Hornets Continue 14-Year Victory Streak at 2019 Salt Bowl

A crowd of over 26,000 people faced lightning threats before witnessing a 14-year victory streak for the Hornets at the 45th annual Salt Bowl at War Memorial Stadium Aug. 30. Despite the weather delay, fans entered the stadium ready to cheer, the band ready to play and the Hornets, of course, ready to beat the Panthers.

Right off the bat, Bryant started strong. Within the first four minutes of the game, senior running back Ahmad Adams had scored the first touchdown. By halftime, the Hornets had gained a 21-point lead. 

Adams scored all three touchdowns in the first half of the game. His motivation stems from friendly competition with a former Bryant football player, 2019 graduate LaTavion “Tae” Scott.

“I was trying to model my game after Tae [Scott],” Adams said. “I know he did really good at the Salt Bowl, so I was trying to be better than him this year.”

Despite this being Adams’ last year, he only has positive feelings about his last Salt Bowl. 

“I’m just happy that we won,” Adams said.

Other honorable mentions of the game include junior Austin Ledbetter, who completed multiple passes and touchdowns throughout the game–one of which involved a successful pass to senior Jake Meaders, who scored a touchdown in the beginning of the third quarter. Junior Hayden Schrader also received a pass from Ledbetter before scoring the fourth touchdown of the game. 

Bryant’s defense had a strong performance at the Salt Bowl, only allowing Benton to score twice the entire game.

While the football team did well Friday night, Coach Buck James believes that there is plenty of room for improvement. 

“We’ve got to tackle better, we’ve got to catch the ball better, we’ve got to play the secondary defense team a lot better, but everything that we did wrong is fixable,” James said. “ I feel good about where our team is, especially in the first week.¨ 

When it comes to improvement, a specific group of players play a key role: the scout team. Scouts serve as extra players at practices who emulate upcoming opponents. By doing this, the Hornets can counter the opposing team’s strategies and prepare to compete against the actual team. 

Senior scout Elijah Carrol says that the scout team ensures growth in players. 

‘The scout team gives people a chance to learn and get ready for games,” Carrol said. “I think it makes every individual player better.”

James agrees, as he points out that the success of the game is not only determined by what happens under the Friday night lights, but also in the hard work players, especially the scout team, put into practices. 

“I’m proud of our scout team,” James said, “Our scout team’s doing a great job to prepare these guys. Those are really our unsung heroes.”