw.

Has a wide open receiver.

He walks into the end zone for the first score.

The ball game that time for the Hornets.

It was Keenan Lattin who was able to get the touchdown.

And the Hornets strike.

First six to nothing just a complete breakdown in coverage.

Bryant sends three out in the pattern.

Really split to across.

And Lattin goes right up the middle.

And Bentonville defense left the tight end wide open.

And that is the most easy pitch and catch.

You're going to get in a state championship game.

And the Hornets strike first Grayson King on for the extra point.

Kick is away and it is good.

And with 818 left here in the first quarter Bryant leads seven to nothing in the seven eight state championship game.

And we'll take a break.

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Grayson King on to to kick for the Bryant Hornets after they got the first score in the ballgame and lead it seven to nothing.

It's a low kick that's going to be fielded at the nine yard line and brought up by Bentonville.

And a nice return by the Tigers is bringing it up.

Is going to be Prevo.

And he'll get knocked out of bounds at around the 15 yard line.

You can see Bobby Keenan Lattin on the on the tackle.

But Prevo has got the speed at the SEC.

Speed he does.

And but not many teams have the ability to stretch out free throw like we just saw right there.

He's trying to get to the edge.

Bryant's cover team did a nice job staying in their lane stretch all the way out in tough field position to start this drive for the Tigers.

So Coles Lipski is back on to the field for the Tigers as he's got running backs on either side of him.

I'm going to put everybody in motion.

He goes to an empty backfield.

Two receivers to the right side of the formation.

Slow Becky is going to go right going be under pressure.

And he just has to throw it.

His intended target that time was Jack Dunn.

And that'll bring up a second down.

And he's slow to get up once again for offensive plays for Bentonville.

Have yet to hand the football off to Chris Fickell and maybe a little self scouting.

They think Bryant's focusing on the running game and slow picking maybe taking himself out of this contest.

He's slow to get up and slow to trot off to the sideline.

Ryan Horn was on the QB, the QB hurry that time and Hasselbeck, he's going to go to the sideline now.

It's going to be really all up to Chris Strickland.

Number zero.

You got really expect him to get the football here after the change of quarterback.

Evan can note as a new quarterback and you'll have three receivers to the near side.

As he'll hand it off to pick one this one's going to get bottled up behind.

He's only a 16.

And he went to the right side.

Kennard is only a sophomore.

He this year he's eight of 11 for 150 yards and two touchdowns.

Ben Thompson, myself and everybody else in the stadium knew that Dixon was going to get the football, but he got his feet tangled up with the new quarterback.

And now Bentonville again.

Faced with third and long Tigers got to find a way to get something going and try to knock the momentum.

O'Brien off.

It's third down and nine for the Tigers with the ball at the 17 yard line.

Five wide receivers in the formation.

Canaries in the shotgun.

He'll bring in a man in motion as he'll put Pratt to his left.

Look to throw.

Comes back left side and it's incomplete that time.

Trying to hook up with Prevo.

And that'll bring up fourth down and nine.

Now for the for the Bentonville Tigers.

Free throw is running deep.

Come back there and just could not get the arm strength out there.

You have to wonder how much that's going to affect what Bentonville offense is going to be able to do.

If they can't rely on the passing game, Bryant's going to stack the box and the Hornets are about to get great field position.

After forcing the three and out.

Cooper Nix on the punt as Jacoby Boone is going to stand at his own 47 yard line.

Nice punt.

Spiral punt.

It's going to be caught at the 46 and Bienville territory.

Boone now retreating and going back.

Left side.

He's got wide open lanes and a convoy in front of him.

Boone out to the 20 to the 1510.

And he's going to be spun into the end zone for a touchdown.

It's the second time we've seen the momentum on the flow of Bentonville defense or special teams unit come back to haunt them.

First on the swing pass to Hodges and now the punt return again.

The ball hits the turf.

They reverse field.

Bentonville got out of their coverage lanes and it was just wide open spaces on the punt return.

How about 55 yards and a house call for the Hornets?

So the Hornets strike again with 656 play here in the first quarter.

It's 13 to nothing.

Bryant and now Grayson King is going to come on for the extra point depending on what area code you live in 501 versus the 479.

This is a perfect start or a disastrous one.

Kick is up and good and it's 14 to nothing.

Bryant leads it here in the seven state championship game.

There's quad Sanders the Bryant head football coach.

And you know you would think Bobby and I know that you think about all the state championships.

Bryant's one and that was all.

But James this is only the third year Sanders has been there.

And all he has done is play for a couple state champions and win one last year, 35 and 2 in 3 seasons, sources tell me.

That's pretty good.

That's not that's not bad.

Yeah, obviously there's a lot of talent at the program and it has been built there.

But that was a program kind of like Bentonville was 15 years ago, one that was ready to explode.

And the city has kind of grown to it.

Bentonville has exploded.

Bryant exploded and they found the winning pedigree.

What's really impressive about this Bryant program.

And I posted these stats on social media earlier this week.

You know Bryant's never lost a championship game.

They're six and zero and they've all been the last but seven years.

It's been a really impressive now.

And I know that we've got folks in Bentonville watching this right now.

Let's not take anything away from Jody Grant because in 11 seasons, he's 107 and 24, which, by the way, is really good.

Yeah, I guess the largest classification and playing the best competition.

And what Bentonville does was always impresses me is they go out and schedule the heavyweights from Oklahoma and Missouri and Kansas in the non-conference to get ready for games like this.

So Grayson King is going to put a foot into it, and it'll be taken at the nine yard line and bring it straight up the middle.

That time is Prevo, and he'll take it down past the 25 to around the 27 yard line.

On the tackle that time it's Bryant Davis who fires.

This drive is going to be all about the guys up front for Bentonville.

Those five guys on the offensive line for the Tigers are going to have to move the line of scrimmage.

They know that the game is going to rest on their shoulders right now.

Until they can steady things at the quarterback position, they're going to have to be able to run the football.

If those five guys up front cannot move the line of scrimmage, it is going to be a long, long night for Bentonville.

They've got a chance to get things going right here.

Kennard is going to be back at quarterback for the Tigers, as they'll have it at the 27 yard line.

And a hand it off to Pratt.

And Pratt has nowhere to go as he'll be bottled up in the backfield.

Back at the 25 yard line on the tackle it was Jaden Jones that time for the Hornets.

I talked about winning at the line of scrimmage.

Bryant just blew that up right at the point of contact.

Right in the middle.

And if you can't establish things in the center of the line of scrimmage, you're going to have a long, long evening.

Bentonville has got to knock off the cobwebs because Bryant's come out and landed a couple of haymakers.

Second down and 12.

Clock rolling at 620 and counting here in the first quarter.

Kennard.

Checking the defense.

He'll take the snap.

Fakes the handoff and works it back.

Left side to Schmidt.

And Smith will take it down to the 34 yard line.

And that'll bring up a third down for the Tigers.

That's that's a big pass for the confidence of would be able to step in, have time good protection and hit his receiver in stride that Schmidt's and now Bentonville who's already over two on third down a pair of third and long and see if they can convert third and short.

That's a good throw for the confidence official.

A third down and three with the ball at the 34 yard line.

The extra beef brought in for a Bentonville.

Direct snap to the running back as they'll go right side.

And the Hornets are going to.

It's going to be very near the first down depends on the mark because he got it out past the 35 to the 37.

And they're going to say it's a first down.

That's Cameron Thornton Mead lined up in the Wildcat.

They had three tight ends two of which looked like they were in tackle numbers on that right side.

And they got just enough.

And that is a massive first down for Bentonville for more than anything else to get their defense a bit of a break when that's their first first down the ballgame right.

So it's first and ten with the ball at the 34 yard line.

Play to reset the play clock to 2525 on the play clock.

Bentonville is going to have two receivers to the right side.

As they're going to give it off to fake one.

And he has just nowhere to go.

Dropped back at the 36 yard line.

It's a loss of one on the play.

And bring up second down and 11 Malachi McDonald absolutely blows that up again.

Bryant's getting off the football faster than the offensive line for Bentonville.

And you can see him right in the middle.

He takes on the pulling guard forces everything back in.

And fiction's got nowhere to go.

So it's a second down and 11 for the Tigers.

Two receivers to the right side.

Second set up to the left side of Kennard and look to throw across the middle as his man.

That time hooking up with Schmitz and Schmitz will take it past the 45 to the 46 yard line.

And it'll be just about a yard shy of the first down.

That's a big time throw from Kennard.

You saw the graphic flashed up just eight of 11 on the entire season coming into this championship game.

And I don't know if he woke up this morning thinking, hey, I'm going to have the ball in my hands in the first quarter of the seven state title game.

But he looks like he learns the part right there as nice throw there and short back to the Wildcat package that Bentonville showed just a moment ago.

Direct snap.

Right side at him.

One linebacker to beat.

He didn't get the first down, but that time if he beats that one linebacker he's off to the races.

He has a big hole on the right side.

Kind of fake left jab, step to the left.

Explodes the right side just to the right of the center where the center was.

And a great block there.

And a big first down and tigers for the first time across the 50.

So it's first and ten with the ball to 46 yard line in Bonneville territory.

Three receivers now set to the left side of the formation.

Kennard under pressure looking to throw a nice pump fake.

And he just got tripped up at the last moment as coming in to make the stop was Jacob Smith for the Bryant Hornets.

That is a big play for the Razorback signee Jakari Smith because if he doesn't make that tackle, canola is likely still running.

Able to get just enough of the feet.

Click them together.

Nose goes down.

Otherwise that could have been a big, big play for the Tigers.

So it brings up another second down and 11.

Feel like there's been a lot of second down and 11 so far for the Tigers.

Yeah Bentonville is not winning on first down which is a credit to the Bryant defense.

They're making plays at the line of scrimmage.

Moving that line of scrimmage about two yards back in to the Tigers backfield.

Rewind to the near side as they're going to hand it off to Pratt.

And they faked it to him.

Came with a pitch to the left side to Prevo.

And he'll go out of bounds as he crosses the 40 yard line and goes out of bounds at the 37.

So that's when Bentonville is at their best, is when they can use that run or that play action to get the eyes in the backfield.

And you flip it out to one of your talented receivers that time.

Prevo an easy eight, nine, ten yards, comes up about a yard shy of the first down.

So it's gonna be a third down and one.

Now back to the wildcat formation as Mead is going to stand back there to receive the snap from from the center.

And he takes it, goes up the middle, crosses the 35, picks up the first down, and he'll take it down to the 33 yard line.

You're looking at that ten man front for the Bentonville offense.

That's about 3,000 pounds.

They got leaning on Bryant's defense.

Pretty easy to see why they picked up that first down with these a lot of beef.

So brings up another first down for the Bentonville Tigers with the ball at the 32 yard yard line.

Officially it's a massive drive RJ for Bentonville to be able to not only chew up some clock.

They need to finish this off, get some, get in the end zone.

Give that young quarterback, the inexperienced quarterback, some confidence and maybe more importantly, the fans some confidence in him.

Well, I would also say that, you know, right now the future looks really bright for Beville with Kennard as he swings it out right side prevo and he'll go out of bounds just shy of the 20 yard line as Canada.

I'm gonna tell you right now Bobby like he doesn't look like he's a quarterback.

Has been eight of 11 so far on the season.

Well I'll tell you what makes you look really good as a quarterback.

You get to a ball to receiver like free five yard hits.

Right.

And also and you see the suddenness, the explosion to get to the outside, get the first down, get the ball out of your hand quickly, but more importantly into the hands of your playmakers.

So it brings up another first down for the Bentonville Tigers.

A minute 37 left here in the first quarter.

Kennard looking to throw.

He's under pressure.

He'll be taken down at the 25 yard line.

Going to be a three yard loss.

And in on the sack that time for Brian it was Guy Nix I don't know if we're going to have a replay of it.

But they were sending physical on that on the halfback will route.

If they had the protection it was going to be an easy touchdown pass.

As Bryant did not account for the running back coming out of the backfield to the top of the screen.

He was wide open.

That's where an old was looking.

Just did not have time to get the ball to him.

So that brings up a second down and 13 with the ball at the 25 yard line.

Ball's on the ground.

Kono's going to have to fall on it as it's all the way back at the 36 yard line.

Helmet comes off for Kennard as well.

And that means he's going to have to come off for at least a play.

And now Bentonville in the first quarter is going to have to go to quarterback number three on the depth chart.

That wasn't on the depth chart that that Jody Grant sent us.

What a disaster of things for Bentonville.

So it's the ball's now going to be at the 35 yard line.

Clocks down to 35 seconds.

They do have to run the play.

It looks like Pratt is 19 lined up out there.

James Pratt is going to line up out there at the quarterback spot.

Tanner Gallagher oh there he is.

Pratt's going to lie to the left side of him.

They're going to give it to Pratt.

He'll go left side as a running lane.

Gets it past the 25 and it's down at the 24 yard line.

But there is a penalty flag down field.

For.

This one in the area of holding.

Going to be marching it back ten yards.

And now Bentonville is going to be third and Fortner County holding offense ten yards from the previous spot.

Still third down.

So it was third and 23.

So that takes the third and 33.

Now.

Can't get the ball all the way to Moralton to move the chains.

Oh he's third down and 34 with the ball at the 45 yard line to get a first down.

They've got to get it to the 12.

Snap is back under pressure.

Going to look to throw.

And he'll be taken down at the 43 yard line.

Pickup of a couple is the first quarter into the trickery.

Smith came in to make the stop.

And that's going to do it as Tommy crafts at the end of the first quarter.

14 to nothing.

The Bryant Hornets lead the seven state championship game.

You're watching the Centennial Bank state football Championships on Arkansas PBS sports.

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Good night.

Let's now.

It's time to put the brain to work.

Today's trivia question, brought to you by the Quiz Bowl Association branch 120 or excuse me, 49 consecutive conference games, which is the fifth longest streak in state history?

Who holds the record for most consecutive conference victories?

