Bryant shining in his own right in shadow of star teammate

Then-Caruthersvievlle sophomore running back Sammy Bryant evades the grasp of a pair of Fredericktown defenders in a scrimmage last season at Dexter High School.

Tom Davis ~ Tdavis@semoball.com

Every football fan throughout the Bootheel (and college coaches throughout the Mid-South) is fully aware of the ability of Caruthersville High School senior two-way standout Jermonte Alexander and with good reason.

In his latest outing, Alexander ran for 82 yards and scored a touchdown in leading the Tigers to a 45-6 thumping of Carlyle (Ill.) on Friday at Hopke Field. However, the problem for Tiger opponents over the past couple of autumns is the fact that Caruthersville has another offensive superstar in junior runner Sammy Bryant.

“First,” third-year Tiger coach Dom Guglielmo said when asked about Bryant’s ability, “he is a freak athlete. He can run. He can jump. He can do basically anything. I mean, he's just, he's fast, he's powerful, he's strong, and he's a great young man.”

Against Carlyle, Bryant tallied 208 yards rushing and scored five times, including one time on a broken play (due to a poor snap) where he evaded a swarming defense that had all 11 athletes in pursuit of him.

“He can wiggle and move his hips,” Guglielmo explained of Bryant’s elusiveness. “His low center of gravity makes him hard to tackle. Shoot, I haven't seen him get tackled very much because one guy is not going to bring him down because of how he can move, how he can bend, how he can switch his hips?

“He's a bright light in the shadow of Jermonte.”

The Tigers (3-0) are off to their best start in five seasons and were ranked No. 8 in Class 2 a week ago.

Guglielmo’s team wasted no time in dominating Carlyle.

In the opening minutes, Bryant scampered in for a 7-0 margin, which would prove to be all that Caruthersville would ultimately need. However, late in the opening period, he added an 83-yard scoring streak for a 13-0 score.

Following a Carlyle touchdown, which trimmed the Tigers’ lead to 13-6, Bryant added a seven-yard touchdown run, which gave the hosts a 21-6 margin at the intermission.

“What I mean by his being a bright light in the shadow of Jermonte is,” Guglielmo explained, “Jermonte casts this shadow over everybody because he is the name of the program, he is ‘Monte, he’s been so good, it’s his senior year, and he’s a phenomenal football player.

“I love the kid. But there is always something within that shadow.”

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Third-year Caruthersville High School football coach Dom Guglielmo said during training camp that he felt his program had "restored the roar" of the successful Tiger football teams of the past, and the rest of the high school football followers throughout the state must agree because the Tigers climbed to No. 8 in the latest MFCA state rankings...

Alexander got involved following halftime and gave Caruthersville a 29-6 lead on a 32-yard touchdown run. But then, it was back to Bryant.

He closed the game with a pair of scores, including the final one, which displayed his elusiveness.

“Sammy is the light behind the shadow,” Guglielmo said. “Two weeks ago, he had less than 100 yards on the ground, and that was because every (defensive plan) was working on stopping him.”

The Tigers will travel to rival Charleston (2-1) on Friday at 7 p.m.