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Successful Trick Play Enables Arkansas Team To Stun Defending State Champion

Benton pulls off its own version of the “Philly Special” to post first win against archival Bryant in more than 20 years
Buck Ringgold|
Benton (Arkansas) players swarm around quarterback Chase Cobb (12) after Cobb caught a game-winning two-point conversion pass in a 43-42 win against arch-rival Bryant on Aug. 28, 2026.
Benton (Arkansas) players swarm around quarterback Chase Cobb (12) after Cobb caught a game-winning two-point conversion pass in a 43-42 win against arch-rival Bryant on Aug. 28, 2026. | The Benton Courier

A traditional high school football rivalry in Arkansas had been one-sided of late.

It appeared as if Friday’s renewal of the “Salt Bowl” rivalry between Benton and Bryant was headed for a similar fate. But a stunning comeback by Benton’s Panthers, capped by a trick two-point conversion on the game’s final play, sent shockwaves throughout the state.

Down 42-14 in the third quarter, the Panthers roared back and pulled within one point of Bryant by scoring a touchdown as time expired. Benton then decided to go for the win and pulled off what is known as the “Philly Special,” throwing the ball back to the quarterback.

In this case, it was quarterback Chase Cobb that caught the game-winning pass from teammate Jake Cloud as the Panthers capped the miracle comeback with a 43-42 win against the Hornets.

“(I told my team) when we score, we’re going for two,” Benton coach Brad Harris said in a postgame interview with the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. “We were not playing an overtime period.”

Magnitude Of the Upset

Benton and Bryant - two suburban towns located just southwest of Little Rock - are just a few miles apart, and the two teams play each season in a game known as the “Salt Bowl,” named after the salt production and mining works that were prevalent in Saline County in the late 1800s. 

But it had been a lopsided rivalry of late, with the Hornets not having lost to the Panthers since 2005. The only time Bryant did not beat the Panthers in that span was in 2014, when the two teams ended up battling to a 14-all tie.

Furthermore, Bryant has developed into arguably the best program in the state, winning the past two Class 7A state titles and seven out of the last eight state crowns.

Bryant also entered Friday’s game as the No. 1 ranked team in the High School On SI Arkansas Top 25 preseason rankings - although Benton wasn’t too far behind, coming in ranked No. 3.

Call It A Comeback

It looked as if Bryant was going to continue its “Salt Bowl” dominance after taking a 42-14 lead with more than four minutes left in the third. But Benton suddenly came to life, scoring touchdowns on each of its next four drives.

The Panthers capped the comeback by scoring a touchdown on a pass from Cobb to receiver AP Lewis with no time left, cutting Bryant’s lead to one, 42-41. Benton, playing on the road, decided to go for the win.

About the “Philly Special”

The “Philly Special” is a trick play where a ballcarrier, sometimes a receiver, takes a handoff on a reverse and eventually finds the quarterback streaking toward the end zone and throws it in his direction.

It was named the “Philly Special” after the Philadelphia Eagles used that play late in the first half of Super Bowl LII, a touchdown pass from tight end Trey Burton - who got the ball from running back Corey Clement - to quarterback Nick Foles that propelled them to a 41-33 win against New England. It was the Eagles’ first Super Bowl title.

That play was actually used a month earlier in the 2018 Rose Bowl between Oklahoma and Georgia, which was a College Football Playoff semifinal game. It was the Sooners who pulled off a similar play on a double-reverse, with quarterback Baker Mayfield catching a pass from receiver CeeDee Lamb in the end zone for the touchdown, which had given Oklahoma a 31-14 lead, although Georgia stormed back to win in overtime.

Now, Benton used its own “Philly Special,” with Cloud throwing the ball to the quarterback, Cobb.

“I honestly felt like I had a whole city on my back,” Cobb told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette afterward. “I had to get in the end zone.”

What’s Next For ‘Salt Bowl’ Rivals

Friday’s win was also the first in the "Salt Bowl" for Harris, in his 13th season with the Panthers. In addition, it snapped Bryant’s 26-game winning streak.

The win also gives the Panthers an extra confidence boost in Class 6A. With the departure of last season’s combatants in the 6A title game, Shiloh Christian and Greenwood, it made Benton one of the odds-on favorites to take state in the reconfigured classification.

Benton will get a few extra days to savor that “Salt Bowl” win, as the Panthers don’t play again until Sept. 11, when they play at home against Hot Springs Lakeside, last season’s 5A runner-up. The Panthers then play the defending 5A champion, Pulaski Robinson, on Sept. 18.

As for Bryant, things don’t get any easier. On Sept. 4, the Hornets travel to face Louisiana power Alexandria. Then on Sept. 11, they face one of the nation’s top teams, Maryland-based St. Frances Academy, in a game that will be played at Little Rock’s War Memorial Stadium.

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Buck Ringgold
BUCK RINGGOLD

Buck Ringgold is a veteran high school sportswriter with extensive experience covering sports in Arkansas, Colorado, Oklahoma, Texas and Louisiana. He is a longtime contributor to High School On SI.

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