For most of the 21st century, the Bryant Hornets have been state championship contenders under three head coaches.
But Buck James did something Daryl Patton and Paul Calley couldn't do -- lead the Hornets to a state championship.
Bryant earned its first state title with a 27-7 victory over 7A-Central Conference rival North Little Rock in the Class 7A state championship game last season at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock.
When James arrived at Bryant in 2016 to take over for Calley, he said the Hornets program wasn't broken. It just needed to take the next step.
On Dec. 1, the Hornets finally made it to the top of high school football.
"It felt good," James said. "It was a process. I don't think our kids understood we were going to win until it happened.
"But now, they have to understand that there's an expectation, a mentality, a focus and a discipline to play on that stage."
James said when Bryant played in a 7-on-7 tournament in North Carolina this summer, that's when his players realized they were respected as part of an elite program.
"We've talked about it a lot," James said. "We found out a lot in North Carolina. We were a No. 1 seed. The next day, you would have thought that every team that played us had their hair on fire."
Bryant will get its fair share of challengers in 2019, starting with North Little Rock.
The Charging Wildcats are 37-2 over the past three seasons and have made three trips to the Class 7A state championship game in a row, with a victory over Bentonville in 2017 sandwiched between a pair of losses. They also have won their past 27 conference games, including six in the 7A/6A-East in 2015 and 21 in the 7A-Central from 2016-18.
"I don't think I could have ever imagined this run," North Little Rock Coach Jamie Mitchell said. "Hopefully, we'll be able to keep this thing rolling."
North Little Rock is without senior running back Brandon Thomas indefinitely because of an offseason fireworks incident on the Fourth of July. Thomas rushed for 1,805 yards and 14 touchdowns last season for North Little Rock, which finished 12-1.
Bentonville, the defending 7A-West Conference champion, returns senior running back Preston Crawford, who rushed for 959 yards and 11 touchdowns last season.
Former University of Arkansas quarterback Casey Dick was hired at Fayetteville in April to replace Billy Dawson, who resigned after two seasons. Dick led Van Buren to the Class 7A playoffs last season in his first season as a head coach. He's the youngest coach in Class 7A at 33 years old.
Conway, led by second-year Coach Keith Fimple, won nine games a year ago and advanced to the Class 7A quarterfinals, losing at Bentonville West.
In its third season last year, Bentonville West advanced to the Class 7A semifinals for the first time. The Wolverines will be led by junior quarterback Dalton McDonald, who started the first half of last season for the injured Will Jarrett (knee), who has graduated.
Three of the four Class 7A semifinal teams a year ago -- Bryant, North Little Rock and Fort Smith Northside -- came from the 7A-Central. James expects the Central to be competitive again in 2019.
"The 7A-Central could be the toughest league, top to bottom," he said.
Said Mitchell: "We had two Central teams in the state championship game. It's hard to argue that the Central conference hasn't taken over in 7A football."
Last season was a special one for Bryant. But James -- a veteran coach who has led programs at Star City and Camden Fairview, and was an assistant coach at Little Rock Christian -- is ready to get the 2019 season started, beginning with the Salt Bowl on Friday against Saline County rival Benton at War Memorial Stadium.
"7A football is being played at a high level right now," James said. "The coaching is good. There's plenty of good players."
While North Little Rock has been one of the most consistent teams in the state recently, Mitchell said the 2019 Charging Wildcats have to forge their own path, even without Thomas.
"We haven't done anything," Mitchell said. "We've been living on the successes of our past. We have to continue to stay eager to find our identity.
"I learned a long time ago if you've got great chemistry, you have a good correlation of being successful. Those two things run hand in hand. We don't know that about our team yet. Brand new year, brand new team, brand new faces.
"To see where our chemistry goes and our identity goes, that's the two biggest things we've got to find out."
2018 CLASS 7A POSTSEASON RESULTS
FIRST ROUND
Conway 49, Rogers 7
Fayetteville 45, LR Catholic 17
FS Northside 35, Van Buren 0
FS Southside 35, Springdale 28
OPEN North Little Rock, Bentonville, Bryant, Bentonville West
QUARTERFINALS
Bentonville West 31, Conway 17
Bryant 28, Fayetteville 25
FS Northside 30, Bentonville 17
North Little Rock 48, Fort Smith Southside 45
SEMIFINALS
Bryant 28, FS Northside 7
North Little Rock 48, Bentonville West 17
CHAMPIONSHIP
Bryant 27, North Little Rock 7
Sports on 08/25/2019