Southside had a plethora of chances to jump on Bryant Friday night.

Two early turnovers and some big penalties by the visiting Bryant Hornets could have led to some early momentum.

But the Hornets had other ideas.

Southside failed to capitalize on two Mason Gregory interceptions, then couldn’t get a defensive stop when it mattered in the second quarter as the Hornets rolled to a 31-14 victory at Rowland Stadium.

Southside (3-4, 1-3) travels to Little Rock this week to play Catholic.

“They gave us opportunities and we didn’t capitalize on them, and we’ve been doing that all year long,” Southside coach Jeff Williams said. “To beat a great team like Bryant, when you get your opportunities you’re going to have to take advantage of it.”

The Mavericks weren’t without their chances. Southside drove to the Bryant 5, where the usually cautious Southside quarterback Taye Gatewood was intercepted in the end zone.

Southside drove to the Bryant 23 in the second quarter but camp empty when Bryant smothered speedy Ricardo Savoy on fourth-and-three.

Instead of a possible 14-0 lead, at best, the Mavericks led by just a touchdown after one quarter of play. Against the Hornets, that wasn’t nearly enough.

“I was proud of the way our kids fought,” Williams said. “I thought we fought to the bitter end.”

“That’s what we do a lot — we play in spurts,” Bryant coach Buck James said. “Our defense made plays, and then our offense started playing well. When our offense plays well, we’re pretty good.”

Bryant ran 22 plays in the second quarter as both Ren Hefley and Latavion Scott found their footing. Hefley, who had completed passes to 14 different players the first six weeks of the season, completed at least one pass to seven different receivers in the first half — and that didn’t include Scott, the team’s fourth leading receiver.

Jaeger Burks’ juggling 12-yard reception helped the Hornets tie the game at 7 with 8:21 to play in the second quarter.

Bryant, which had been forced to punt on its first series, which netted just six yards, then survived two interceptions, went ahead for good on Hefley’s second touchdown pass — a 49-yard strike to Josh Robinson with 3:20 left to play in the first half.

The real first half killer for the Mavericks, though, took place in the final minute of the half. Facing fourth-and-nine from the Mavericks’ 35, Hefley hit senior Grant Botti with a simple slant for 12 yards to the Mavericks’ 23.


Two plays later, Jake Meadors caught a 15-yard touchdown pass with 0:13.8 left in the half to give Bryant a 21-7 lead at the break.

Meanwhile, Scott did plenty of heavy lifting, bulling his way for 216 yards on 26 carries, without adding to his team-lead 13 touchdowns total. Bryant backup Ahmad Adams scampered in from the 3 midway through the third quarter to give the Hornets a 28-7 lead.

Gatewood, who was sharp early, directing a four-play, 63-yard scoring drive to open the game, finished just 1-of-10 passing in the second half and was just 7-of-24 with two interceptions for the game.

Savoy’s 46-yard run gave the Mavericks a quick score with 10:35 to play in the first quarter.

Gatewood’s 7-yard TD run with 1:33 to play in the third accounted for the team’s final points.
