SOUTH POINT, Ohio -- Ryan Bryant had a memorable Nov. 8 when he competed in the NFL Punt, Pass & Kick Bengals Team Championships at Paul Brown Stadium in Cincinnati.

Bryant represented Southeast Ohio in the Team Championships by winning the local PP&K at South Point Elementary and the sectional on Sept. 20 at Piketon High School. The PP&K program is a national skills competition for boys and girls between the ages of 8 and 15 to compete separately against their peers. Bryant's age group is 8-9 boys.

Bryant, a 9-year-old fourth-grade student at South Point Elementary, and the other qualifiers did the competition before a game between the Bengals and Baltimore Ravens. Bryant was treated to lunch at the stadium prior to kickoff, received some souvenirs and headed down to the field at halftime where he was introduced to the crowd. His mom, Nikki, and his dad, D.J., had prime seats for the game.

In the competition, each qualifier had one punt, one pass and one place-kick. The distances are added together to determine the final standings.

For the Bengals event, the competition was held on the two practice fields adjacent to the stadium. Bryant got off to a rough start with a punt of 39 feet.

"I slipped," he said. "I'm really nervous. It didn't go as well as I wanted and I'm thinking I'm in trouble."

In the pass, Bryant tossed the ball 60 feet, 2 inches, second best among the four entries in his division. "I got that one pretty good," he said.

Bryant's place-kick went 43-feet, 1-inch for a total of 142 feet, 3 inches. He settled for fourth place. Tyler Peters of Pickerington, Ohio, won with a combined total of 194-9 followed by Jack Wehe of Willshire, Ohio (171-10) and Bryce Elmore of Louisville (168-6).

After competing the youngsters had lunch with the Ben-Gals cheerleaders.

"That was the best part," Bryant said.

As for souvenirs, the participants made quite a haul. They got a Bengals hat, jersey, T-shirt and a football with the place they finished written on it.

Going down on the field and having 65,535 fans stare at you can be quite unnerving.

"That was really scary," Bryant said. "I had so many people looking at me. It's a big deal out there."

Bryant said his dad helped him prepare for the three events. They'd go out almost daily and work on all three phases.

"He told me to stay calm, but that wasn't easy," Bryant said. "It was fun competing and I believe I was prepared."

Bryant played on South Point's C Team in the Tri-State Youth Football League. He's also into basketball and soccer.

The PP&K has one more round to go. The National Finals will be held prior to an NFL playoff game in January. The top four scorers from all first-place finalists in each age division for boys and girls advance to the National Finals.

One area athlete waiting to see if she qualified is Meghan Cochran of Gallipolis, Ohio. She competed in the 14-15 girls division and won with a total of 247-2 (92-0 for punt, 84-9 for pass and 20-5 for the place kick).

Ty Howell of Gallipolis competed in the 10-11 boys age group and placed fourth (183-9). He did 49-8 in the punt, 72-5 in the pass and 61-8 in the place kick.

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Submitted photo

Ryan Bryant is all smiles with his medal after he won the sectional Punt, Pass & Kick competition in Piketon, Ohio,