The Showdown for the Crown lived up to its billing and then some.
Tuesday evening at Bryant’s Hornet Stadium, Saline County neighbors Benton and Bryant met up in a junior high football game. There was more than the usual bragging rights on the line, there was a Central Arkansas Junior High Conference championship at stake. Both the Panthers and Hornets entered the game with spotless 8-0 records in conference play.
In the end, only one team can win and the Hornets did so on Tuesday, 25-21 over the Panthers.
It literally came down to the end. Following a 4-yard touchdown run by Ahmad Adams to put the Hornets ahead 25-21, the Panthers took possession at their own 41-yard line with 2:16 remaining. Benton reached the Hornet 12-yard line, thanks to a 21-yard catch by Daeshawn Ward and a 26-yard catch by Austin Taylor.
On first down, Panther quarterback Peyton Hudgins was dropped for a 2-yard loss. Back-to-back incompletions left the Panthers with fourth-and-12 at Bryant’s 14-yard line. Hudgins, unable to find an open receiver, ran for the first down but was dropped at the Hornet 5-yard line by William Boyd and Cayden Fullbright to seal the win and the conference championship for Bryant.