Can you guess far away.

I'm going to say the Central Tigers or the Bart or Barton Bears.

Those are one of my.

I'd probably lean more central.

You're not just a pretty face.

So it's fourth down and 31.

Then Bill's going to punt it, and it will go out of bounds.

Going to officially mark him out of bounds at the 24 yard line.

Let's go down the field and talk with Elias Orange.

Well guys we talked about that drive for Bentonville and their sophomore quarterback.

You talk about how nice it was to have a little bit of room there.

However that was a tough way to end it.

But it's not that bad when you've got a quarterback coach like Ty Story.

He's played in this game many at times before he came over to a sophomore quarterback and said, it's okay, it's time to just settle in and we'll work this out.

You know Ty story with Charleston played in this game an 1113 and 14.

He's got three state titles to his name with the Tigers.

Of course, he played for the Razorbacks and for Western Kentucky.

He knows a thing or two about leading a team to a state championship.

But the quarterback position.

And now he's hoping to guide his sophomore QB in that direction.

As for Lipsky, he remains in the tent guys.

He has not exited the tent since he left the field.

Thank you Alissa, as a pitch to TJ Hodges for Bryant.

Gets him out to the 40 yard line.

Gets him a first down and boy.

And you know Wallace is right though Bobby you got a guy like Ty story that's able to to talk to these kids and tell them you know it's okay.

It's only the first quarter that's a big big thing to have that on your sideline.

Yeah.

What a luxury to be able to lean on to a coach like story.

As Bryant completes the pass for nine yards who's played in three state championships himself.

Played in big time games and just has that knowledge.

He's a son of a high school football coach as well.

That's an invaluable resource to have on the sideline.

Of course, Bentonville was hoping he was giving that advice to their starting quarterback.

Jeremiah Moats going to pitch it right side puts the hands of Zach Curtis Jones.

And there's a penalty flag down back.

The 50 is he was able to pick up a first down.

Looks like we'll have a holding call back in the 50.

Four.

So that will put the ball back at the 39 yard line.

It brings up a second down and 11.

Now for the Hornets.

Is Wilson three wide to the near side.

Moats going to look to throw.

Going big ball middle of the field.

Has a man down at the 30.

Stays on his feet.

That's Caleb Tucker and he'll go in the end zone for a touchdown.

What starts as bad has gotten worse for Bentonville.

But there is a flag on the play.

Penalty flags back at the 41 yard line.

On the bright side of the field.

Now for.

Everybody.

That's a killer for the Hornets right there Bobby have a guy downfield.

And so now he went from a second down and 11.

Now back it up.

Second down and 16 now.

Yeah that is talk about taking the air out of the sails and the stadium.

The fans have really started to fill in across the way of Porcelain County.

Not too far.

We have to touch down off the board.

Here's moats again looking to throw.

And it's almost intercepted that time for Bryant.

Kamari Austin had to play a defensive back just to try to break up the interception.

And now it's the third down for the Hornets as Mason Meyer was the one that was just the one to get the interception for the Tigers.

Meyer has got to be kicking himself right now.

And that interception was gift wrapped right in his hands.

But he couldn't make the play.

Now third and long for the Hornets.

They go five wide in the formation.

Moats look to throw.

Has all day.

Who's back left now.

Right going down field.

And it's in and out of the hands of his intended target.

That time trying to hook up with TJ Hodges.

Bentonville only rushed three.

And that's why moats had all day to throw.

And Hodges finally broke open.

That one hits him right in the hands.

Would have been a huge play in a first down, but couldn't reel it in.

In Bentonville, defense gets a stop.

Going to make that catch though.

Yeah I mean that's that was right in the breadbasket right there.

And so it forces a fourth down.

That's the first punting situation for the Hornets tonight as Grayson King is going to be the punter.

I feel like if you're Bentonville you really needed that.

You gave up the big play for the touchdown.

You get lucky because it's called back because of the illegal lineman down field.

And now Bentonville has got a chance to get their offense back out there.

So Schmitz is back to receive the punt.

And he'll take it out of bounds at around the 23 yard line.

And that's where the Tigers will have it first and ten with 1014 left here in the second quarter.

Completely stunned to be quite honest with you, RJ.

The lack of touches for Chris Strickland.

Only two carries zero yards.

But Bryant's has been living in the backfield.

Not me a big reason why that Bentonville hasn't got the ground game going here.

As you can see the Hornet defense, this is what they've done all night in the backfield for the Tigers.

So Bentonville is gonna come out with a first down and ten with the ball at the 23 yard line.

Two receivers to each side.

Canada's going to be the quarterback for Bentonville.

Kennard under pressure.

He'll be slung down.

And he got back to the line of scrimmage.

But it was Sam Nelson that time who came up to make the stop and brings up a second down and ten.

How about the Warren Dardanelle School right now Bobby seven seven right now.

You know sometimes it's not about who's the best team.

It's who's the hottest team.

And you can say that about a couple of teams in the semifinals and three and four a Warren in Boonville.

The score you saw right before that both number three seeds got a pretty good chance to punch in their ticket to play in the championship games next weekend.

Second down and ten four receivers in the formation.

Kennard under pressure throws it down the middle of the field.

It's intercepted.

Taken at the 30.

Coming up with the interception that time for the Bryant Hornets.

That was Darian Jones who came up with the interception.

And Ryan Horn was right there to get the quarterback hustle.

The ball kind of floated from no.

But a catch that maybe should have been made off the hands of Prevo into the hands of the defender, who would have been a tough catch to make.

Ball's thrown behind and another break goes Bryant's way.

Their defense is causing havoc all over the field.

First down and ten ball at the 24 yard line.

Three receivers set to the top side of the formation.

Here's a pitch that it's not going to go very far.

In fact it's going to lose yards lose about two yards that time for the Hornets.

And that was Colin Robinson who took the pitch on the tackle that time.

It was Mead who came up and made the stop for a two yard loss at second down and 12.

Kind of a unique design there.

Made it almost like a halfback draw, but a pitch out and Bentonville defense wasn't caught off guard at all.

And they dropped Robinson, as you mentioned for loss of a couple and down and 12.

Here's Robinson again going to find something as he'll get past the 25 and gets it back to the original line of scrimmage.

Bring ups third down and ten.

Now third down go.

Minus the big play that was wiped out because of the penalty.

Bryant hasn't gotten a lot going offensively in the run game.

But everything is breaking the Hornets way up to this point.

But now in third and long here's another handoff.

This time it's Curtis Jones who tries to get to the outside, gets it past the 20 and step out of bounds at the 17 yard line.

It's going to be short of the first down by about three yards maybe four yards.

And so that's gonna bring up fourth down I think they're officially going to call it three yards.

That's a play call that you said okay.

Hey coach you've got two plays to get those ten yards.

He gets about three fourths of it.

They're fourth and three.

And I hand it off again Curtis Jones straight ahead gets the first down as he takes it down to the 13 yard line.

You mentioned the two running backs into the top of the broadcast and Hodges and Robinson.

But it's the third guy Curtis Jones gets the handoff right up the middle.

First down Hornets Robinson back in the game.

He'll take it straight ahead out past the ten.

Stays on his feet and dives past the five yard line down to the four.

So you've got Hodges and you've got Curtis Jones or more of that smaller back.

Robinson's the sledgehammer for the Hornets.

You saw the 22 rushing touchdowns a little extra boost from the big guys up front as well.

Robinson stays in there as a single back.

I'm going to hand it to him again and he'll get in the end zone for another touchdown.

Just leaning on them.

There is a flag right in the middle of the field RJ.

Tommy Craft, our official in this one.

I'll sort it out and give us the call.

During the run down.

What would you call a necessary roughness during the run with that?

Would that be like a clothesline?

Could be a blow to the face.

You know, the face mask.

Whatever the case.

I mean, there's there's a lot of things that really could attest to it.

Oh, it's the second.

It's a secondary hit after the fact.

Now here's the run that time by Curtis Jones.

So you get the pancake.

They're going back to the penalty kill.

Rucker gets the pancake does what he's supposed to do.

But as you just mentioned that second leading with the helmet on top of a defenseless player on the ground that's going to draw the flag.

It was actually Jacoby Boone who ran it just a minute ago.

Now TJ Hodges is back in there running back.

He's going to run it right side.

Cuts it back up past the five into the end zone.

Touchdown game one gets called back to gets called back.

Bryant keeps coming at you though as Terry Hodges shows that elusiveness but also a little strength a run through a pair of arm tackles.

And the Hornets have a three score lead 711 left here in the first half Brian up 20 to nothing.

No Bobby I think that if you asked anybody that that kept up with high school sports in the state or high school football, nobody would have predicted this one.

Oh it's yeah, I mentioned to you in the in the break, I mean, it's kind of like the national championship game.

And Colt McCoy went out so early for Texas.

And like you game plan all season long for this is the scenario.

You finally get that rematch that you want.

And then all of a sudden you're not full strength.

Does it matter how much you prepare a youngster?

Doesn't matter how talented a sophomore quarterback may be, this is a really, really tough spot for Bentonville, and there really is no other word to describe it as a complete disaster.

Of a start for Bentonville.

You see, we're going to keep you updated on all the scores going on around the state and other classifications because their semifinal game, Dardanelle just took a 14 seven lead on Warren right now in the first quarter, Dardanelle been the number one team and for most of the season.

How about Bobby?

You threw out a trivia question earlier, and I'm wondering if I'm right.

I am actually going to say I'll let you repeat the question there is on the screen.

So Bryant's won 49 consecutive conference games seven straight seasons.

Bryant's been undefeated in conference play, fifth longest record in a streak in state history.

What is the record for most consecutive conference victories?

Well, I narrowed it down between Barton and Central, but I think I'm going to go with central on on that should they went the other direction.

The Barton Bears 75 straight conference wins.

Get this.

Didn't lose a conference game for 13 years.

That's wild.

They were really good.

They they were really, really good.

Yeah.

Would you.

So, you know, when you talk about high school football law in the state, I mean overall teams I know different classifications.

But would you say that the the best run or the best, I guess dynasty in the state is Barton or would you would you say it'd be central?

That's a, you know, the two completely different areas.

You're talking about little Rock central in the 40s and 50s, you know, nationally ranked, I think they believe who won a national championship or whatever that means.

For back then.

Here's a nice run by Bentonville as Rubio brings it out past the 20 to the 22.

And then you've got the Barton's run in the 80s into the 90s, and obviously even into the early 2000, such a successful program at the small school level.

I'll give you a third.

And there's a lot of people watching this broadcast.

You may agree with me.

How about five consecutive titles of the state's largest classification?

That brightness went on.

Yeah, yeah.

I mean, I mean, I, I would agree.

Yes.

No they would be a third I still though the run like what you just said with Barton with 32 years I mean that's pretty that's pretty impressive.

It really is.

And little Rock central or the old little Rock high, as was called back then, is probably at the top of that list with Barton a pretty close second.

So Boonville gets football back at the 22 yard line as Fickell is going to get it and he'll bring it.

Right side gets tripped up out past the 25 and he'll go down at the 27 yard line.

It's got to get him going.

We gotta find a way for Bentonville to get the ball in the hands of number zero and lean on him.

He's got 1500 yards rushing on the season.

A big, big part of why Bentonville is playing for a championship.

Trust your offensive line.

Trust number zero three wide to the right side.

They pitch it over to Smith and he'll get knocked out of bounds.

Just shy of the 30 yard line.

That'll bring up a third down and about five for five.

And with 637 left here in the first half, Tigers need desperately to get a first down.

And the thoughts crossing my mind right here RJ, this may be four down territory.

You've got to find a way to get something going offensively.

Obviously you don't want to put your young quarterback in a situation where he's set up to fail.

And they're going back to the Wildcat here on third and three.

And this is work for him throughout the night.

Anytime they need a first down.

So it's third down and three with the ball at the 29 yard line.

And now we've got a whistle penalty flag.

And have offsides against Bryan.

That'll give Bentonville a first down with the offsides.

While they're doing that let's check in with a little orange down the sidelines.

Well, two guys who have already caused havoc for the Bryant defense are brothers Matt Nelson and Sam Nelson.

Number seven and number 48.

They lead this team with sacks.

Matt Nelson walked into this game with nine.

His brother had five.

Matt Nelson, the senior, just signed with Oklahoma.

His brother is a junior.

He'll have a big decision to make on where he wants to play college ball next season, but they have been able to get pressure.

Obviously cold still not in this game anymore and now they're getting pressure on Kuno to keep this Bentonville defense offense off balance.

Thank you Alissa.

Second down and three as they swing out.

Left side.

And that time into the hand of Schmitz is he'll get it past the 40 yard line out to the 42 yard line.

That was really really dangerous.

RJ Wilson had that one read that from the get go and he almost took that swing pass going the other direction.

But that also means now look for the double move for Bentonville.

You've swung it out there a couple times on the screen.

Maybe you faked the screen, sneak a receiver behind that aggressive defense.

Third down and two.

Back to that Wildcat package as they'll bring it straight up the middle and running it with it is Mead.

And he'll get another first down across the 45 out to the 47 yard line.

Now look it's 21 nothing Bobby.

Oh you're Ben fan.

You're like oh no no.

But if you remember in this championship game last year, Bienville got out to a big lead right before half.

They did and Bryant came back and got saying all that's going to happen tonight, but anything can happen.

Just based on what we've seen in the history of this game.

It's going to be all Bobby football.

And I'm not talking about Miami.

It's big on big.

Yeah, you got to win those matchups one on one.

Here's the handoff to Brad is he'll come right side and he'll be taken down.

We were looking at the numbers just prior to that run Bentonville negative six yards rushing so far in this game.

Yeah obviously the couple quarterback sacks are going to factor into that.

But Bryant's winning at the line of scrimmage.

And they're doing it with their front four.

They're not having to bring extra pressure.

And that's allowing Zachary Smith and company at the linebacking unit for Bryant to be able to flow to the football.

