Benton shines in rout
BENTON — Siloam Springs sliced Benton’s 28-point firsthalf lead in half after scoring two touchdowns in less than three minutes in the second quarter Friday night.
But that was as close as Siloam Springs would get.
Benton scored three straight touchdowns to end the first half with a 48-14 lead, and the home Panthers added another score in the second half to finish off a 55-14 mercy rule victory over Siloam Springs on homecoming at the Benton Athletic Complex.
“We had opportunities that we didn’t capitalize on,” said Siloam Springs coach Brandon Craig. “We had a ton of mistakes that were self inflicted, whether it was reciting the play, or some type of coverage on our own, or missing tackles or jumping offsides, or putting the ball on the ground or throwing it to the other team. We had a ton of self-inflicted wounds. That helped (Benton). They’re a very talented football team, but that helped them as well. They did some really nice things on offense I’ll give them credit for and they beat our rears.”
Benton running back Zak Wallace rushed for three firsthalf touchdowns, including an 80-yard burst on the second offensive play of the game to give Benton (4-1, 2-0 6A-West) a 7-0 lead.
Benton starting quarterback Colen Morrow would go on to throw three touchdown passes in the first quarter as Benton took advantage of good field position after two solid punt returns and one turnover on downs. Morrow hit Garrett Body for an 11-yard score for a 14-0 lead and then a 24-yard touchdown pass to Gavin Wells.
A 22-yard touchdown pass to Michael Allison gave Benton a 28-0 lead.
Siloam Springs (3-2, 1-1) began to show some offensive life at the end of the first quarter. Starting at the 11-yard line, Siloam Springs drove 89 yards for a score on an 11-yard pass from Landon Ellis to Kaiden Thrailkill.
Ellis hit 6 of 9 passes on the drive for 59 yards and Thrailkill had a 27-yard run in the sequence.
Down 28-7, Siloam Springs cut the lead to 2814 after taking advantage of a Benton turnover. A bad snap went over Morrow’s head and Siloam Springs recovered at the 16.
Three plays later, Ellis ran in from nine yards out for the touchdown.
“I think we got a little relaxed during that time,” Harris said. “We got up 28 to nothing, and I think defensively we took a couple of plays off. To (Siloam Springs’) credit they hit us for a couple of plays. That first series they got it to 28-7 and then we snap the ball over our head and give them a short field and they take advantage of that and most good teams are going to execute like that. Then we had to respond. We were able to respond offensively right before half and score touchdowns.”
Benton answered in a big way. Wallace had touchdown runs of 29 and 58 yards on Benton’s next two possessions to go up 42-14.
Then sophomore quarterback Garrett Brown, who entered the game after Morrow went out with a foot injury, threw a 19-yard touchdown pass with 46 seconds left in the half as Benton re-established control with a 48-14 lead at halftime.
Brown threw another touchdown pass in the third quarter to set the final score and inflict the running clock sportsmanship rule.
Wallace finished with eight carries for 190 yards and three touchdowns, all in the first half. Benton finished with 543 yards of offense, including 339 in the air.
Morrow completed 9 of 13 passes for 120 yards, while Brown hit his first 11 passes and finished 14 of 18 for 219 yards.
“We hate that Colen got stepped on and had to leave the game,” Harris said. “Garrett Brown, our little sophomore quarterback, came in and was throwing bullets. We have a lot of
confidence in that young man. We’re excited about his future as a Panther.”
Siloam Springs finished with 276 yards of offense. Ellis completed 20 of 37 passes for 209 yards, including eight catches to Gage Weaver for 102 yards. Thrailkill rushed 17 times for 60 yards.