Key game awaits Panthers, Wolves
The Siloam Springs football team knows the opportunity it has this week.
The Panthers host Lake Hamilton at 7 p.m. Friday at Panther Stadium in a key 6A-West Conference game, with the winner improving its chances of qualifying for the Class 6A postseason.
“It’s an opportunity to get a second conference win and really take a big step toward getting in
the playoffs,” said Siloam Springs head coach Bryan Ross. “I wouldn’t say it’s do or die, but it’s important. It will be important for them, and it’s important for us. That’s one thing that should make it a good game.”
The Panthers (2-4, 1-2) currently sit a game in front of Lake Hamilton (2-4, 0-3), but all that can change Friday night.
The Wolves, under firstyear coach Tommy Gilleran, have lost four straight heading into Friday’s showdown with the Panthers after starting the season 2-0.
Lake Hamilton defeated Hot Springs 35-7 to open the year and then thrashed Malvern 56-27.
Class 7A No. 1 Bryant smoked Lake Hamilton 56-7 in week 3, and the Wolves opened conference play with a 35-13 loss to El Dorado.
Texarkana edged Lake Hamilton 14-9 and Russellville opened up a big lead on the Wolves last week before holding on for a 4035 road victory.
The Wolves are running a Wing T offense, featuring sophomore running back Malik Brewer, who has rushed for 601 yards on 77 carries and six touchdowns. Brewer rushed for 192 yards on 20 carries in the loss to Russellville.
Jacob Nichols has 494 yards on 65 carries and has also scored six touchdowns.
“The thing about the Wing T is you don’t see it much anymore,” Ross said. “It makes it harder to prepare with all the different motions and different ways to get the ball to the running backs, but they also throw the ball too.”
Lake Hamilton quarterback Utah Aitken had completed 29 of 81 passes for 497 yards, four touchdowns and seven interceptions. Jackson Johnson is the team’s leading receiver with nine catches for 145 yards. He’s also carried 30 times for 180 yards.
“In the Wing T, you’re not looking for high completion rates,” Ross said. “You’d love to have those, but you’re looking for
shots. You’re taking shots. With all the action in the backfield, all the different motions and stuff, if somebody in the secondary gets distracted and doesn’t have their eyes in the right place,
then they’re going to get a big play. We can’t afford to give one of those up.”
Offensively the Panthers are looking to get back on track after getting shutout at Greenwood last week in
I wouldn’t say it’s do or die, but it’s important. It will be important for them, and it’s important for us. That’s one thing that should make it a good game. Bryan Ross SSHS head football coach
a 38-0 loss.
The Panthers were in the Greenwood red zone on three occasions and didn’t come away with any points.
The Panthers lost a fumble on one possession, had a turnover on downs and an interception on fourth down which ended scoring chances.
“Well, first thing is we turned the ball over,” Ross said. “Both times we turned the ball over we were in position to get some points. Can’t do that and we just couldn’t dent them in the run. That was the big thing. You get down there in a short field and you still have to be able to run the football and we couldn’t. Then trying to throw on a short field, it’s harder.
“I think we’ll be all right. Greenwood is the exception. Most of the time, I think our red zone offense is pretty good with what we do. But sometimes you just run up against a team you can’t keep blocked very long.”
After recording 495 yards and 417 yards of offense in wins against Van Buren and Sheridan, respectively, the Panthers were held to just 208 in a loss at home to Benton and 225 against Greenwood.
A big drop has been in the production of the running game, which has only totaled 101 yards in the last two games combined.
“We always want to be able to run the football,” Ross said. “If you can run the football then that means you’re winning the line of scrimmage. If you do that then you have a real good chance of winning. So definitely we want to be balanced, and we want to be able to take what the defense is giving us. A big part of what we do is being able to run the football. Hopefully, we’ll have more success this Friday.”
Junior running back Kaiden Thrailkill has rushed for 588 yards on 121 carries and scored seven touchdowns. Junior quarterback Landon Ellis has completed 76 of 152 passes for 1,271 yards, nine touchdowns and six interceptions. Senior wide receiver Luke Gumm has 26 catches for 526 yards and seven touchdowns, but he was limited to just three catches for 12 yards last week against Greenwood.
The Panthers are likely without junior wide receiver Primo Agbehi (13 catches, 245 yards) on offense after he suffered a hand injury in practice last week. There is hope Agbehi will still be able to play defense.
The Panthers lost a shootout to Lake Hamilton 56-33 a year ago.
“They were big up front, and their offensive tackles are big again,” Ross said. “They’re probably not quite as big all the way across, but since they’ve gone to the Wing T it’s a little different offensive scheme. If we can’t slow down their running game, it’ll be a high scoring game again. We don’t want that. I think offensively we can do some things against them defensively, but you know it’s just going to come back to can we stop them enough on defense?”
Ross is happy to have this one at home after making the long trip to Pearcy last year in the Hot Springs area.
“Anytime you’re on a bus for four hours or more, it’s a pain,” he said. “It’s an all-day ordeal. So yeah, we’re happy to be playing at home. I’m sure the kids will be fired up. Hopefully we’ll have a good crowd here and hopefully we’ll play well.”