When you can beat 4 or 5 with four up fronts, you got to do a lot of things defensively that's going to cause problems.

Second down and nine.

Kennard going to look to throw goes back.

Left side has a man and he'll be knocked out of bounds that time.

Found Blair Irvin the third.

And he'll be knocked out of bounds at the 37 yard line.

I don't care how many downs you've played all season long, that is a big time through rolling to your left squares, the shoulders and a perfect dime to Irvin for the first down on the far sideline.

That's well done.

So it's first down and ten ball at the 37 yard line.

I feel like this is a has to have a drive.

You know going to hand it off to pick one.

He'll go straight ahead and he'll be taken down.

At around the 33.

That's the best run the night for one.

That's actually Thornton Mead.

And they're going the other direction.

You know, I don't know if this one's not 100% healthy.

Maybe we can get with Allison and stick with that at halftime.

But he's not even been on the field a ton.

Yeah.

Of course, we're not going to get that, you know, private information leading up to the broadcast, but it feels like that they're not finding a way to get the ball to number zero.

Who's been their playmaker all season.

So it's second down and six.

Penalties in the shotgun all by himself as well.

Move two guys to the right side of the formation.

Have two receivers down the bottom side of your screen.

Kino looking to throw under throws his intended target that time he was trying to hook up with Prevo again.

They try that comeback route with the ball.

Just didn't get there in time.

Prevo had a couple steps on the defender.

Ball came out like from the quarterback.

The timing was a bit off and now it's third and a medium to long again for Bentonville.

But once again, at this point it's four down territory for the Tigers.

Yeah.

And then you give it a lot of credit to Bryant's defense.

They've allowed a couple of drives now across the 50.

But they stiffened as Bentonville inches towards the red zone.

But again you definitely got to believe that Bentonville is going to lead the offense on the field.

Barring some kind of negative play here to no good looking to throw goes back, cross the middle in and out of the hands of Prevo.

And now that brings up fourth down here.

Nothing fancy there.

Bryant defensively they just there you go man to man.

Said we're going to win the battle up front.

Nowhere to go immediately with the football goes the option 2 or 3 throw a little bit high but give a lot of credit to the defensive play of Terry and Jones.

The second time we've called his name gets the WBU fourth down and six with the ball at the 33 yard line.

Ben Mills going to send three receivers to the bottom side of your screen with two to the top side.

And now we've got a whistle and a timeout.

Charge to Bentonville with 416 left here in the second quarter.

It's the big down for the Tigers.

Well it's time to look at our Arkansas PBS student all star.

And it comes from Bentonville West as Trey Thompson is a quarterback.

He's a senior quarterback with a 4.0 GPA, plans to attend college and major in marketing.

And he is our Arkansas PBS student all star for this seven eight state championship game.

It was ton of fun to watch this year.

Two Bentonville West.

Their offense was explosive.

You know, really I think between both Bentonville schools, felt like Fayetteville had a little bit of a down year compared to what they normally have.

In Conway, they had injuries this year.

It's just been you kind of knew it was your top three and seven and Rogers, Bentonville and Bryant, and then everybody else kind of chased the rabbit after that.

Yeah, I agree with that.

I think a lot of people were to two you know, Rogers might have shocked some people outside of northwest Arkansas.

People north of the tunnel recognize how good they were going to be.

And Jeff Regan and Lindsey, the linebacker for some big time talent, big time fourth down coming up as well.

But it's kind of been a 2 or 3 horse race the last couple years, big school level.

So it's fourth down and six as there's Man in Motion that's Jack Dunn.

And he'll go to the left side of the formation and the ball is incomplete that time trying to hook up with Schmitz and Kennard took a big hit.

And it's going to be incomplete.

Another turnover on downs.

You get the look that you want.

You get man to man on the out.

And Schmitz has got a couple steps on the defender.

You just can't step into it.

The pressure right in the face.

Aquino can't get everything behind it.

And the arm strength wasn't there because you couldn't get the drive with his legs to the football.

And again, another big stop after Bentonville allows the Bryant defense to bend a little bit.

But they don't break.

So with 413 left here in the second quarter, Hornets take over with a first and ten from the 33.

Moats to look to throw as a man middle of the field that time it's Caleb Tucker.

And Tucker is going to be taken down at the 46 yard line.

What a great job by Tucker to use his body to shield off the defender.

Pretty good coverage by Bentonville.

They complete the pass and Bryant's going no huddle.

Here's a handoff now to Zach Curtis Jones as he'll pick up a yard maybe two on it on the play.

Bring up second down and tried to catch Bentonville napping by going a little tempo after the completed pass.

But look at this throw by mulch.

Fires it in there.

Really nice.

Play it right in front of the Tiger defense.

Clock rolling at 314 County here in the second quarter.

Mode going to look to throw again under pressure.

And he's going to be taken down.

Sack for the first time here in the ballgame.

And coming up with the sack that time it was Kellen Rona.

What a big play in the middle for Bentonville.

They needed something to go their way and they get a push from the big man in the middle.

There's a reason he's wearing 98.

He made every inch of material to cover that frame.

There's power.

So the offensive line takes down the quarterback first.

Really big play we've seen from that Tiger defense.

So that takes it back to a third down and 18.

Now with the ball at the 38 yard line.

Boy Ronan is a he is a it's a grown man right there.

There's a reason they don't hand him number 5 or 6 on.

They're handing out uniforms.

Here it is.

Third down and 18.

Come back.

Left side to Tucker.

Tucker takes it to the 50.

And that'll bring up fourth down for the Hornets.

Yeah.

Bentonville willing to give up 12 yards there.

They know they've got a lot of room to work with.

And now they force the punt with two and a half to play and two timeouts left for Bentonville.

See if the Tigers can get something going.

Get a little momentum going into the half because you have to remember Bryant gets the football coming out of the locker room.

Grayson King going to be on the kick back deep is Conrad Schmitz for Boonville.

Ten gets the punt away and it'll hit down at the seven yard line.

And bounce into the end zone for a touchback.

When almost checked up for him around first and ten at the 20 after the touchback, and Bentonville felt like they needed points on that last drive.

The defense takes care of it, gets the ball back to them.

Really, really big possession.

Plenty of time for the Tigers to go down the field.

So 201 left here in the quarter as Bentonville is going to have it first and ten from the 20.

Two receivers to each side of the formation and snaps over his head.

And Kono's going to fall on it back at the nine yard line.

And if you're bright, think about maybe taking some of those timeouts defensively as well.

RJ yeah, I mean, because now you're going to the ball's going to be backed up.

You get a defensive stop here.

Great field position.

So that brings up a second down and 21.

Now with the ball at the nine yard line.

Kennard going to hand it off to Pratt Pratt has nowhere to go.

And that'll bring up a third down.

Now.

And it doesn't look like Bryan's good.

Or they're going to call a timeout just to.

Yeah they just call the timeout now right.

Third man on the half coming up at the half.

We're heading south to the town of Warren a small town proving ground for a big time receiving talent.

Plus we're also going to salute the 2025 Arkansas PBS student All-Stars, the best of the best on the field, as well as in the classroom.

And be sure to stick around for one of the greatest pranks in state history.

The legendary tale of the Village Academy Beavers.

The halftime show is coming up next on Arkansas PBS.

So as we were prepping for the state championships, I got with one of our producers, Tanisha, and she was telling me about this prank and the interviews that they did.

The single greatest prank of all time.

You could you can have a lot more fun in life.

Before the internet was involved.

Yes, I might when she was telling me about this and the fact that they were, you know, they were interviewing all these guys, I'm not going to give it away, because if you don't know about I want I want you to watch the halftime.

But, it is a fascinating story.

Went on for years, plural years and things like that just don't happen anymore.

Now, can we go back to the 1980s and 90s?

So I think now everybody gets like a fake Twitter account.

Yeah.

And that way.

So now it's third down and 20 and I hand it off.

This is to Pratt.

He has nowhere to go.

Gets back to the line of scrimmage.

And that'll bring up fourth down Malachi McDonald just exploded off the snap.

He knew what was coming forth.

And along with the backup quarterback he knew they weren't going to go to the ER.

The swim move this powers through gets the tackle right at the line of scrimmage.

What a big time play for 99.

So Bryant takes the timeout with a minute 17 left here in the first half and leaves them one timeout remaining.

And they're going to get great field position right here Bobby.

Yeah I mean you're talking probably midfield at worst even if a good punt depending on the coverage unit for Bentonville.

And you've got one timeout left.

And we've seen the explosiveness from this Bryant offense.

Plenty of time to score.

And if you're Bentonville you've got to do everything you can to get it into a locker room sitting at 21.

And let's not forget Brian's already returned the punt return.

So far in this game.

Jacoby Boone is the one that goes back there to return the punt.

Marks getting a sneak two back there for Bryant.

Looks like they'll put, Caleb Tucker back there as well.

Maybe reverse fake reverse.

That's in play here.

On fourth down and 20.

And back to kick is going to be Cooper Nix for Bentonville.

It's got a foot into it.

Ball takes a bounce and it's picked up by Tucker.

Tucker going to return right down the there's a penalty flag down.

Back at the 42 yard line.

Either way behind the play.

So this one's going to be on Bryant.

That's going to back the Hornets up a long way.

Which would have turned out to be a really good punt for Bentonville.

Yeah the question and maybe the difference between making taking a shot at the end zone or just taking a knee to like go into the half if you're Brian, you know, well you've got a minute five now with one timeout.

How.

Call blocking the back that time on Bryant.

Looks like it's going to be Kevin Smith who they call on.

Forget taking a knee is coming out 514 to the left of the formation.

And swinging left side and the Kamari Austin's hands Austin gets it out to the 50 yard line.

Ball popped out and let's see who comes up with it.

I was strictly a numbers game.

I believe Bryant was able to jump back on the football.

Bryant's got four receivers to the left of the formation.

Bentonville only had three defenders walked up with those four receivers.

So an empty easy swing pass and the big yards after the catch.

But the ball was starting to move before the receiver hit the turf.

Kamari Austin Lucky the Hornets got that one back.

Spotted it down to 49 yard line.

Moats going to look to throw.

Moats.

Comes back.

Left side finds Tucker has to get around the defender.

That time.

Takes it past the 45 down to the 44.

That was Evan Mole who came in for the stop for Bentonville.

And it looks like a timeout is going to be calling for Bryant.

With 41 seconds remaining here in the quarter.

You may not think that was much of a play for mobile for Bentonville the defensive back, but that was a huge tackle one on one in space.

If he doesn't make that play, it is huge.

Yards after the catch.

Instead makes the play, keeps the receiver in bounds and the Hornets have to burn their final timeout.

So you got 41 seconds left.

Now I will say this that the Hornets have a really good kicker.

And Grayson King, who has hit multiple 40 plus yard field goals this year.

But now that you don't have a timeout, if you go that route, you got to get set up pretty quick to get that one pulled off.

Yeah, I mean the key of course.

Obviously in high school football the clock this stop to move the chains albeit momentarily.

It should be you know an opportunity that Bryant with 41 seconds left has three maybe four plays depending if they get out of bounds.

21 nothing.

Hornets lead it.

As we said a moment ago, the Hornets will get the football to start the second half and is spotted now at the 44 yard line.

Four wide receivers in the formation on the top side of your screen.

Moats going to look to throw.

Has the ball deflected out of his hands.

And that'll bring up third down.

Now kind of a funny looking play there RJ you look like they were going to try to set up that screen to the far side for TJ Hodges.

And the receivers weren't really running across the field.

Almost like they were expecting the ball to come out quickly to Hodges and block downfield a little discombobulation from the Hornets brings up a third down and five with 36 seconds left here in the half.

They've got numbers at the top of the screen.

If they want it.

Moats going to drop back to pass across the middle has Tucker spins down to the 21.

What a play by the receiver for Bryant.

Talk about climbing the ladder Caleb Tucker elevates 30s left on the clock.

They'll spike it up.

It's pretty good coverage on that last play for Bentonville.

But Caleb Tucker climbs the ladder and goes up and gets this throw a little high, but it's what you have.

You do those box jumps in the off season.

So now the Hornets will have a second down and ten with the ball.

The 22 yard line.

Moats going to look to throw.

Moats goes across the middle.

And he can hook up with Jacoby Boone.

That time.

I talked about how big of a game that Bentonville offensive line needed to have.

If they want to have some success, what about this front for Bryant all day to throw for most Bentonville only rushes for a clean pocket.

Doesn't connect with his receiver there, but no pressure in his face allows him to get kind of into the situation.

Also get into rhythm with his receivers.

And he's only had one.

They've only had one sack tonight, but he's not had very many hurt.

He hadn't been hurt very often throughout the game.

Those guys up front are doing their job for sure.

Here's moats going to look to throw.

And it's incomplete as that time trying to hook up with Kamari Austin.

And there is a penalty flag down back at the six yard line.

Looks like it's going to be against Bentonville.

Mason Meyer made a great break on the football.

But they're going to say he got there just a touch too soon.

Went through there.

Bryant receiver.

If that is pass interference that could be half the distance to the goal on a first down.

Yeah.

That's what they're going to call.

Bobby it seems like this last 45 seconds has taken forever.

Yeah that's a good look at the replay there.

Got there just a touch too early.

It's a really good call by the officiating crew right there.

Makes contact.

Then the football gets there a half a second too quickly.

That was going to be a good play for Bentonville.

Instead it's another fresh set of downs for Bryant.

17 seconds left.

No timeouts for the Hornets.

Moats going to look to throw.

Comes back left side and it's incomplete.

Went in and out of the hands of his wide receiver that time trying to hook up with Kamari Austin said.

To feel like this second quarter is taken forever.

After calling the eight man game the other day.

I don't want to hear anything about that.

You guys get out of here like 11:00 last night.

Marathon 3.5 hour contest.

What was the final score?

70 something to 30 something lost count.

Yeah.

