Cyclones rally past Panthers

6A-WEST RUSSELLVILLE 45, SILOAM SPRINGS 21

SILOAM SPRINGS — Siloam Springs looked to end a disappointing 2021 season with a win against Russellville on senior night, and the Panthers got halfway there with a 21-14 lead at halftime.

The Cyclones, though, spoiled any thoughts of celebration the Panthers might have had.

Russellville scored 31 unanswered points in the second half to run away with a 45-21 victory at Panther Stadium.

The win secured the fifth seed from the 6A-West for the Cyclones (5-5, 3-4). The Cyclones will travel to Marion next Friday for the opening round of the Class 6A playoffs.

“For our kids to come in here at halftime and stay under control and stay composed, that’s what we kind of preached to them,” said firstyear Russellville Coach Dave Wheeler. “Just come back out the second half and play like we’ve been playing the last couple of weeks. Everything will be fine. I thought they handled that really well being down. It was good to see. It’s a maturity level for us that we haven’t seen since early in the year, so it was good.”

Russellville quarterback Gavin Graham threw three of his four touchdown passes in the second half and the Cyclones also got a pick six from Gabe Hogue, whose 45-yard interception return for a score gave Russellville a 31-21 lead.

“They had a pick six and kind of changed the momentum of the game and we never recovered from it,” said Siloam Springs Coach Brandon Craig. “I hate it for our seniors, hate it for all of our kids, but tonight was a tough night for our seniors. You know it’s frustrating for them, but they’ll go on and do great things in their life.”

Siloam Springs (1-9, 0-7) led 21-14 after a three-play scoring drive covering 80 yards right before halftime. Hunter Talley hit Jonathon Graves for 20 yards and then found Brendan Lashley for 46 yards down to the 14. Talley scored on the next play from 14 yards out with 43 seconds left in the half to give the Panthers a lead going into halftime.

Siloam Springs got the ball to start the second half but stalled out near midfield. Russellville came back and drove into Panthers territory and cut the lead to 21-17 on a 45-yard field goal by Noe Jimenez.

The Cyclones held on defense and scored again, this time with Graham hitting Trenton Stokes for a 67-yard touchdown as Russellville took the lead for good 24-21.

Hogue’s pick six made it 3121 and Graham threw a 21-yard touchdown to Stokes with 5:30 remaining for a 38-21 lead. Graham threw a 25-yard touchdown to Elijah Clark with 3:35 left to set the final score.

Clark also caught a 29-yard touchdown pass in the first quarter. Mykai Foster, who rushed for 132 yards on 15 carries, had a 23-yard touchdown run in the second quarter for the Cyclones.

Siloam Springs scored the game’s first touchdown on a six-yard run by Talley. The Panthers’ second score came on a scoop and score by Jonathon Graves after a Talley fumble.

Russellville finished with 446 yards of offense, rushing for 171 yards on 32 carries. Graham completed 17 of 27 passes for 275 yards.

Siloam Springs finished with 369 yards of offense. Talley rushed 20 times for 153 yards, while Jed Derwin had 19 carries for 71 yards. Talley completed 14 of 29 passes for 157 yards with Lashley hauling in 4 catches for 84 yards.