CONWAY -- Gunnar Burks tossed two touchdown passes and Bryant thwarted a last-ditch effort by Conway to preserve a 17-10 victory for the Hornets at John McConnell Stadium on Friday night.
In a battle for the No. 1 seed from the 7A-Central, Bryant (9-1) survived Conway's rally when Jaeyln Jones intercepted Breylin Smith's pass in the end zone as time expired.
Bryant will receive a first-round bye for the 7A playoffs. Conway will host a first-round game Friday.
"It was nerve-racking when you've got a quarterback like their player is," Bryant Coach Paul Calley said. "Anything can happen."
It almost did.
Bryant was in control 17-3 when senior wide receiver Aaron Orender hauled in a 32-yard pass from Burks with 8:32 remaining, but Conway, which had been held to 105 yards passing until that point, started to break out of its offensive doldrums.
On Conway's ensuing drive following Orender's touchdown, the Wampus Cats (5-5) faced third and 10 at their own 9. Smith hit Brayden Leach for a 15-yard gain to the 24, and then the Conway quarterback went deep to Marquis Pleasant for a 76-yard scoring pass with 7:43 left.
"We gave ourselves a chance to win," Conway Coach Clint Ashcraft said. "We showed a lot of fight and a lot of heart in the second half."
Conway had two more possessions with a chance to tie. The first ended with a punt with 2:47 remaining, but the Cats' defense stiffened and held Bryant to a three plays and out.
The Wampus Cats' final drive started at their own 34 with 1:21 to play. Smith connected on his first four passes of the drive and scrambled for a 14-yard gain. With 8.4 seconds to play, Smith hit Leach on a 10-yard pass to the Bryant 11.
After a spike, Conway had one last attempt with 5.8 seconds to play.
"Even when our pass rush gave out in the second half, the secondary still had them covered," Calley said of the Hornets' defense. "We made the plays when we had to. We had to have a great effort tonight because [Smith] has great range. He was throwing 18-yard outs, and it's hard to cover 18-yard outs."
Bryant's defense locked down the Conway's receivers on the final play. Smith was still scrambling hoping to find an open receiver long after the clock had run down. He finally lofted a pass into the right side of the end zone that was pulled down by Jones.
"We thought we had a good play called, but we did have a little protection bust," Ashcraft said. "He just wasn't able to settle down, set his feet and get comfortable in that situation. He ended up just having to throw it up for a prayer."
Demonte Terry led the Hornets in rushing, gaining 131 yards on 19 carries. Burks completed 7 of 11 passes for 138 yards and ran for another 54 yards on 19 carries. Orender caught four passes for 61 yards. Bryant finished with 336 total yards.
Conway finished with 242 yards passing but only 22 yards on the ground. Pleasant finished with two catches for 91 yards, while Damontay Allen caught six passes for 57 yards and Leach had three for 36.
Smith was 17 of 33 for 242 yards but was intercepted 3 times.
Conway was limited to 65 yards in the first half. The Wampus Cats managed only four first downs in the first two quarters and two of them came via Bryant penalties.
The Wampus Cats drove to the Bryant 33 on their opening drive, but the possession ended on Quinton Royal's first of two interceptions with 7:31 left in the first quarter.
Bryant took over at its own 23 and used five plays and 1:14 off the clock to score the first half's lone touchdown. The Hornets converted a third-and-4 play from their own 29 when Burks hit Orender for a 16-yard gain. On the next play, Burks used a quick pass over the middle to Austin Kelly for the remaining 55 yards.
Royal's second interception helped set up Bryant's second scoring drive.
Terry, who had 104 yards on 11 carries in the first two quarters, broke off a 42-yard run to the Conway 7. Connor Maltbia made a touchdown-saving tackle, but Bryant extended its lead to 10-0 on Hayden Ray's 21-yard field goal with 2:46 left in the half.
Conway's first points came with 11:43 left in the fourth quarter on a 27-yard field goal by Christian Underwood.
Sports on 11/07/2015