LITTLE ROCK — A team that hasn’t had to play the full four quarters in a game more than a handful of times over the last two seasons, the Bryant Hornets were required by an inspired North Little Rock Charging Wildcats team to do so on Saturday in the Class 7A State championship game at War Memorial Stadium.
And all they did was polish their impressive legacy with a tremendous clutch performance down the stretch on the way to capturing their third consecutive State title and 30th victory in a row, 27-17.
It’s the first time a team has won three in a row in the largest classification since Pine Bluff from 1993-95. Little Rock Parkview won three in a row from 1976-78; Texarkana won three in a row from 1973-75; and Northside from 1966-68. The only team in the highest classification to ever win more than three in a row was Little Rock Central from 1952-57.
And that’s it in the entire history of high school football in Arkansas.
This is unfathomable, really. It just doesn’t happen often enough for people to even talk about it,” said Hornets head coach Buck James, referring to the Hornets three-peat. “To go through it and experience it, you know, it’s an amazing feeling. I know it will be for years to come.
“These guys, when they are dads and community leaders and stuff, will always have something in the back pocket saying, ‘Hey, I was a part of something special.’ This will last a lifetime for them.
“You know, that’s what I’m proud of,” the coach related. “You know, for some of them, it might be something that pole vaults them or springs them into life and what it takes to be successful. To understand adversity; to be coached; and to persevere. I think the values that these guys learn from this are immeasurable.”