Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Badgers stop Saints
Defending champion Arkadelphia halts Shiloh’s run
SPRINGDALE — Zion Hatley took off to his right after he took the handoff, but he continued to veer back to his left as he worked his way to the end zone.
The senior running back’s 22-yard touchdown run Saturday was a perfect example of the route Arkadelphia had to take to its second straight Class 4A state championship game. After an 0-5 start to their season, the Badgers are bound for War Memorial Stadium after their 30-16 semifinal victory over Shiloh Christian at Champions Stadium.
“This was a lot harder,” Arkadelphia coach J.R. Eldridge said. “I’m just so thankful for our coaches and thankful for our players and the way they fought back. They continued to come to work every week, and I’m thankful for them being relentless in their work habits.”
Hatley’s touchdown run came with 4 minutes, 53 seconds remaining and capped the Arkadelphia’s only long scoring drive. The other touchdowns came when the Badgers took advantage of great field position, with two of them coming within 25 seconds of each other as Arkadelphia jumped out to a 14-0 lead.
Quarterback Cannon Turner scored on a 2-yard run after a Shiloh Christian punt went out of bounds inside the Saints’ 25. Kyren Harrison then scored on a 2-yard run one play after Carlos Haynie intercepted Eli Reece on Shiloh’s first offensive play following the kickoff.
“All three phases of our game worked well,” Eldridge said. “I felt like when one of our phases wasn’t working, we were able to pick it up with another phase.
“Our kids just wanted to keep playing, and I’m so thankful we have a group of guys that want to keep playing.”
Shiloh Christian (12-2) was forced to play without senior Jaret Russ, who had emergency surgery Saturday, but the Saints made the most
of fourth-down plays in the second quarter to force a 1414 tie. Reece hit Blake Thomson with a 19-yard touchdown pass at the 10:43 mark, then Truitt Tollett’s interception on Arkadelphia’s next offensive play resulted in his 1-yard touchdown run on a jet sweep with 6:53 before halftime.
Reece and Jaiden Henry, Shiloh’s alternating quarterbacks, didn’t have much time to throw in some instances as Arkdelphia’s defensive pressure forced them to scramble and often be dropped in the Saints’ backfield.
“There’s a reason why they are in the position they are in,” Saints coach Jeff Conaway said. “They played great. At times we played extremely well, but when you face a team like that you can’t make as many mistakes as we made.
“They did a good job of applying pressure, and they moved our quarterback off his landmark a few times. He also stepped up and made some great throws. I was proud of how he moved and how he threw at times, but we have to do a better job protecting.”
Haynie put Arkadelphia in position to take the lead for good with his 60-yard punt return to the Shiloh 15, and Harrison turned it into a 2-yard touchdown run with 1:44 before halftime. The Saints couldn’t capitalize on an intentional grounding call that gave them the ball at the Badgers 35 with 21.2 seconds left in the first half, then they had to settle for Pat Williams’ 30-yard field goal after they drove to the Arkadelphia 6.
The Badgers responded with Gabe Goodman’s 25-yard field goal with 37.2 seconds left in the third quarter, then capped their scoring with Hatley’s touchdown run.