Here's moats now looking to throw again back across the middle.

And it's deflected and goes out of bounds.

There's eight seconds left here in the first half.

That's a dangerous throw for moats.

Maybe forcing it in the red zone a lot of black jerseys in between.

He and the receivers.

Luckily that one wasn't picked off.

If you were a Bryant fan.

Third down and ten with the ball at the 11 yard line.

Don't forget when this half comes to a conclusion, Ellis Orange is going to catch up with Sanders as they're headed to the locker room.

We really don't have time to go across the middle.

Cannot risk getting tackled before the first down marker.

RJ.

It's probably either touchdown or something to the sidelines.

Moats is going to take the snap.

They go right side.

He just overthrows Tucker.

And that's going to leave four seconds left here in the quarter.

That's probably actually the better the better move because he wouldn't have made it to the end zone.

Yeah that's actually a really good throw a go ahead and missed that.

You don't tell your quarterback to throw it away.

Obviously you want to be receiver in the area.

But yeah be smart there.

Just chucks that one over.

He's running back.

Said it was leaking out into the flat.

Give yourself a chance for three.

So Grayson King is going to come on for the field goal.

Be about a 21 yard kick.

And now we've got whistles and penalty flags as somebody moved on the offensive line.

Over the.

Border.

Still well within the range.

But there have been many penalties either side.

But you know Quade Sanders is not going to like that call right before the half.

Zeke six penalties now against the Hornets.

But now instead of a chippy he got a 34 yard field goal.

Try Grayson King will put the foot down and it is no good as he missed it wide right.

And that's going to take us to the half where the Bryant Hornets.

They lead it 21 to nothing here in the seven eight state championship game.

And a little orange is going to catch up with Quan Sanders as he's making his way off the field.

Coach Sanders going to have to tough it to the locker room.

Had an Achilles injury way back earlier in the year.

We're in the walking boot, but he's feeling no pain right now.

I promise.

Alyssa's caught up with Coach Sanders and we'll send it down to her.

Alyssa.

Coach, last week you called this building your home away from home.

How is this?

Playing well we got the ball and then we got uncomfortable.

We had a lot of dropped, just opportunities we cannot miss in a game of this magnitude.

As we seen last week, no lead is safe.

So we got to do a better job of getting back and get back out next.

Tackles for loss.

How do you keep that pressure in the second half?

Well, you better do what you keep doing.

We got to keep doing what we're doing.

You know, I mean, really, it's the only way, Because anything can happen, man.

It's football.

So, we got to just build on what's going on.

Really forget the first half and just come out and play.

Thank you.

Coach.

Thank you, thank you Alyssa.

As the Bryant Hornets they lead the seven AA state championship game 21 to nothing over the Bentonville Tigers.

Stick around.

Got a great halftime show coming up for you next as you're watching the Centennial Bank state football Championships on Arkansas PBS sports.

This broadcast is underwritten in part by.

Since 1937, the electric cooperatives of Arkansas have been providing power to homes, farms, and businesses across our state.

The cooperatives are member owned and worked together to serve Arkansans.

The Electric Cooperatives of Arkansas proudly support high school students and athletics in Arkansas, and hope you enjoy watching the state championship games on Arkansas.

PBS sports.

Better connected together the electric cooperatives of Arkansas.

Hey, everybody.

David Bazzle here.

It's halftime at War Memorial, and that means we are back here at Arkansas PBS Studios to share with you a little bit of what we've been working on.

In a few minutes, Cristina munoz will introduce you to some All-Stars both on the field and in the classroom.

And we're going to introduce you to a high school football team that is literally beyond belief.

But first, deep in the heart of South Arkansas.

The town of Warren has been cultivating a culture of elite wide receivers.

Here's their story.

Warren, in a small town, is known for its tomatoes and wide receivers.

Saw Mill Town good salt of the earth people grew up with 4000 people.

I graduate with only 99 people.

Love you there.

The people love football there.

And when Friday night is packed, there's no way that many people coming to a high school football game and a small community, and I do.

They turn out, you got a big community that's on, like they on your side.

And I just want to win.

That's all I want to do.

Well, Warren had always been a football town, but Coach Avery is taking it to the next levels.

Started in 2000.

So this makes my 26 years as a head football coach, both coming in and taking the job over as a young coach and just switching from a power to more of a spread offense shotgun with with one back and then four receivers and then translated into no backs, people running five wide and nobody else was doing it.

I mean, honestly, we were the only team in our conference doing it.

I don't think a lot of people really believed in it early.

But as you see with this, you know, the back to back state championships.

So the system started to work and kids started to get recruited.

You know, we started with Brett Smith and Sean Fellows and Terrence Hampton in 2001.

And, it kind of grew.

College coaches all over the country, I can tell you, Warren, Arkansas is one of those places we're going to look at.

The thing that kind of prepares you, coming from Warren, is about teaching football.

You know, our guy start in seventh grade and we learn how to catch a football.

What a catch a football, where to catch a football?

Because a lot of little things go into running great routes and getting open, not just being faster, athletic.

He taught me everything I know.

He helped me become like a better player on the field, off the field, due to my IQ, our kids played both sides of football.

In the higher classifications, they only play on one side.

They get to college but don't work out and they're pretty much in trouble.

Whereas our guys, they played everywhere.

I look at Jalen Burks, he was our fourth NFL pick since I've been here, which is crazy.

But our first first round draft choice, he played linebacker, he played safety, punted.

He returned to return gigs.

He played quarterback.

He played wideout Antonio Jordan same thing.

Jerry's right.

You go back and you look at the list.

Come Andre McKnight, AJ Ricardo, camp, Chris Greg, Greg, Giles, Darby on Brown and Jalen Marshall who played Arkansas State.

So you're not getting a wide receiver.

You're getting a football player.

Growing up I seen a lot of guys like Antonio Jordan trailing by.

Just keep pushing yourselves.

And you know, it just makes me want to strive for more.

You know, when Brett and Rashawn and they were at Tennessee, they would come back in the summer workout with our guys when you had Jason, Greg and Chris, they would come back, workout with our guys.

I remind them that I sat in the same chairs and the same in the same elementary school, that they did the same junior, the same high school, the same locker rooms, man.

Like I literally helped build those locker rooms.

We we had to sand the walls and stuff.

When we first got that indoor, knowing it, you got those people did and came through here.

You know, you come in through the same organization.

Feels good.

Feel like you on the where I grew.

You know, it's tough to make it out of South Arkansas.

I'm good at football.

That's what I'm good at.

That's what I know how to do.

This is my ticket to get out of war.

And that's one thing that I use.

And it means more to us down there.

It just means more.

Football has been the ticket to a much better life for a lot of kids in those football towns of rural Arkansas.

Warren is going to continue to produce great talent, and I truly believe that the sky's the limit for that football program down there.

You know, I wish he would come out of war.

No, it's a lot of hype about it.

And I love just playing under the pressure.

They live for football.

It's just part of the culture.

It's who they are.

It's what they do.

And we had a dessert auction, a dessert auction now where people made desserts and we raised over $12,000 and people were buying pecan pies for 500 bucks.

And it wasn't because of the camp.

It was because they want to support the lumberjacks.

Man.

Every Friday, the town shuts down just to come watch.

You know, lumberjack football show.

You think this town is pretty big?

Everybody comes out to show our support part of the very culture, not just the sport, but part of the fabric that holds that whole town together.

Football puts Warren on the map.

And to see all the fans, you know, filling up the bleachers and standing around the fans and things like that, because we helped make football important, to that town.

It's, it's kind of a feeling you really can't replace.

From tomato crops to first round draft picks, Warren keeps proving that small towns can raise big dreams.

Now, let's kick it over to Christina for a look at the 2025 Arkansas PBS Student All Stars.

Christina.

Thanks, bas.

Every year, we scour the state to find athletes who not only excel on the field, but more importantly, in the classroom.

Here is your 2025 Arkansas PBS Student All Star.

We kick it off with the eight man Arkansas PBS student all star that is Cash Martin, a linebacker and running back for the Cedar Ridge Timberwolves.

Cash has a 4.0 GPA and plans to go to college and get an engineering degree.

Next up in the two A classification, we have Peyton Willoughby, a senior with the Indians of Mark tree.

Peyton has a 4.11 GPA and is planning on attending college for the Air Force ROTC.

Moving on to the three AA classification, here is Micah Gamble with the Fordyce Red bugs with a 3.7 GPA.

Micah wants to play football at the collegiate level and major in criminal justice.

Braden Stinson with the Southside Charter Southerners is our four, a Arkansas PBS student all star.

Braden has a 4.0 GPA and plans to attend Harding University to play football and major in civil engineering.

The five AA classification is well represented by.

Wall-to-wall cut, the quarterback for the Lakeside Rams, while he has a 3.5 GPA and wants to play football at the collegiate level and become a coach.

The Benton Panthers Garrett Pilkington is the Arkansas PBS student all star from the six A classification.

Garrett has a 4.06 GPA and is planning on attending UCLA and going to pharmacy school.

And finally, our seven.

A student all star is Trey Thompson, the quarterback for the Bentonville West Wolverines.

Trey has a 4.0 GPA and wants to major in marketing in college.

Congratulations to all and way to go.

You know, we may see some of these faces again in April here on Arkansas PBS for Quiz Bowl.

Now, if you haven't seen Quiz Bowl, you'll want to make a note to watch this year, some of the smartest high school students in the state meet up right here in this studio and square off not only for bragging rights, but for some pretty big checks, too.

And it is all live right here on Arkansas PBS.

Now let's throw it back to bass for a look at a little bit of trickery in Arkansas football history.

Beth.

Thanks, Christina.

What do you get when you mix two Mary jokesters and a fake football team?

One of the greatest pranks in Arkansas history.

Check out the story of the Village Academy Beavers.

The very first game was September 7th.

Actually, that was the day that the article was published, so it would have been September 6th.

We played rival Louisiana and had Jess Norman gained 94 yards on 11 carries.

Jess Norman is one of the star athletes of all time here.

Air in Arkansas.

He was an outstanding running back quarterback whatever you any position for the Village Academy Beavers back in the mid 80s.

He was indescribable.

His capabilities were limitless.

A lot of muscular definition could jump run.

He was fast.

He was very intelligent.

I mean, he could outsmart the defense wherever, wherever village me appeared just knowing was going to be up.

Just so happened he didn't exist.

That's true.

He did not exist.

It was all made up.

Bob Seville's band director.

I was the girls basketball coach at Jesse the high school.

Gary and I called it the Scores.

And for Jezebel every Friday night.

And we were talking about the fact that when we would call in the scores, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette at that time, we're having a newspaper war.

They're trying to get every score in the state within an hour, and we would call in a score and we'd say, Jesse Baylor, and they'd say, who are y'all?

Jacksonville?

And they'd say, no, no, we're Jesse Field and you're the Eagles.

No, we played the Eagles.

We're the Lions.

And Gary got so frustrated that they could not keep straight where we were, who we are, he said I don't even know if they know if our school exists or not.

And the conversation began that we could probably just call in and make believe score, because the people taking the scores really had no idea about some of the small schools in the state that had a ding with me.

And I said, well, let's test it out.

Bob Wills made that first call.

He went across the street from Jezebel School, went to First Baptist Church to the pastor's office to make the first hoax call.

Here.

I got the village Academy football scores, and the guy that I got knew a little enough to say the village has a football team.

Well, you May says.

I've never heard you y'all before.

He says, is this your first year for football?

And and Bob said, yes, this is.

And he said, who's your best player?

And I said, yes.

No.

Mean we thought of that.

Our principal, Jesse Bell High School, his name was Norman Jasper.

So it'll be a kind of a play on words on his name.

And but nobody will know who that is.

So we turned his name around and called it just Norman.

And he said, what's your mascot?

Well, we hadn't even talked about a mascot, so Bob quickly came up with beavers, but he asked me so many questions that I knew it was going to be in there the next morning.

There was, I don't know where, I don't know if we ever got going.

I don't know if I would have ever made a call.

But when he made the first call and it got started, hey, it was all.

As we progressed with this and started calling in scores each week, I would make some calls.

Bob would make some calls, had them play out of state schools, were smart enough to realize we couldn't play other schools here in Arkansas.

There'd be two scores in there.

We knew that we could not win every game.

Okay, so if, you know, we did not want to create too much attention to ourselves, we weren't going to let just run for 400 yards anything that would attract attention where they were going to say, wait a minute, that number saved possible and start looking.

So those were just general guidelines on what we had to do to keep from being caught.

Coaches and band directors and friends around the state, they couldn't wait to get a paper, you know, Saturday morning, to see how Village Academy did the night before.

Once they caught on.

Hey, this is real.

We got a lot of people saying, I just want to kick a field goal or an extra point.

We had a lot of fans that were getting into this.

We had bumper stickers printed.

They.

One of the faculty members wrote a fight song.

We had an album motto.

We were really getting into this big time.

A lot of Village Academy fans.

Village Academy Nation was big.

The elementary school principal was the only one that didn't think it was funny.

And he said, y'all need to stop that.

If something bad were to come of it, I can't stand up for you.

And we said, we totally understand that.

And we kept doing it.

We thought, okay, we'll call it, get it in there one time and you know that that'll be it.

And we'll laugh about it and and they'll figure it out.

That's there's, you know, and they won't put it back in here.

Well they didn't ever figure it out.

We kept doing it for four years.

And there's the article of when we were actually caught by a reporter named Robert Yates.

One of our administrators sent in a note to the Arkansas Gazette and said, you have a group of people in the state calling in fictitious football scores.

He misspelled fictitious.

By the way, he said, they called our school village academy.

There's no such school by that name.

So Robert Yates took that letter and started to investigate.

He eventually figured out, no, this is not real.

We had a great program for four years until we got shot down.

And I said, you feel it in the village?

Kennedy coach said, He said, are you?

Happy with the trials between once we got caught and we said, okay, we've been exposed.

