BRYANT -- Friday night's 7A-Central Conference matchup between Cabot and Bryant turned in favor of the Hornets in the final three minutes of the first half.
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The Hornets scored two touchdowns and recorded an interception to take a two-touchdown lead before halftime and pulled away from Cabot in a 48-20 rout on homecoming night at Hornet Stadium.
Bryant (6-2, 4-1) is tied for second place in the 7A-Central with Fort Smith Northside entering next Friday's Week 9 game at conference leader North Little Rock.
Cabot (6-2, 3-2) started 6-0, but has lost two consecutive.
The game was tied at 14-14 with 2:59 left after Cabot senior Jarrod Barnes made a one-handed catch for a touchdown.
But it was all Bryant from that point on.
Bryant answered Cabot's tying score with sophomore Ren Hefley's second touchdown pass of the half, a 26-yard completion to senior Landon Smith, putting the Hornets back on top 21-14 with 1:06 left before halftime.
Bryant senior defensive back Collin Welch intercepted Cabot junior quarterback Cody Skinner at the Cabot 29. Two plays later, Hefley found senior wide receiver Reece Coates for a 29-yard touchdown pass, extending the lead to 28-14 with 17 seconds left in the first half.
The Hornets added to their lead when Hefley found Coates for a 67-yard touchdown to make it 35-14 with 6:10 left in the third quarter.
Hornets Coach Buck James said he told his team to defer the coin toss if they won it. Bryant won the toss, but elected to defer until the second half. James' strategy worked thanks to his team's late first-half effort.
"We want to score right before half," James said. "We got a little bit more than I expected to get. Then we come out in the second half and scored. It worked out how I thought it would."
Hefley, who transferred to Bryant during the offseason from Pulaski Academy, completed 21 of 30 passes for 330 yards and 4 touchdowns.
"It's hard for a 7A quarterback to be a sophomore," James said. "But Ren has showed a lot of talent and a lot of ability. There's nothing but great things ahead for that guy."
Coates finished with 5 catches for 132 yards and 2 touchdowns and Smith had 10 receptions for 126 yards and 1 touchdown. Junior Luke Curtis caught a 9-yard touchdown pass in the second quarter. Senior Hayden Ray kicked field goals of 22 and 28 yards.
Barnes, who missed last week's game against Little Rock Central because of a sprained right ankle, played wide receiver instead of quarterback and caught 7 passes for 114 yards and 2 touchdowns.
Cabot Coach Mike Malham said Barnes warmed up at quarterback before Friday's game and is about 90 percent, but Malham said he decided to go with Skinner instead.
"We didn't feel like he was ready to have 11 guys chasing him around at quarterback," Malham said of Barnes, who has orally committed to Arkansas. "We put him out there on an island where he can do some things. He kept us in the ballgame a little bit."
Junior running back Adam Flores had a 3-yard touchdown run in the first half for Cabot, finishing with 42 yards. Skinner, in his second start at quarterback, completed 7 of 14 passes for 114 yards with 2 touchdowns and 2 interceptions.
Sports on 10/22/2016