|
|
Springdale's own Shiloh Christian went on the road and beat the Bears
of Sylvan Hills 52-28 on Friday night in the Class 6A football semifinals,
advancing to a remarkable seventh straight state championship game.
"It does not get old," third-year Saints Coach Tucker Barnard said. "Winning is really hard. Everybody thinks it's easy to do this. What these guys do day in, day out, year in and year out -- this is no exaggeration, but the effort that they put in starts in youth league football, and they dream about this. I'm just so happy for them."
The Saints (10-2) wasted little time getting their offense going as running back Griffin Mason scored 50 seconds into the game on a 17-yard run. Mason then threw a pass to complete the two-point conversion.
Neither team was interested in punting. The Bears (10-2) turned the ball over on downs with their first possession before the Saints did the same on their second.
Shiloh Christian scored on its next drive with a 44-yard pass from quarterback Cole Creighton to receiver Zane Sluyter, but Sylvan Hills pulled back within a touchdown when it scored on a 5-yard pass from quarterback Tyler Hampton to running back Isaiah Howell with 9:10 left in the second quarter, making it 14-6.
The Bears recovered the onside kick following their touchdown but turned it over on downs with 7:00 remaining in the half. The Saints outscored them 14-6 in the remainder of the half, including a 1-yard touchdown run by Charlie Kroell with 16 seconds remaining, to take a 28-12 halftime lead.
"This has kind of been normal operating procedure for Sylvan Hills," Barnard said. "They've been in some tight games like that. We felt like a four-touchdown lead was two, a two-touchdown lead was one. It's kind of a mentality. We wanted to not get too conservative offensively. ... So (we) just tried to make sure that we were still pushing the gas."
After an early change to Barnard's signature defensive front early in the first quarter, where both the defensive lineman and linebacker stand a few yards back from the line of scrimmage to disguise pressures, the Bears' rushing attack was rendered useless in the first half.
"They did a good job filling the box," first-year Sylvan Hills Coach Mark Kelley said. "And then they're extremely fast up front. We got to be able to move our feet and all that stuff."
Sylvan Hills scored on its first drive of the second half thanks to a 1-yard run by Hampton, held Shiloh Christian to a field goal, then scored again on a trick play pass from receiver Maurice Phillips to Howell for 52 yards to cut the lead to 31-28 with 4:55 left in the third quarter.
The Saints responded with a touchdown 13 seconds later, a 42-yard pass from Creighton to receiver Chandler Kemp, to push the lead to 38-28. They outscored the Bears 14-0 the rest of the way.
"I'm really, really proud of our defense," Barnard said. "That's a great offense. It's just the explosiveness that they have. They find a way to take short, easy yards and turn them into big plays. Over the course of the night, I think our guys did a really good job."
Turnovers on downs continued to plague the Bears, who punted just once.
"You get stopped in the red zone and have a couple turnovers or get behind the sticks, they capitalize on it," Kelley said. "That's what really happened tonight. Our guys fought as hard as they could. They kept playing. We just made one or two too many mistakes, and they capitalized on it and stretched the lead."
"It does not get old," third-year Saints Coach Tucker Barnard said. "Winning is really hard. Everybody thinks it's easy to do this. What these guys do day in, day out, year in and year out -- this is no exaggeration, but the effort that they put in starts in youth league football, and they dream about this. I'm just so happy for them."
The Saints (10-2) wasted little time getting their offense going as running back Griffin Mason scored 50 seconds into the game on a 17-yard run. Mason then threw a pass to complete the two-point conversion.
Neither team was interested in punting. The Bears (10-2) turned the ball over on downs with their first possession before the Saints did the same on their second.
Shiloh Christian scored on its next drive with a 44-yard pass from quarterback Cole Creighton to receiver Zane Sluyter, but Sylvan Hills pulled back within a touchdown when it scored on a 5-yard pass from quarterback Tyler Hampton to running back Isaiah Howell with 9:10 left in the second quarter, making it 14-6.
The Bears recovered the onside kick following their touchdown but turned it over on downs with 7:00 remaining in the half. The Saints outscored them 14-6 in the remainder of the half, including a 1-yard touchdown run by Charlie Kroell with 16 seconds remaining, to take a 28-12 halftime lead.
"This has kind of been normal operating procedure for Sylvan Hills," Barnard said. "They've been in some tight games like that. We felt like a four-touchdown lead was two, a two-touchdown lead was one. It's kind of a mentality. We wanted to not get too conservative offensively. ... So (we) just tried to make sure that we were still pushing the gas."
After an early change to Barnard's signature defensive front early in the first quarter, where both the defensive lineman and linebacker stand a few yards back from the line of scrimmage to disguise pressures, the Bears' rushing attack was rendered useless in the first half.
"They did a good job filling the box," first-year Sylvan Hills Coach Mark Kelley said. "And then they're extremely fast up front. We got to be able to move our feet and all that stuff."
Sylvan Hills scored on its first drive of the second half thanks to a 1-yard run by Hampton, held Shiloh Christian to a field goal, then scored again on a trick play pass from receiver Maurice Phillips to Howell for 52 yards to cut the lead to 31-28 with 4:55 left in the third quarter.
The Saints responded with a touchdown 13 seconds later, a 42-yard pass from Creighton to receiver Chandler Kemp, to push the lead to 38-28. They outscored the Bears 14-0 the rest of the way.
"I'm really, really proud of our defense," Barnard said. "That's a great offense. It's just the explosiveness that they have. They find a way to take short, easy yards and turn them into big plays. Over the course of the night, I think our guys did a really good job."
Turnovers on downs continued to plague the Bears, who punted just once.
"You get stopped in the red zone and have a couple turnovers or get behind the sticks, they capitalize on it," Kelley said. "That's what really happened tonight. Our guys fought as hard as they could. They kept playing. We just made one or two too many mistakes, and they capitalized on it and stretched the lead."
Shiloh Christian Punches Ticket To Little Rock