We'll have a celebration banquet at Rod's Pizza Cellar in Hot Springs, and we had well over 100 people for us to tell the story of the Village Academy Beavers talking about a make believe football team which did not exist.

So when was there anyway?

And.

Village Academy are just normal.

They're just pop up places you never expect.

Yeah, I've just not a wild blue.

I am amazed that it still pops up every once in a while now, this many years later.

That was 1985 that we started, started it and quit in 88.

I think the fact that it went so long for four years had a lot to do.

If it was only a couple of times nobody be saying anything about it.

So I think that's what keeps it going is just how much fun it was back then, how many people enjoyed following it and being a part of it.

I don't know if it'll ever die.

It'll go on forever on our side.

From a joke to a statewide following, just Norman and the Village Academy beavers continue to spring up across Arkansas, breathing new life into the prank.

More than 40 years later.

Now, Christine, it's about that time.

Yes it is.

Let's get you back to War Memorial Stadium for the second half of the high school state football championship, right here on Arkansas PBS.

This broadcast is underwritten in part by.

Since 1937, the electric cooperatives of Arkansas have been providing power to homes, farms and businesses across our state.

The cooperatives are member owned and worked together to serve Arkansans.

The Electric Cooperatives of Arkansas proudly support high school students and athletics in Arkansas, and hope you enjoy watching the state championship games on Arkansas PBS sports.

Better connected together the electric cooperatives of Arkansas.

Walker is.

That's one fly for low income dunking is the icing on the cake.

Here's a big play by Roberts.

He'll go down the left side.

One man to beat.

He'll walk in the end zone for a touchdown.

Raise your hand.

Here's a running lane at the five.

He'll walk it.

Touchdown.

There we go Johnny.

The S5A baseball championship court hit once again down the left field line.

Double and score for nothing down here.

The wall is gone.

Three, run home for two.

This is the time to dig in and get the job done.

Kinsey Freeman with the big swing from the right side, she puts down another kill.

All that hard work finally paid off.

Here.

She tries to go crosscourt.

Nobody home right in the middle.

And don't go anywhere because we're going to lock the store for you.

Here's the Arkansas PBS Student All Stars class of 2020 for Unified Team is special Olympic partners and care partners.

Friends.

Okay, I know this is just incredible to watch how they have been impacted by this experience.

You know, this biggest contribution was the adoption of the Razorbacks and a whole sense of pride for this state and for this university.

What a game.

It was an exclamation point for the longtime Arkansas team.

And UAMs is a proud supporter of Arkansas PBS sports UAMs health provides orthopedic and sports medicine care across Arkansas, supporting athletes and teams throughout the state.

Find out more at unmatched health back home.

Win Rock automotive supports Arkansas athletes as a sponsor of the Arkansas PBS sports broadcast of the high school state championship games, with seven dealerships across the state serving little Rock, Conway, and Jonesboro.

When Rock automotive is community focused and provides vehicle sales and service across Arkansas, we're honored to be a part of these unforgettable moments celebrating Arkansas student athletes.

Win Rock automotive connecting communities through service and support.

Goodbye.

Let's now.

Back here at War Memorial Stadium, the Bryant Hornets lead 21.

Nothing over the Bentonville Tigers in the seven AA state championship game.

Some players starting to make their way back out onto the playing surface.

And Bobby, it was all Hornets all the time there in the first half.

It really was.

It started with the injury to the Bentonville starting quarterback on the opening drive of the contest, and the Tigers have been fighting an uphill battle from that point.

How about -20 yards rushing in the contest for a run heavy Bentonville squad, only 60 yards of offense for Bentonville and they.

On the flip side, Bryce is making things happen 293 yards.

Big play on special teams.

The turnover creates a short field and you kind of remember Bryant's had two touchdowns wiped off the field because they're off of the scoreboard because of a penalty as well.

That first half the first 24 minutes all dominated by the team from Saline County.

Yeah I mean if you think about it, Bobby, this thing could could have easily been 35.

Nothing at halftime the way throughout they were going to having those pulled back.

These are the stats so far 293 total yards 102 rushing for Bryant one 9191 passing.

And then everything else is somewhat even time of possession.

You know, everything like that.

But that big number though that -20 yards rushing for Bentonville I mean you talking obviously several those are the quarterback got a bad snap that goes over the quarterback's head.

And that's a that's a first two quarters that if you're Bentonville and Jody Grant who we're going to hear from just momentarily that you want to wipe clean and try to start over.

And you got 24 minutes to play.

Well, Alyssa's down with coach Jody Grant from Bentonville.

Take it away.

Listen coach do you have an update on Cole.

And then how do you think Evan Konate has played in his absence.

Yeah unfortunately you know Cole's done.

And it's it's terrible for him because he's such a good player and he's a big part of what we do offensively.

And Evan connotes a sophomore and, hadn't had a whole lot of opportunities this year.

So I feel good about what he's doing so far.

We're putting him in a pretty bad situation.

We got to protect Metro going to run the football.

But to go in and these type of reps and stuff opportunity against a defense like that is you know that's tough on the young man.

But I think he's handling it really good face adversity so far.

What was the message in the locker room right now.

Yeah we just talked about you got a choice to make.

Do you either going to go compete and battle and fight or you can fold.

And I said that's not in our DNA.

We're not going to do that.

We're going to go compete and fight and see what happens.

We've we've you know, it's been a long time ago, but we've been in situations like this before and our guys have always come out competed.

So I'll be real surprised if we don't compete the second half.

Thank you coach I appreciate that update guys.

Also want to update you.

You mentioned the absence of Chris Nicklin.

I checked on his status during half time.

He had an ankle injury last week against Conway and that is why we have not seen him out on the field.

Well, that that explains a lot.

Thank you Alyssa.

And and you know when you're losing your starting quarterback Bobby, as well as your do it all running back and he's not 100% that makes things tough.

But if you're going to beat a team like Bryant on a stage like this, you're going to have to be firing on all cylinders and play a good game.

What you can't do is come to that street fight with an arm Tom behind your back, a leg tied behind your back, and try to do it with one hand in one leg.

And that's kind of what you're doing.

If you're you're Bentonville, you don't have your starting quarterback, your running game hampered because Chris Hicklin is a dude, but certified baller out there when he gets the hands on the football.

But I've seen crazier things that happen.

And Jody Grant has said it.

You got a chance.

You fold the tents or you come out swinging.

I expect Bentonville to come out, but they gotta play well in this opening drive defensively, because if Bryant takes his opening kickoff and they march down the field and score, it maybe lights out.

Well, and I'll tell you this for for the and Jody Grant said this for the limited amount of opportunities that Konate has had I think he's played really, really well.

I really do because he's had to step up in the biggest game of the year.

Yeah, against one of the best defenses in the state and he hadn't made every throw.

But you know what?

He's made enough good throws and he just hadn't just freaked out back there in the pocket.

But he's made a couple really big time throws.

The deep outs for the first down comes to mind.

Pressure has been there.

He hasn't necessarily had a clean pocket.

Every time he drops back to pass the interception deflected off his receiver's hands.

So you can't put it 100% at his fault.

We got to come out and play a clean game.

That's going to start with protection.

Start with running the football, getting comfortable.

But again there's no margin for error in the final 24 minutes.

It is going to take a flawless second half for Bentonville and maybe a gift or two from Bryant for the Tigers to get back at it.

Well, both teams have made their way back onto the playing surface as it's 21.

Nothing.

The Bryant Hornets they lead it back deep for the Hornets.

They've got TJ Hodges as well as Jacoby Boone.

They'll stand at the 13 yard line.

And we are just about set and ready to go as Puga is going to kick it off.

And TJ Hodges is going to take it to the nine yard line.

Hodges walking back left side cuts it back and he'll be taken down at the 31 yard line.

And that's where the Hornets will have it first and ten as we get underway here in the second half.

You know Bentonville has done a pretty decent job of stopping the running game.

You look at the numbers 14 carries for 102 yards for the Bryant Hornets.

57 of that came on the busted play which was a swing pass.

Turns into a fumble that Hodges reverses field and pops the big one.

Hasn't that been done a pretty good job defensively.

But Bryant's taking advantage of the short field.

Obviously took advantage of the interception.

And that's why they've got a three score lead.

Here's a handoff by the Hornets and bring it out right side.

And that'll be Robinson.

And he'll take it past the 40 yard line to about the 42.

And it should be enough for a first down as Connor Davis came in to make the stop.

Look at Robinson finish this run.

He's not shying away from contact.

Lowers the shoulder and delivers the hit stick.

Picks up a first down for the Hornets.

First down and ten ball to 42.

Back to Robinson.

They go.

Robinson going to kick it out.

Left side.

He'll get enough for a first down and pick him about a yard pass.

The sticks is coming in for the stop was Meyer.

You got back to back.

Carries Back-To-Back first downs.

And you know Hodges gets a lot of the publicity and rightfully so because he's a very talented running back.

But Robinson he carries the load for this Bryant team.

And you think about last year's Bryant team.

They had two good running backs with Rashan.

Daniel Daniel Anderson.

Here's another run.

This time it's by Zack Curtis Jones.

And Curtis Jones is going to pick a first down as he goes down to the 35 yard line.

How about just 11 1111 right.

Marching the ball down the field.

Pick it up.

First down after first down.

Now they pick up the pace three wide.

Go to the left side sacked Curtis Jones the running back.

He'll pitch it to him.

And we've got a penalty flag down.

Back at the 39 yard line Curtis Jones is going to take it down to the 34.

Looks like we'll have a hold against the Bryant Hornets.

Another delay shovel pass if you want to call it that for Bryant.

Again that one doesn't work.

And now there's some discussion about what the laundry's all about.

Oh.

You don't see that very much Bobby.

Where you're in the shotgun and you had the delayed shovel pass.

Yeah.

Oh, yeah.

I mean, I don't see I haven't seen it very often, but it's worked three times tonight for the Hornets.

Yeah.

You know, for those who watch a lot of college football in our state, Central Arkansas runs a play that's a little similar.

But the running backs, at least in front of the quarterback, you don't see a lot to a horizontal shovel pass like that.

Here's Moses and it's intercepted.

Take it to the 45.

Out to the 30 down to the 20.

He's taken down.

Coming up with the interception was James Pratt.

The ball came out.

But they're going to say Bryant did not recovered inbounds James Durham right there makes the call.

You saw the beanbag come out.

But they're going to say Bryant did not recover it.

Got a Bentonville player down.

But what a huge break on the football for the Bentonville Hornets.

Times it perfectly.

And Eli Pearson makes the biggest play of the day for the Tigers.

And it's Eli Pearson who's down on the turf right now at the 14 yard line.

Now this is a reviewable play mind you as it was a turnover any turnover a scoring play can be reviewed and return.

Here's the great play and 18 yard line now.

Now I running well I don't know Bobby that that that might be something you want to take another look at it to.

This could be automatically reviewed.

Also was the knee down before the football comes out.

So they can they can take a look at this of course the the crew up in the booth is going to do so.

And if they feel the need to buzz down and take a longer look at it, they certainly can.

So coaches do have a challenge here in the high school football championship game if they choose to do so.

But any potential scoring play or potential turnover automatically reviewed up here in the booth.

And that is going to have to have some help getting off the field.

We'll have to check in on him.

And it looks like Bryant's kind of talking over their options right now.

So they don't have to challenge it themselves.

It's going to be all back reviewed.

And again with the injured player for Bentonville you hope he's okay.

But it's given the replay crew plenty of time to to go over every angle of it.

And they may actually deem that Pearson was down before the football comes out.

And getting the replay in our booth that you're not seeing on your screen right now, it looks like he was down before that ball comes out.

So it's going to be Tigers football.

First trip to the red zone for Bentonville.

Have to take advantage here.

First down and ten three one.

Jump to the near side.

To note is the quarterback for the Tigers.

And in motion is Irvin.

Cano going to look to throw and overthrows Irving that time brings up second down Irvin was running the whip around it goes.

Speed motion to the inside and immediately whips back out to the outside.

Bryant.

This defense did not adjust well but the throw well off the mark.

That would have been a huge opportunity for run after the catch for Irvin.

So second down and ten.

The interception by Pratt to get it down into the red zone has got Bentonville knocking on the door.

Second down and ten.

Fake it to Pratt.

Goes left side and trying to get to Prevo.

And there's a penalty flag.

Maybe another one comes out.

Exactly the the hat comes off from the official in the end zone.

So maybe a hold or pass interference then.

Certainly going to be a taunting call on Bryant afterwards.

Well he stood over the top of him and that'll get you every time.

The flag comes out.

It's gonna be Terry Jones, but also going to be an unsportsmanlike conduct on Bryant as well.

You go half the distance, half the distance.

Tigers are going to be in business.

So Tommy Kraft and his crew talking this one over second time today.

By the way Bobby we've seen the the flag and then the hat throw for a penalty.

On the play after.

Very good.

Effort day before halftime.

For the for.

So that's going to be at the four and a half yard line is where the ball is going to be spotted.

And it'll be first and goal for the Bentonville Tigers.

I was just a touch too early to kind of like we saw on the Bentonville Pass interference call earlier.

Just got there a little too early, and that's why you get the flag for taunting as well.

Back in that wildcat formation that's been so successful for the Tigers so far, here's made made works.

The right side is in for the touchdown so many times in that first half RJ they run right behind those three players.

This time they go with the counter play get the momentum going one direction.

And then me punches it in.

And what a momentum swing to start the second half.

Defense leads to offense.

The Tigers have new life.

Bentonville gets on the scoreboard as it's 21 to 6.

Kylie Sally is going to come on for the extra point.

55 of 56 on the season and her extra point is up and good.

And with 1019 left here in the third quarter, the Bryant Hornets they lead it 21 to 7 over the Bentonville Tigers in the seven state championship game.

What a swing of momentum Jody Grant set it to Alyssa coming out of the locker room you got two choices.

You lay down.

