North Little Rock made it a seven-point game early in the third quarter of Friday night's Class 7A state championship game.
Bryant answered with its best response of the 2019 season.
Junior quarterback Austin Ledbetter's third touchdown pass, a 17-yarder to senior wide receiver Jake Meaders, helped Bryant cement a 21-7 victory over North Little Rock in front of 18,361 at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock for its second consecutive Class 7A title.
The Hornets finished 13-0 for the first undefeated season in program history.
Bryant led 14-0 entering the third quarter, but the Hornets went three-and-out on the opening drive of the second half.
North Little Rock (8-5) trimmed the lead to 14-7 with 8:53 left in the third quarter. On third and 8, junior quarterback Kareame Cotton threw a 21-yard touchdown pass to senior wide receiver Bralin Battles.
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But Bryant came right back, as Ledbetter found Meaders for a 17-yard touchdown to make it 21-7 with 7:20 left in the third quarter.
Leading up to the state title game, Hornets Coach Buck James said North Little Rock likes to impose its will and wear teams down. On Bryant's third scoring drive of the game that covered 80 yards in seven plays in a span of 1:33, it was Bryant that wore North Little Rock down.
"It was huge," James said. "It changed the whole ballgame all together. Our kids were resilient."
Ledbetter said he knew how important it was for the Hornets to respond to the Charging Wildcats' score.
"We've had adversity like that in the past few games. We just had to push through it," he said.
North Little Rock played in its fourth consecutive title game Friday night, but lost its third title game since 2016.
Ledbetter, who has orally committed to play baseball at the University of Arkansas, earned MVP honors. He completed 16 of 29 passes for 203 yards with 3 touchdowns and 1 interception.
Bryant was the No. 1 team overall and in Class 7A in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette's preseason rankings. Ledbetter said the Hornets were determined to finish the season on top again.
"Like Coach James said, we were always the hunted and we had the circle on our back because people were shooting for us," Ledbetter said. "It's just great to be in this situation right now. It's truly a blessing."
Meaders caught 6 passes for 97 yards and 2 touchdowns. He finished the season with 18 touchdown receptions, all from Ledbetter.
"When you've got a quarterback as good as Ledbetter, obviously, he can put it in the right place for you to go up and make a play," Meaders said.
Bryant's first-half scores came from the right arm of Ledbetter, who threw a 6-yard touchdown pass to senior wide receiver Tre'vun Herron and a 26-yard scoring pass to Meaders.
North Little Rock was led offensively by senior running back Brandon Thomas, who had 68 yards on 21 carries. But four turnovers were too much for the Charging Wildcats to overcome.
"All the credit in the world to Bryant. They just flat whipped us," North Little Rock Coach Jamie Mitchell said. "That's two years in a row that we've been here and scored seven points. That's bad coaching on my part and didn't get it done."
Bryant finished the 2019 season outscoring its opposition 560-114, with three shutouts and only one game allowing more than 14 points (North Little Rock scored 21 in a 35-21 loss at Bryant on Nov. 1).
In terms of where Bryant ranks among the state's all-time teams, James said there is a case for the Hornets being among that group.
"I question how many teams had 10 mercy-rule games and then go 13-0 in this league, especially winning a state championship," James said. "The critics can say whatever they want. There's been some good football teams. I've been coaching for 33 years. I've seen a lot of it.
"But I have to put this team up there. You can talk about them in the same conversation, and that's all we deserve."
Sports on 12/07/2019