Panthers steamroll Blackhawks
Panthers 55, Blackhawks 21
Offense piles up 637 yards, 482 on ground
PEA RIDGE — Siloam Springs’ offense was off to the races Friday night, and the Pea Ridge Blackhawks couldn’t catch up.
Siloam Springs exploded for 637 yards of offense in a 55-21 nonconference victory at Blackhawk Stadium as the Panthers earned their first win of the 2020 season.
The Panthers (1-1) hit several big plays on the night and rushed for 482 yards, including an eye-popping performance from senior running back Palvinson “Jeff” Phizema, who rushed five times for 220 yards and three touchdowns.
Siloam Springs coach Brandon Craig praised the work of his offensive line, which had to shuffle positions this week due to a player being out because of covid-19 precautions.
Starting left tackle Jared Clark moved to center, while right tackle Jace Sutulovich moved to left tackle and defensive starter Hunter Dorsey helped fill in on the line.
“I thought our offensive line and tight ends, once again, played pretty physical,” Craig said. “We’re a very run-heavy team, which is what we rely on to win football games. We made some big play-action passes over the top. You know right now we’ve played three teams this year and we’ve been able to control the line of scrimmage on offense in all three games. That’s always a plus. We’re going to face some teams coming up in our conference that are going to be very tough and very physical up front, and we’re going to have to keep getting better and better.
“Obviously you could see we lost a player due to being exposed. You saw we had a couple players out tonight. We had some last minute adjustments we had to make. Our kids responded well to it. This week was a challenge for us offensive line-wise because we had to shuffle the deck and move people around so much. But overall I think going into the game, with everything that’s weighing on these kids, and I don’t think people understand how much this is affecting them mentally, they were able to respond and come out and play a good football game.”
After a delayed start because of lightning in the area and Pea Ridge’s senior night festivities, Siloam Springs stormed out to a 21-0 lead and never looked back.
Camden Collins rushed for 31 yards and three carries on Siloam Springs’ first three offensive plays and Phizema raced around the right side for a 27-yard touchdown for a 7-0 lead with 9:51 left in the first quarter.
Siloam Springs’ defense forced a turnover on downs and the Panthers got the ball back and scored just as quickly.
Hunter Talley found a streaking Gavin Henson down the middle of the field and Henson raced for a 66-yard touchdown and a 14-0 lead.
Siloam Springs made it 21-0 on the last play of the first quarter when Talley capped a six-play 74-yard drive with a nine-yard touchdown run. The Panthers ran for 36 yards on that drive and Talley also hit Nathan Lee for a 29-yard pass to move into Blackhawk territory.
Pea Ridge (0-2) responded with a scoring drive to open the second quarter to cut the lead to 21-7. Blackhawks quarterback Logan Stewart hit Trevor Blair for a 32-yard gain and Stewart ran in from seven yards out for the score.
Siloam Springs answered as Zach Gunneman got loose for a 50-yard run down to the 15. Two plays later, Talley found Elijah Coffey for a 13-yard touchdown pass. The PAT failed and the Panthers led 27-7.
Later in the second quarter, Phizema ran for a 94-yard touchdown run as Siloam Springs pulled ahead 35-7.
“Jeff is an explosive football player on any level,” Craig said. “The kid has a tremendous burst to him and then he has great top end speed. It’s just a matter of him having confidence and running tough with the football, because if you’re going to play running back for us you’ve got to be tough.”
Phizema would also run for a 78-yard touchdown later in the fourth quarter. Phizema said he’s out to prove himself this year after losing the starting running back position last year due to problems with ball security.
“I just feel like we need that after last week’s loss,” Phizema said. “I had to step up. Running back, last year I fell off and lost my starting position and this year I want to run like no one else. We run the ball, and I will run for the rest of the season like that.”
Pea Ridge got within 3514 when Stewart hit Amarion Williams for an 18yard touchdown pass. The Blackhawks were driving right before halftime and got inside the 5-yard line.
With no timeouts left, Stewart tried to make a play for the Blackhawks and was stopped at the 2. Stewart was injured on the play and the clock stopped with 1.9 seconds left due to the injury, giving Pea Ridge one more shot a scoring play.
Zak Withrow attempted to throw a pass to eligible lineman Michael Ericson, who was brought down for a loss to keep the score 35-14 at halftime.
“They jumped out on us early,” said Pea Ridge coach Jeff Williams, who’s in his first season at the school after several years at Fort Smith Southside. “We left some points in the first half and against a team like that you have to score. Give Siloam a lot of credit. They had a good plan.”
The Panthers’ offense went back to work in the second half. Gunneman had a 24-yard touchdown run to make it 42-14.
Gunneman broke free for another big run but was stripped of the ball and Pea Ridge recovered.
The Panthers got the ball right back however when Stewart dropped back to pass, planted and his knee buckled, causing him to fumble the ball and Siloam Springs recovered. Stewart had to be helped off the field in an apparent knee injury.
“We’re going to find out,” Williams said. “He’s going to go go the doctor and we’ll see. It’s a knee deal. He’s a tough kid who plays hard.”
Gunneman rushed for a 12-yard touchdown on the next play as Siloam Springs went up 48-14.
Pea Ridge blocked a Siloam Springs field goal attempt and J.T. Roses picked it up and ran 90 yards for a touchdown as the Blackhawks pulled within 48-21.
Phizema’s 78-yard scoring scamper set the final score.
Pea Ridge finished with 313 yards of offense, but the Blackhawks only gained 66 yards in the second half.
Stewart completed 12 of 22 passes for 181 yards, with Blair hauling in eight catches for 116 yards.
Gunneman finished with 12 carries for 143 yards and two touchdowns for Siloam Springs, while Collins had nine carries for 99 yards.
Talley finished 9 of 12 for 155 yards and two touchdowns. Henson led all receivers with three catches for 71 yards while Lee had three receptions for 50 yards.
The Panthers now return home this Friday to face Harrison (2-0). The Goblins defeated Mountain Home 48-34 on Friday.
Harrison has won four straight over Siloam Springs, including a 33-7 victory at Harrison last season.
“I thought we competed well with them last year,” Craig said. “The scoreboard didn’t indicate that, but I thought our kids played really tough last year. I think we’ve just got to keep chopping away. I think we’re closing the gap. Hopefully our kids will have a great week of preparation, we’ll go into it and play tough.”