Are you good at fighting bit Neville's defense certainly lands that first blow.

The offense capitalizes in this game.

Feels a whole lot different than it is about two minutes ago Bobby, right before half I said to you, if you remember back last year to this state championship game, similar situation right.

Bentonville was up big.

Bryant stormed back to to take the lead and win the game late in the ball game.

And nothing.

You can't count out either one of these teams.

I don't care if you get if you're down you're back up back up with Bentonville and Bryant.

You just can't count anybody out.

Yeah, the two teams that are just way too talented top to bottom on the roster, one through 99 and even a couple of duplicate numbers.

If you're on the roster for these two squads, you can play.

So here's the kick.

It'll be a short one that'll be taken down at the 29.

Bringing it up left side for Bryant is going to be Darrion Jones.

And he'll go out of bounds at the 40 yard line.

Hey let's head down to a little orange on the sideline.

She's got an update on the Ben Ville sideline.

Well one of the things that Jody Grant told us before this game was that they need the ball to just bounce their way somehow.

So I do have some good news for the Bentonville Tigers form of Eli Pearson.

He just had a little bit of a some scrapes on his knee.

They needed a bandage up and tape him up, but he came out of the tent jumping up and down as his team scored their first touchdown of the game.

Here's a run play by Bryant and it's bottled up behind the line of scrimmage.

And that time it was Hodges had nowhere to go.

And Bryant going backwards.

We're obviously high off the stadium here at War Memorial.

But you can feel the tension starting to pick up on the far side for Bryant.

Everything with their way in the first half.

And now the first two minutes in change here in the the second half.

Everything's going against them, including that first down run kind of response to the Hornets have three wide on the near side as Cameron Austin went in motion.

Now they're going to go back to TJ Hodges Hodges going to reverse field.

Cuts it back up.

Trying to find some.

Make something out of nothing as it gets past the 40.

And he'll be able to pick up about four yards on the play.

Perfectly timed run blitz there for Bentonville.

Kind of blew that one up before it got started.

And thanks to a great athletic play from Hodges, gets it back beyond just beyond the original line of scrimmage.

But third and long Bentonville defense got a chance to get the football back for their offense.

Bryant only punted one time in the first half, and it's third down and nine.

At the 41 yard line, coach checks over to the sideline.

Kind of hand it off as it goes to Zach Curtis Jones.

He'll spin forward for a few and that'll bring up fourth down as Brody Anderson came in to make the stop.

The great Job by Brody Anderson, 38 pictured on your lucky box.

Makes the one on one play and the punt teams coming out for the Hornets.

Grayson King is going to be the punter back deep for Bentonville.

You'll have Conrad Schmidt who will stand at the 15 yard line.

As King put a foot into it, it'll be taken at the 16 Smith going to try to go right side, but he'll get thrown down forward.

Progress will be around the 18 yard line.

It was Bryant Davis who came in to make the stop for the Hornets.

They're going to officially mark him down at the 18.

And we're going to take a break with 805 left here in the third quarter.

The Bryant Hornets they lead it 21 to 7 in the seven eight state championship game.

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So Bentonville, back on the football field with 805 to play here in the third quarter for a win.

The formation they're going to hand it off.

This is fake one and seen a whole lot of him as he got it out to the 24 yard line.

As Allison said earlier, battling a little bit of an ankle injury.

Good job by that.

Front for Bentonville though.

Created some running ways.

Picks up four down four yards.

And that's what they didn't do in the first half.

They lost on first down.

They were fighting second and ten second and 11 constantly.

This time they they win the battle on first down and now they're in front of the chains four yard pickup as there's four wide receivers in the formation.

And they go back.

Now they're thought about the fake one but came with the RPO.

And it's incomplete as that time they were trying to find their wide receiver I believe that was Schmidt's for the RPO.

Was there just to throw a little bit low and behind his receiver.

Now third and medium to long again for Bentonville and Malachi McDonald for Bryant.

Putting a lot of pressure on the quarterback to get rid of the football a little bit early.

We called his name a lot.

Big 99 in the middle, three down defensive tackle.

Every coach begs to have a guy like that.

Vince Wilfork comes to mind.

Of course.

Of course he would drop a Patriot reference.

Indeed.

Here's the third down play as we go left side.

And is it intercepted?

No.

They're going to say it's incomplete.

Bounced off the turf again.

Just a little late to throw.

Coming across the middle behind his intended targets.

The Bryant defense puts together a pretty impressive series there.

And they're gonna get the football back.

Here's a look at that last play.

And yeah it bounced off the turf made it look good.

Was a nice acrobatic play to try to sell it.

Officials on top of that one.

And so now it's a punting situation as Cooper Nix will come out to punt.

Brian's going to put two back again to receive the punt.

That'll be Caleb Caleb Tucker along with Jacoby Boone.

Punt is away.

It's going to be taken by Tucker at the 42 yard line.

Tucker going to work.

Right side that penalty.

Markers down out past the 40.

Down to the 30.

Cuts it back still on his feet and he'll be taken down at the eight yard line.

But hold everything.

We've got three penalty flags down back in midfield.

One flag.

You might be able to argue.

Two.

You can maybe convince yourself it didn't happen.

Three yeah.

Just go ahead and walk it off.

Yeah.

And they all came out at the same time, but I didn't.

You did.

Welcome back.

They're going to call that illegal.

Blocking the back drive on Matthew Ferguson wipes out what, a 6570 yard punt return.

And again another big play.

Two touchdowns.

And now the big punt return erased from Bryant's because of penalty.

You can add even a force in there on Hodges on the swing pass that he dropped on the fumble and goes for about 70.

That lost about 30 of it because of a penalty.

So the Hornets will have it first and ten from the 33 yard line.

Moats going to hand it off brings it right side.

That's Robinson has the football.

And ball's out.

Ball is out.

Who came up with.

He's been got it.

Yes.

It's going to be McCarthy for Bentonville who came up with it.

And they're going to have it at the 41 yard line.

Just ripped the football from Robinson's hands and lands right in the lap of a defender for Bentonville.

Take a look at it here.

Just gets the hands on the football.

Yeah McCarthy does it all himself.

Takes the football away.

Recovers it himself Aiden McCarthy the junior defense creating things for the Tigers.

Sets them up.

And great field position once again.

And with 654 to play here in the third corner Omo is creeping over onto the Bentonville sideline.

Gonna hand it off to Ficken thickly.

Has nowhere to go.

Gets back to the line of scrimmage.

Boom was dropped.

Sam Nelson might have been the second defender there, but he dropped a hammer on Strickland.

Brings up a second down and ten.

Now clock rolling down to 630 and counting here in the third quarter.

But Irvin has been quiet today RJ gotta find a way to get the football to number three.

One of your Razorback signees.

Two catches for just 20 yards today.

He's lined up in the slot to the right of the formation.

Two backs in the backfield.

Kennard will send one of his backs out in two.

And receiver nodes under pressure.

He's running for his life.

He fumbled it.

Ball's loose on the turf.

Who's going to come up with it.

Looks like the Hornets got it.

Coming up with the strip for the Hornets it was Matthew Nelson.

Then he recovered it.

And the Hornets back in business I'll see your defensive play and erase your one.

That's what Bryant's defense has to say.

What a strip sack.

And the Bryant Hornet defense fills the momentum slipping away.

As you mentioned number four Matthew Nelson gets in from behind.

And then the oblong football does some funny things but he gets on it.

And now the Hornets have a chance to add to this two score lead.

So Brennan Bryant has the football at the 31 yard line.

What a break.

What a swing and momentum for Bryant.

They needed that moats low snap.

Going to hand it off.

It was over to Zach Curtis Jones.

And Jones is going to take it out to the 31 yard line which was the original line of scrimmage as Kellen Rona came in for the stop.

Here's another handoff to Zach Curtis Jones goes left side past the 30 and he'll be taken down at the 29 yard line.

Two yard pickup Mason Meyer comes up, fills the hole.

Does a nice job of just hanging on for dear life and lets the rest of the defense rally over to make the play clock running.

As we near the five minute mark here in the third quarter.

How about the Elgin score up 20 to nothing right now over Stuttgart.

Looking trying to get a little payback from last year when they lost in the title game.

Here's a pass.

Cross the middle and Kamari Austin falls down at the four yard line.

Turf monster came up and got him.

I don't know if he can cue it up this quickly, but that was at the exact same play that Bryant scored on earlier in this contest.

You've got three receivers.

They all go separate directions.

Wide open receiver down the middle of the field.

Here's first and goal.

They go to TJ Hodges.

And Hodges straight ahead has nowhere to go.

He gets back to the line of scrimmage.

Sometimes when the play works as well as it did in the first half, might as well come back to it.

And Bryant certainly did that.

So it brings up a second down now and goal for the Bryant Hornets.

We're going to hand it off Zach Curtis Jones works it back left side.

And he'll get it down to the three yard line.

Showing the replay here in the booth.

And that's almost an identical play to what they scored on in the first half the time.

As RJ mentioned this turf monster will get you especially when it gets cold.

A little slick out there.

Kamari Austin couldn't keep his footing with Bryant, though.

Can finish off the drive.

Heinz Mansfield 32 to 6, the defending champs.

Here it is on third down and the running backs ran into each other.

At that time, Curtis Jones and T.J.

Hodges ran into each other and they got it back to the line of scrimmage.

Now you got fourth down on the ground.

Take a look.

This is the play they scored on in the play they just did.

Does that look similar to you or not?

Almost identical.

So Bobby I mean you got fourth down.

Yeah.

Wouldn't you almost say get the points at this point.

No, I like the idea.

Keep the momentum going then you've got if you don't get you first Bentonville to go 95.

Here they go.

They're going to hand it off to Curtis Jones.

He doesn't get it.

Bingo gets the stop.

Bentonville defense looks different here in this second half.

That first drive started to get a little momentum for Bryant.

They get the turnover.

The interception sets up a score.

And the Bentonville defense comes up huge coming from the backside.

Makes the play Connor Davis tracks it down in a huge huge stop for Bentonville.

They're not going anywhere.

I just go back to if you're in a state championship and you've got an opportunity to get points and just keep adding to to your momentum, you almost get the points right there.

I see what you're saying.

Make them go the length of the field and all that.

I just think that, you know, points matter in you're in a state championship game and we've already seen momentum shift a couple times in this ballgame.

Yeah I agree with you.

You go up three scores up 17.

But this Bentonville offense hasn't been able to drive the ball all day.

Yeah.

The one score they had came off the interception that set up the short field.

Here's the Wildcat package that goes right side to Mead.

And Mead is going to be able to pick up about four yards on the play.

Bring up second down.

Darnell and Warren playing a tough one right now 2820.

Dardanelle leads Warner right now.

So it's officially a five yard gain.

Back to the Wildcat.

They go Mead straight ahead and he'll take it past the first down marker is he'll get it out to the 14 yard line.

Start an hour here in the second half.

Bentonville has -20 yards before this drive.

That's why you say hey March at 95.

You can't.

And I get that I mean I just I think I always on the side of let's let's keep that scoreboard going on.

Even though they had the short field, they had two penalties, pass interference half the distance.

Right.

And personal foul half the distance.

Bryant's almost gave them that touchdown back.

Not taking me away from Bentonville, but I think that was the reasoning for Sanders to go for it on fourth down high snap goes over the backs head and we've got penalty flags down and he'll be taken down at the one yard line that was made.

It went over his head.

But let's see what the penalty flags are.

That one just had disaster written all over it.

Bentonville lucky to get back on the football, but now we have to check the flag.

And either way, unless this penalties against the Hornet defense, Bentonville is in the shadow and maybe even inside the shadow of their own goal post, you got to almost think it is against Bryant because you had one black jersey and a whole bunch of white jerseys down there.

When the penalty flags were thrown.

Tommy Kraft, our head official.

Let's get the call first down.

After.

So personal foul facemask.

Think they're going to get that seven day Wilson.

That comes all the way back out to the 29 yard line.

So instead of being inside the five what a huge huge turn of events right there.

That's it.

Yeah that's that's face mask.

The head turns which is going to make it an automatic 15 yarder flag comes out for call by the officials first and ten with the ball at the 29 yard line.

Back to the Wildcat.

They go.

Made trying to find a hole has nowhere to go.

And he'll get it back to the line of scrimmage.

This is a coaching and there's another flag comes out late.

But that right there is what you can't have.

If you're Bentonville, you're already in the jumbo set.

You've got ten offensive linemen, essentially some tight ends.

You've got to run north and south.

You can't be dancing around with the football.

You got to get what you can get.

Whether it's 2 or 3 yards, you can't be dance around at the line of scrimmage.

But now another late flag comes out and we'll have to check that.

What?

Sanders does not look pleased with this defense.

Here's the call by Tommy Craft.

He goes the other direction.

So that'll take the ball back down to the 15 yard line.

Called unsportsmanlike conduct there.

Sorry about that RJ.

Minute 37 left here in the third quarter.

It seems like both of these teams are out of sorts.

Yeah.

Four wide in the formation.

Here's the pass right side.

And he gets taken out of bounds as that time was able to hook up with Jack Dunn on that right side.

Just a quick hitch there.

And Bryant's going to give that up all day.

It's third and I guess we'll call it Pickett County Mississippi County.

It's a long way I think officially they're going to mark at third down and 16.

Red bugs have an 18 seven lead on Boonville.

Fordyce trying to get back to the title game.

Keynote is that the quarterback position will put a man in motion going to look to throw under pressure.

And he's going to be taken down that time.

Coming up for the Hornets.

It was Matthew Nelson Melissa talked about the duo of brothers on the defensive ends for Bryant.

And they're coming up big again.

Third and long again.

They can just pin their ears back.

Fights through the left tackle.

And the swallows the quarterback in fourth and long upcoming and an obvious punt.

So the Hornets will bring out two guys to receive the punt, Jacoby Boone, as well as Caleb Tucker Cooper Nixon to punt for Bentonville.

