Thrailkill picks up Panthers
Defense gets big stops to secure win at Van Buren
VAN BUREN — Kaiden Thrailkill put Siloam Springs on his capable shoulders for most of Friday night’s road game at Van Buren.
And when Thrailkill stumbled late, his teammates picked him up with the game on the line.
Thrailkill rushed for a careerhigh 257 yards on 36 carries and two touchdowns, and the Panthers got a pair of defensive stops in the fourth quarter to steal a 35-32 win over the Pointers at Citizens Bank Stadium.
“We all worked together to get one thing done, to accomplish our goal, which was to win,” said Thrailkill, who credited his offensive line. “It was beautiful lanes to run through.”
Leading 35-32, the Panthers got an interception from Jackson Norberg in the fourth quarter to snuff out a Van Buren drive and get the ball back to Thrailkill and the offense.
Having been gashed at times by the Van Buren passing game, the play was a big lift to Siloam Springs (2-1).
“I read the quarterback the whole entire way,” Norberg said. “Watched him throw that ball up in the air and I went up and got it.”
On the next play, Thrailkill broke through for a 35-yard run to the 10, however he fumbled on the next play and Van Buren’s Cha’Raun Paige recovered and ran it back to the Panthers’ 39 with less than four minutes remaining.
Van Buren (1-2) got down to the 28, but Siloam Springs’ defense came up with a stop to get the ball back with less than two minutes remaining.
The Panthers were able to get the clock down to 1:08 left and were ready to punt the ball away when Van Buren was penalized for offsides. The penalty gave the Panthers the first down, and quarterback Landon Ellis took two knees in victory formation to end the game.
“Our theme this week was trust,” said Siloam Springs coach Brandon Craig. “We knew we were going to have some low points in the game. That’s just high school football. They stuck together as a team, and they just kept fighting. It would have been really easy for them to just tuck their tails, take a loss and go home, but they didn’t. They kept fighting. That’s what we’re looking for — that will and desire to keep fighting.”
It didn’t look good early for the Panthers, who fell behind 14-0 in the first quarter.
After both teams traded punts on their opening possessions, Van Buren cracked the scoreboard first when quarterback Christian Morrow hit a wide open Logan Humphreys for a 31-yard touchdown pass to take a 7-0 lead.
The Pointers were knocking on the door again on their next offensive possession, but the Siloam Springs defense forced a turnover on downs at the 4-yard line.
Unfortunately Siloam Springs’ offense couldn’t get out of the shadow of its endzone and a short punt resulted in great field position for Van Buren.
This time the Pointers didn’t miss as Morrow threw a 15-yard touchdown pass to Mauri Newton to take a 14-0 lead.
A short kickoff gave Siloam Springs the ball at the 49-yard line to open its next drive and the Panthers began to show some life on offense.