Bryant wins; 23,587 watch

LITTLE ROCK — Bryant Coach Paul Calley’s disgust kept him from wandering over to accept the spoils of a 21-14 victory over Benton in the Salt Bowl on Friday night at War Memorial Stadium.

“I ain’t worried about no trophy,” Calley said, muttering to himself.

It wasn’t until Hornets running back Caleb Dismuke tore off a 27-yard touchdown run to put the Hornets ahead 14 points with five minutes to go in the fourth quarter did Calley breathe easily.

“We had to have it,” Calley said. “Our defense was spent. They could not spend another minute on the field. If they had, we would lose.”

Benton put that theory to the test in front of an announced crowd of 23,587 .

Senior quarterback Dylan Harris, who completed 16 of 27 passes for 97 yards, drove the Panthers 79 yards in 14 plays to pull Benton within 21-14 on junior running back Wallace Foote’s 1-yard touchdown with 1:49 left.

It was vintage Benton, feeding Foote 23 carries for 93 yards on the night along with three catches for 35 yards.

“Wallace is a bell-cow for us,” Benton Coach Scott Neathery said. “He’s a good player, a good boy and a heck of a class act.”

Bryant won by 38 points last year, but Calley walked to his locker room this time framing the victory as a near defeat.

The Hornets put up 260offensive yards, but a missed field goal on their opening drive and two drives beset by penalties and stalled out with sacks of Bryant junior quarterback Hayden Lessenberry left him miffed.

“We helped them as much as we could,” Calley said. “A lot of mistakes, too many penalties. It was an ugly ballgame, but an entertaining one.” Bryant’s first scoring drive came after Benton punter Carson Holloway bobbled a snap and was tackled at his 25 to set up the Hornets. Four plays later, Lessenberry found receiver Dillon Winfrey for a 12-yard touchdown to make it 7-0 with 2:15 left in the first quarter.

That was all the offense Bryant could manage in the first half.

“We weren’t ready for them,” said Lessenberry, who went 11 of 19 for 116 yards. “They came out way more physical and intense than we did. They just beat us in the first half.”

Benton didn’t do much better with 54 yards of offense in the first half as Harris completed 2 of 7 passes for 7 yards and an interception.

It didn’t look better to start the second half.

Bryant went up 14-0 after Aaron Bell returned the second-half kickoff 49 yards to the Bryant 46. Karon Dismuke finished the drive with a 13-yard touchdown with 9:35 left in the third quarter.

Harris found his accuracy on Benton’s first drive of thehalf, completing 4 of 5 passes for 63 yards, including a 22-yard completion to receiver Jaret Stout at the Bryant 8 to keep the 79-yard drive alive.

Harris scored two plays later to pull Benton within 14-7 with 5:33 left in the third quarter.

Benton had a chance to tie the game after intercepting Lessenberry at its own 44. The Panthers drove to theBryant 13 but saw Nate Rutherford’s 30-yard field goal sail wide right with 7:06 left in the fourth quarter.

“That’s huge,” Lessenberry said. “That interception could have turned the entire game around.” Dismuke, who ran 10 times for 87 yards and 2 touchdowns, helped salt the Bryant victory away six plays later.