FAYETTEVILLE — It's not often that a football program has a chance to three-peat, especially in the state's largest classification, but that’s the quest ahead for senior quarterback Austin Ledbetter of Bryant.
Ledbetter (6-2, 205 pounds), an Arkansas baseball pledge who also has his eyes on playing college football, will try to lead the Hornets to an 18th straight victory when they open the season Saturday against arch-rival Benton.
The game is dubbed the Salt Bowl and is played annually at War Memorial Stadium, where it has drawn crowds of 20,000 to 30,000 fans in the past, but will be limited to 12,000 this season because of social-distancing guidelines.
“It is definitely the biggest rivalry in Arkansas,” Ledbetter said. “Before the coronavirus, there were more fans at the Salt Bowl than there was at the state championships. It is great to get those communities together and play a great football game.”
Class 7A Bryant won last season’s game 42-14 over Class 6A Benton. Both teams played in state title games.
Ledbetter passed for 3,329 yards and 43 touchdowns as a junior, but wondered if the covid-19 pandemic would stop his chances at another title.
“I am looking forward to playing some football because coming into the summer we were not even sure there was a going to be a season,” Ledbetter said. “The crowd is going to be smaller than usual with about 12,000 tickets sold, but it will still be a good crowd and a good game still.”
Bryant is looking to be the first team since Pine Bluff in 1995, and only the third team in 51 years to win three straight titles in the state’s top classification.
The Hornets return 11 starters, including eight on offense, from a team that outscored its foes 358-58 last season. But they also had 15 players who signed college scholarships and didn’t get to have spring practice or 7-on-7 action this summer.
“We got pushed back because of all the virus and behind where we would usually be,” Ledbetter said. “Our receivers are really quick and we have a lot of depth at receiver and running back, where we are three deep. Our defense is really good, but it is just a matter of being pushed back in the spring and not having most of the summer is really killing us right now.”
Ledbetter believes he has improved in the mental aspect of the game.
“I am trying to get better every day and work not only on my craft, but my IQ and knowing the game and just being a team leader,” Ledbetter said.
“I feel like I am gaining my coach’s trust more and more each day in terms of calling plays, (making an audible) out of certain calls when I see certain things out of a defense. It’s been more mentally than it is physically.”
Ledbetter, who committed to the Razorback baseball program as a freshman third baseman and pitcher, was able to get in a pretty normal baseball summer with the Arkansas Sticks organization.
“I got to play all my summer tournaments with the Sticks and then I went to East Coast Pro in Hoover, Ala., and played in that with some of the best competition in the country,” Ledbetter said. "It was a great experience to get to go down there and do that. Really baseball this summer was normal. There were some restrictions, but really just pretty normal for me.”