Next to put a foot into it, it'll be a short kick.

It goes out of way, out of bounds, and they're going to mark it out of bounds at the he's still walking.

He's at the 23 yard line.

And that is what a six yard punt six yards.

Now it almost landed in the front row.

It's like my wedge game a little shake a part of us.

So it's first down and ten with the ball in the 23 yard line for Bentonville or for Bryant.

Excuse me.

Do it.

So his left foot and Bryant's got a short field to work with in the final minute of this third quarter Jeremiah Moats the quarterback for Bryant going to hand it off to Zach Curtis Jones.

He'll go straight ahead and he'll take it down to the 21 yard line.

Mason Meyer in for the tackle for Bentonville.

Look I can read a box for RJ and I can see 368 yards of offense for Bryant to 56 for Bentonville.

They're not moving the football on the Tigers defense at all now which is crazy to think because the numbers I just gave you.

But this second half has been a shoulder to the Bolden.

It's not moving kind of kind of half.

Now here's another end around run play.

And they're actually going to lose a yard on the play.

And I will also say that Bryant has got gone very conservative here in the in the second half.

We'll talk more about it on the other side of the break as we've entered the third quarter of play.

Bryant, 21, Bentonville seven.

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Let's now.

Back here in War Memorial Stadium.

Oh, Kai.

Caddie guy that you and I went to school with.

Roaming the sidelines with his cameras.

And you know what?

If you would like one of his pictures, you can go to my AARP, PBS.org, backslash photos, and you will be able to get one of the photos that he takes of one of the players out on the field right now.

I feel like it's funny.

The guy works nonstop and during the eight man game tonight, we get the one second and he's sitting down with the other one second to Brian with the football to start the fourth quarter.

Pressure is going to be under pressure.

Escapes one man going to take off and run with it.

And he'll go out of bounds at around the 20 yard line.

Had some chance for 13 on 13 violence.

But Connor Davis couldn't make the play in the backfield.

Credit to moats avoids the pressure and make something out of nothing.

So that brings up fourth down.

The Hornets going to go for it.

So they're going to send three wide to the near side.

Robinson's going to be the running back on this fourth down and seven from the 20 yard line.

It's going to look to throw goes big ball left side in coverage.

And it's incomplete.

As he was trying to hook up that time with Caleb Tucker.

Talk about having it well scouted.

Bentonville had two defenders running the routes almost nearly as perfectly as Caleb Tucker was.

Big time play again.

Mason Meyer keeps getting his name called and Evan Maul as well.

Bentonville defense again in this second half keeping their offense in it.

You know and we before we were going to break we're talking about how both teams kind of seemed out of sync there.

And if you think about it though that was what the maybe the first or second pass that Bryant threw there in the third quarter.

They I mean, it was just a strictly run game.

Bounce it outside.

They were just trying to eat as much clock is as possible.

There.

Exactly right RJ and a lot of that has to do with Bentonville.

Turn it up a little bit of pressure.

They brought some linebacker blitzes.

They got him out of sorts on first down.

I think Bentonville defense is kind of taking control of this game.

The problem is their offense hasn't been up to the task just yet.

Cannon almost throws an interception.

Is that time Brian steps in front of it.

It was Wilson who almost had the interception, but there is a penalty flag down at the 30 yard line.

You what?

They're going to call a defensive pass interference.

I was there marking off the penalty.

Let's go down to Melissa Orange on the sidelines.

Listen guys I want to take you back to last week when Bryant was in a dogfight with Rogers.

Down 14 with less than three minutes to go.

I asked coach after that two overtime win and what he said to his team at halftime, and he said, maybe this makes me a bad coach, but I didn't give him any kind of motivational speech.

I said, if you win this game, it's because you want to win.

That goes to the fact that this team doesn't have any panic.

And even though they're now up by 14 and how crazy that third quarter was, you're not seeing any panic on this Bryant sideline.

You're really seeing a focus team even though it feels a little out of sync.

They understand that all they have to do is just go out and execute.

What they don't want to do is keep hurting themselves with these penalties.

But that is why Bryant has been able to be so successful as of late, is because of the way they approach these games.

Thank you Alyssa Smith right there on that tackle for loss just a moment ago.

And so now it's second down for Bentonville as they give it to 51.

He goes straight ahead.

Takes it out to the 40 yard line.

And that'll bring up third down now for Bentonville.

Kind of what's wild about this contest is Bryant has a 7 to 1 yard advantage in total offense.

And we're one play away from this game being really really really interesting.

So it's third down and five with the ball at the 40 yard line.

Cannon in at quarterback.

Wing backs it up.

That right side to note across the middle.

And he's got his man that time hooked up with Schmitz.

And he's got the first down as he takes down to the 47 yard line I don't know how Aaron Austin's not running to the end zone with the football for Bryant.

That was right through the defensive backs hands.

Just threads the needle somehow under easily been points going the other way.

Literally threading the needle that time when he touched every part of the football.

So it's first and ten for the Tigers ball to 47.

Here's Pratt gets a couple on the play to bring up second down at time.

Jalen Jones for Jaden Jones.

Excuse me.

Came in to make the stop.

Evan Kennard nine of 1788 yards passing.

He's settled in nicely.

And a game that he never would have imagined he was going to be playing.

It.

Second down and eight in motion is Prevo fakes the handoff to him.

Now he's going to look to throw it across the middle of the field.

And it's incomplete.

On the deflection that time for the Hornets.

It was Wilson Cano took a big shot.

And he's still down on the field.

And that's the one thing that Bentonville certainly cannot afford a pass late across the middle and not man non-contact actually Kennard didn't couldn't see if he took a blow there.

But so the Bentonville quarterback stayed down getting out of the picture couldn't see it.

Well nobody hit him.

He may have just came down an ankle wrong.

But he's going to have to come out of the ballgame now.

So Bentonville could elect to take a timeout to prevent that.

But obviously with every second matters and those timeouts are going to be critical.

We'll see what Bentonville wants to do.

And again, this may be four down territory will maybe go back to that wildcat package.

Maybe you hand it off to Oakland trying to get yourself to a fourth and manageable.

So now Tanner Gallagher is going to come back into the ballgame.

And you want to talk about somebody that thought he would never see the see a state championship play.

It's Tanner.

Yeah I mean nothing had nothing against him I mean yeah he's something doing it to the third third string quarterback.

Throw it and he's going to throw it across the middle of the field.

It's intercepted.

Taken by Bryant at the 40 running lanes up to the 45.

And going to be knocked out of bounds at the 34 of the 32 yard line.

That's the one thing you couldn't have happened.

If you're Bentonville you know you want to make a big play.

You get a chance in the state championship game.

But that time he just forced it late down the middle.

And the opportunistic defense for the Hornets makes the play.

And again they force a turnover.

When Bentonville seemed to be threatening.

On the interception it was Terry and Jones who came up with the pick.

Now Brian's got great field position with first and ten from the 32 yard line.

Jeremiah Moats going to look to throw moats under pressure.

Throws it down field.

He's got a man in the end zone.

That's Jacoby Boone for the touchdown.

What a throw from moats.

The deep pass right down the middle of the field on the post.

And a perfect strike and an exclamation point for moats the quarterback in an emphatic finish on the other end.

One play to Jacoby Jones for 32 yards or excuse me.

Jacoby Boone and the Bryant Hornets extend their lead to 27 to 7.

I love the aggressiveness to RJ.

Go for the jugular right after you forced the turnover.

And it comes up.

Aces for the Hornets.

High snap.

Hornets are going to have to run with it.

That's Boone again.

And he falls down.

And the Hornets are successful on the extra point.

And so with that we will take a timeout 917 to play in the ball game.

Bryant leads it 27 to 7.

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Goodbye a now.

Back at war Memorial Stadium.

The Hornets of Bryant.

They lead this 27 to 7 over Bentonville.

Let's head down the sideline Melissa Orange has got a little story on the Tigers.

Yeah guys you talked about Tanner Gallagher not expecting at all to be in the position that he is in right now.

In fact when you look at the stat sheet he hasn't thrown a pass or taken a snap on the offense all season long.

You can even go and say, Dequan Prevo has had a pass before.

He has as well as Conrad Schmidt has thrown a pass before he has.

If you want to find him on the stat sheet, you'd find him under the punting stats.

And so he has got a lot on his shoulders right now with Bentonville.

Wants to get back into this game.

Thank you Alyssa.

As there's a little skirmish at the 35 yard line after Bentonville was able to get the ball out past the 25 yard line.

And so Bentonville is going to have the football first and ten, and we've got 911 to play left here in the fourth quarter.

I mean, still plenty of time left for if you're Bentonville but you've got no mistakes.

Again, obviously the last interception might have been the final nail in the coffin.

A quick score.

Your defense is playing well enough, to be quite honest to give you a chance.

But Bryant has just smothered the Tigers all day.

Still only 70 yards of offense.

-25 in the rushing column.

So Evan can know this.

Back at the quarterback position for Bentonville.

He's going to hand it off to Pratt.

Pratt's going to try to swinging left side.

And he has nowhere to go.

And now we've got penalty flags.

Things getting chippy at the 20 yard line.

Yeah.

Here's.

Certainly getting chippy.

Down.

So Bentonville is going to get 15 yards.

It'll take it down to the 40 yard line if you need to.

If you absolutely need to find something that's gone against Bryant today.

It's been the discipline and penalties 14 penalties now for 134 yards.

Wow.

Two receivers to the near side.

They're going to hand it back off to Pratt.

Straight ahead.

And he'll pick up a couple on the play.

I don't know that I want to look this up before today RJ.

But the state championship game record for the fewest rushing yards ever allowed.

Well here's the first thing.

We had this trivia question in the two way game early.

Well that was total.

Yeah exactly right.

So the fewest rushing plays allowed which is lost.

It all time.

So how about that.

No we had the we had the fewest rushing yards in the two a game and the fewest rushing yards and two a was 19 total yards.

Yeah.

How about the 1982 negative eight yards.

Here's Pratt and he'll get back to the line of scrimmage to bring up third down.

Negative.

How many negative eight passing yards is the record in that category on the ground.

If he was rushing yards allowed.

Actually wasn't that long ago El Dorado Hill Greenwood to -44 yards rushing.

Oh 2021.

A lot of fans may remember that was a game it rains in.

Eldorado had one game plan.

They said we're going to blitz and then we're going to blitz the board.

And it worked.

You know, you don't really think of Greenwood as being the running type of team anyways, as here's the pass over the right side to Irvin and he'll get out of bounds after getting first down.

You just think of Greenwood and you're like oh they're quarterback you up there right there.

They throw they throw and they throw.

And you don't think of them as a running team anyway.

Yeah, but they do run the football more than you fear.

But that team I can't remember exactly how many.

Take me a second or two to find out.

I want to say Eldorado had 8 or 9 sacks in that game.

This kept them all out of sorts all afternoon long.

That was four years ago.

Hard to believe.

Three receivers to the near side.

Kennard going to look to throw goes right side.

Ball was deflected.

And that'll bring up second down.

32 carries today for Bentonville.

-21.

Looks like Kayvon Smith was the one that tipped the pass.

And so that'll bring up second down with the ball at the 49 yard line.

In Bryant territory at the 49.

To no good to hand it off to Pratt on his right side.

Has nowhere to go and gets it back to the line of scrimmage.

Yeah just trying to get anything going.

Maybe catch Bryant off guard with the off tackle playing that defensive front.

I don't know if you can say enough about those players up front.

We saw the starting lineup earlier in the contest but led by the Nelson brothers, big 99, Malachi McDonald, a handful of others, they deserve all the credit.

Three receivers to the left side.

And it's going to look to throw steps up in the pocket, going big ball down the middle of field and was intercepted I believe it was.

And he'll take it to the ten yard line.

It was was it Matthew Ferguson who came up with the interception pass just a little bit late.

Deflected.

There is a flag back at midfield.

We'll have to check that.

But as it stands right now deflection and interception.

And flag was right there on the Bentonville sideline.

And it was deflected and picked off.

So the Hornets are going to have the football at the ten yard line.

And it'll be first and ten.

You know thinking back a week ago after seeing what you're seeing out of the Bryant defensive line and the way Rodgers just ran all over Bryant in that ball game.

It's kind of it just goes to show how good the running attack of Rodgers was.

Well there's two things with that one.

Rodgers had healthy quarterback had healthy starting running back.

Good point.

And so Bentonville it was taken out of their entire game plan I know coach speak is going to say oh next man up.

They were taken out of their entire game plan for plays into this contest.

Three receivers to the near side 643 left in this ballgame.

Moats going to hand it off right side to Robinson.

Stays on his feet, gets a first down and goes out of bounds.

They'll never see this on record.

And I'm not making words up.

And they didn't tell me this.

But I promise you they probably would have.

Rather than play Bentonville and Rogers in any either one of these teams, Rogers was by far the hottest team in what Bryant was able to do, down 14 points with two minutes left last week to come back and win that football game.

That's what championship programs do.

Find a way to win.

I'll hand it off again to Robinson.

He'll spin around at the 30 yard line, pick up about five yards on the play.

But it just goes to show though you know everybody talks about how hard the 7:00 is.

And right now there's there's really three teams that are that are really dominating seven.

And that's Rogers Bentonville and Bryant.

Yeah I mean you know Conway's not far from it.

Fayetteville won a state championship a couple years ago.

But you're exactly right.

And Bentonville and Bryant to win.

I'm going to say 80% of their football games when they get off the bus, you know, they're already in the head of the opponent knowing, hey, you can't beat us right now.

We're better than you are, and we're going to prove it.

There's a nice catch by Caleb Tucker, but we've got a penalty flag down by the back at the 29 yard line.

And we play.

Personal foul goes against the Bentonville Tigers.

How many penalties we had in this game so far.

That would be number 19 excepted in 14 against Bryant.

That was just the fifth against Bentonville.

So it's first down and ten with the ball at the Beville 43 yard line.

Moats going to look to throw has Kamari Austin.

And it's incomplete as it was in and out of his hands here on Murray Bryant's not letting the foot off the pedal.

It's a really good read there by moats.

He lets his receiver clear the defense finds a hole in the secondary and delivers a strike.

And that one should have been hauled in.

Brings up second down and ten.

You know Moses, a player who's been consistent the last couple of years, but he's been under fire a lot, a lot this year.

And Bryant's offense has kind of sputtered at times.

I'm even as explosive as people would have liked as the flag comes out again.

But moats has been really, really good today.

And, you know, for the first part of the season, Bryant was running a two quarterback system.

They had moats and then Kyler Shelby kind of rotating out every other series.

And it's what really until about the last four games that it was really Jeremy Moats that took control the offense.

You got to have that.

They call another penalty against Bray.

You got to have that killer instinct.

That's that finisher mentality and most certainly has that.

I mean, he's played in championship games, played in big moments.

And he has got the Hornets in position to win another state championship for Billingsley was the one that got called for the holding.

Here's moats going to swing it out.

Right side puts in the hands.

Zac Curtis Jones and Curtis Jones will be able to get about three yards on the play out to the 45 yard line.

You know we haven't seen a ton of Terry Hodges so much today.

Only five touches in the run game.

Two catches as well.

Of course he was a transfer into this program this year.

Played most of his high school ball and Mark tree a lot of people were wondering how that that was going to go.

You know you play you're playing Mark tree football or, you know, lower class tuition and then you come up to play seven eight football.

It's worked out.

I mean he's he's had a good year as the right side with Robinson.

And Robinson will take it close to the 35 yard line.

Yeah.

It's you know if you can play it kind of obviously he had a lot of big time offers even when he was at Mark tree.

If you can play, it doesn't matter what level you're playing at.

They're going to find you.

It's not like it was 20 years ago where you had to you felt like you had to go play at a big school to get a college offer.

Well, think about Danny.

Bill, who's at Cross County.

You know, I mean, was able to get a head almost every major college looking at.

Yeah.

I mean, this is going to get me on a soapbox.

Has been bill jumps off sides and gives him a first down.

I hope people see what happened with Danny Bill and says I can get a Division one scholarship.

I can play in a powerful conference.

I don't need to transfer.

Yeah, I can play with the kids that I grew up with.

I don't have to go chasing bigger programs and transfer or school choice where the case may be the number, the name on the front of your chest should mean something.

Yeah.

So here's another handoff, this time to Robinson, and he'll be able to pick up four yards on the play the way you want to say hello to my buddy Drake Weidner who's listening.

Former high school football coach.

I think so it brings up a second down and six from the 27 yard line.

Brennan's just going to work that clock now.

They're going to bleed every second possible off the play clock.

And they're starting the countdown.

And if you're quad Sanders even though you got the walking boot on because you blow the Achilles playing hoops back in week three, you better be on Gatorade.

Bucket alert and fake the handoff going big ball down the middle of the field and trying to hook up that time with Caleb Tucker.

Tucker, the receiver.

And it was Tristan Tristan Brown that time that was on the coverage.

And so that brings up third down.

And they're down six.

Pineville or excuse me Bryant goes two wide in the near side.

Curtis Jones falls forward very near the first down marker.

And going to be probably about a half yard shy of the first down.

And that'll bring up fourth down and fourth down.

Barnes working quickly.

As they've still got 25 on the play clock.

And hand it off straight ahead.

This time it's Robinson.

And Robinson will take it down to the 16 yard line.

I think what we're starting to see is just that defense running out of gas.

They've been asked to do too much.

The offense couldn't keep them off the field, not complementary football.

And now the Bryant Hornet offense is able to lean on those tired legs of Bentonville and chew this clock up under three minutes to play.

Bryant leading 27 to 7.

So here's the pitch to Robinson.

They'll work outside.

Get it past the 15 and it'll be taken down at the 14 yard line.

More importantly, if you're Bryant and Robinson, you can see him kind of ease up as he inches toward the sideline goes down inbounds.

And that's going to bleed another 35 seconds off the game clock.

So it brings up a second down and eight for the Bryant Hornets.

So glad we don't have a two minute warning in high school football.

It's called the two minute timeout in college.

Yeah.

Whatever that means.

Second down.

Hand it off once again.

This time it's Jacoby Bowen.

And he'll be taken down at the nine yard line.

It's a really impressive four yard gain.

Makes a man miss in the backfield.

We don't have the bills to pay like they do on the big Power four networks or the NFL.

Yeah three.

So that's going to bring up a third down and three.

Now for Bryant.

Warren takes a lead on Darnell 3635.

That was the last time Warren was in a state championship.

It's been about five years in the Dardanelles.

Ever been one really.

Yeah.

Well great mascots in the state of Arkansas.

Salazar.

Up Dardanelle to score 4136.

Here is a pass that goes left side to Tucker.

He gets the first down and takes it down to the two yard line.

That's going to do it.

Bryant if they want to going to be able to kneel this one out thanks to that first down.

The Hornet faithful are on their feet as we're down to 45 seconds for the.

One and they will do it.

Down to ten on the play clock.

It's not exactly what we expected when this one started.

RJ again we're going to take it.

That's moats.

He'll go straight ahead.

He fumbles it and they're going to get it all the way.

They get out of the end zone with it goes on the carry and one on the five leaves.

And they're going to the officials are going to say they're going to Ben Mills going to have the ball at the half yard line with 21 seconds remaining in this one.

And seven turnovers we've seen in this contest.

Yeah.

Defense was the name of the game.

Obviously Bryant's defense was a little bit better 488 yards for the Hornets on offense.

Doesn't feel like that.

They move the ball up and down the field.

Bryant and they do finally rule it a touchback.

Complementary football.

And I mean it's crazy to say a 20 point game could have been a whole lot worse.

Well if you think about the the what were there two scores that were turned back for Bryant then a long punt run also called that.

Yeah.

I mean you essentially had three scores that were turned back and they result in no points.

Dominant performance.

Obviously Bentonville was shorthanded.

Injury to the quarterback.

Injury to your starting running backs.

No excuse.

That's not going to take anything away from what Bryant did today.

Bill is going to be asking what if.

And Brad's going to be asking what the ring sizes.

Yeah it's.

They're going to go in with quarterback in the shotgun.

They're going to hand it to Pratt.

Pratt will go left side taken down by McDonald who.

Was content with calling a good there clock running down the 12 seconds.

Get one more in Kennard will throw it right side.

But in the hands of Irvin Irvin gets around.

One man goes out of bounds with no time remaining.

Now we've got a penalty flags left and that's going to do it.

For the seventh time in eight years the Bryant Hornets our state champions.

They're trying to corral those Bryant Hornet over on the Bentonville sideline.

They're gonna get everybody separated.

There was penalties at the very end of this by the way.

A couple flags came out as time has expired.

The.

So the contest is over.

And the Bryant Hornets have won another state championship, the seventh in eight years.

When the 2018 season started, RJ Bryant had never won a state championship.

Fast forward eight years.

They've won seven of them.

Quite Sanders and company again on top of the mountain that is Arkansas high school football.

So we'll take a break.

When we come back, we will have the trophy presentation as well as the talk with the winning head coach, Quad Sanders.

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There it is.

The state championship trophy for class seven A goes to the Bryant Hornets.

And Bobby, I know I said a couple times just meant to go, but seven titles in eight years.

I mean that's pretty impressive.

Winning a state championship is hard.

Winning it at the largest classification in a state is really, really hard to have.

The kind of sustained success that Bryant has had.

You're talking about eight different senior classes that cycle through in those that span all those championships.

In such a testament to the coaching staff, the previous coaches, the previous players that built a foundation that's built on success and that train just keeps rolling.

And everybody thought, hey baby, maybe Bentonville is the better team coming into the contest.

Obviously, they weren't healthy.

What happened with the injuries at the start of this contest was a big reason why this game kind of got out of hand, but Bryant still the King.

And guess what that crown is would be really, really tough to take off the head of the Bryant Hornets.

Yeah and look at this.

Total yards 489.

Total yards of offense 234 yards rushing 255 yards passing.

And I think injuries or not Bobby, the fact that they held Bentonville to under 100 yards of total offense is still pretty impressive.

Yeah, it really is.

I mean, it doesn't matter if one's not 100%.

Doesn't matter.

That's still pesky.

Excuse me.

Goes down on the first drive of the game.

Bryant's defense dominated.

They won at the line of scrimmage.

The front four for the Hornets establish dominance early in this football game.

And they never let it go.

There they are the 2020 578 state champions.

And Quad Sanders will be checking in with Alissa here in just a moment.

After they get their team picture.

And tell you Bobby did the highlights.

And that really I mean, Bryant was very dominant in the first half.

But you could see that they just wanted to they want to eat that clock and there was there was they weren't as dominant in the second half, mainly because they ran it 90% of the time there in the second half.

Yeah.

And quite Sanders mentioned it as Moses named the game's most valuable player is like, we know in the second half, they're going to come out and take a take a swing.

And Bentonville got the defense and got the big play.

And let's get it down to the field is Ellis has got the coach.

Coach congratulations on the win.

I'm sure you'll be able to find a place for that trophy and the trophy case.

Of course even if we had to bit a bigger one, we'll go find somewhere to put it.

I just keep it in my office.

I think that's a pretty good place to keep it.

For your defense to hold this Bentonville team to under 100 yards total, to be able to come out here and do this against a really good 78 team.

What does that say about how focused they were today?

Well, they were well prepared.

The only challenge I had was can they dominate from start to finish?

And then they answered their bell, you know, and now, I mean, I get it.

They they lost they lost a couple of players who started from.

Well, there's really no coincidence.

Our guys play really hard on defense, you know.

So, and I hope those kids are right.

It is hard to wear the crown when everyone is trying to chase you and knock you down.

We talked about how focused this team remains.

How did they stay so focused when it felt like sometimes Bentonville tried to take that momentum today?

Well, it's just really, you understand the bigger picture.

And then what happened last week, you don't understand.

Anything can happen in the ball game.

So you put yourself in that situation, you learn how to get out of it, and you don't ever want to go back to the win.

Make the Achilles feel a little better.

Man had Achilles was feeling better when we made it.

Congratulations, coach.

Go enjoy it with your team.

Thank you, thank you Allison.

She'll be checking in with our MVP.

As the quarterback for Bryant, was able was named Jeremiah Moats was the quarterback.

And how about this?

Jeremiah's brother was also the MVP of the state championship game, and he was a backup quarterback when he came in to win the MVP.

And so the MVP award runs deep in the family of success as a family affair.

And you to try to find the sea.

If you manage the MVP, Alyssa is going to try to track down moats.

But yeah, I mean it's just a successful program and and winning creates more.

Winning in that culture is hard to hard to dispute.

And Alyssa has found Jeremiah Moats.

And we will go down to her once again.

Take it away.

Listen, Jeremiah, congratulations on the win for this offense to come out here and set the tone early.

How did that take some pressure off of your shoulders?

Honestly, it all came through like the process of throughout the week practicing and then especially how we ended last game, we knew we had to start out hot.

We've been starting out cold recently, and as and heated up near the end, but we needed to come out hot and set the tone early.

How were you guys able to not let Bentonville capture the momentum in the second half?

I feel like we just got to stay composed.

We started out hot and then we got off, but we really just needed to stay composed, keep our heads clear and just play football.

You guys have won a lot of state championships in the last couple of years.

Why is this one special to you?

Because I moved to Michigan for a year.

I wasn't able to play last year, and then I came back and started, and this is my first year back.

And this meant a lot to me, showing how how much I can overcome adversity, to tell myself what makes this team so special, to be able to end it with this championship, all the talent that we have around us, like all the running backs, we have three good running backs, amazing receiver room, amazing defense.

I feel like the best defense in the state, best offense in the state.

And I think we proved it tonight.

So I heard your brother won MVP.

Now you get to take that trophy home.

How does that feel?

It feels great because I've been holding on to his MVP looking at it every night.

So now I have my own I give him his back.

You can give it to him back.

You can hold on to that one at night from now on.

Congratulations.

Yes.

No thank you, thank you, thank you.

Listen.

Great job as always down there on the sidelines as Bryant they win this 127 to 7 over the Bentonville Tigers.

You can celebrate Bryant's victory.

You get your official championship gear right now it's available at Arkansas High School sports.com to find apparel a memorabilia commemorating the Hornets unforgettable season back to back undefeated 13 and zero season.

That's Arkansas high school sports.com.

Well Bobby this was, this was just day one.

Well I guess day two.

But, day one of the larger classifications.

We get to do it again tomorrow, right?

Yeah.

And it's all starting at noon tomorrow, and then we have a 630 nightcap.

So a lot of good football this weekend is, we're going to have football all weekend and then again next Saturday as well.

Yeah.

One of the great stories of the high school football season.

We'll see tomorrow at noon, hot Springs, Lakeside and the championship game.

For the first time since 1975, they won three consecutive road games to get to the championship.

Also won on this field a week ago.

Took down the three time defending state five champs in Parkview at Lakeside and Robinson going to be at noon myself alongside maybe JV Brazil maybe you.

It's a it's a game to be named later game time decision hopefully our board JB Brazil is going to he's on the mend.

He was supposed to call yesterday.

Supposed to call today.

But, I'm told you can't call a game without a voice.

It's it's very hard.

So, Hey, but you know what?

Tomorrow is going to be a lot of fun.

Five eight game.

Then you got the six eight game tomorrow night, which is going to be another rematch of last year's six eight title game, but that's going to do it for this one.

The Bryant Hornets.

They finish off a perfect season season to go 13 and zero Bienville drops to 12 and one after Bryant wins 27 to 7 for my broadcast partners Ellis Orange Bobby Swofford I'm RJ Hawk along with everybody associated with Arkansas PBS.

You've been watching the Centennial Bank State Football Championships on Arkansas PBS sports.