Lukes bring luck to Siloam Springs

SILOAM SPRINGS — Siloam Springs turned to a pair of Lukes to get its first win on Friday night.

Senior quarterback Luke Lampton rushed for 210 yards and three touchdowns and junior Luke Gumm kicked a 27-yard field goal with 5 seconds left as the Panthers rallied for a 24-21 homecoming victory over Sheridan to open 6A-West Conference play at Panther Stadium.

“We finished this week,” said Lampton, who carried the ball 19 times and had TD runs of 76, 44 and 29 yards. “Our last home game (a 39-19 loss to Harrison) we didn’t really follow through and finish. I’m really proud of how our team came through and finished. I mean we did a great job up front on both sides of the ball, and we made some big plays. And we did it when it mattered, and what matters is we got that victory.”

The Panthers (1-3, 1-0) got into an early 14-0 hole after Sheridan took the opening possession and marched 69 yards for a touchdown in 10 plays. The Yellowjackets then recovered a fumble on Siloam Springs’ first offensive play and scored again to go up 14-0.

Lampton gave the Panthers a spark with 9 minutes, 41 seconds left in the half when he took a quarterback keeper 76 yards up the middle to get the Panthers within 14-7.

Lampton scored again with 1:20 left before halftime to knot the score 14-14.

Lampton lost a fumble to open the second half and Sheridan (1-3, 0-1) capitalized again for a 21-14 lead, but Siloam Springs answered with another score as Lampton carried in from 29 yards out to tie the game.

Both offenses traded multiple possessions in the fourth quarter before Siloam Springs got the ball back with 1:23 left on its own 46-yard line.

Lampton hit Kaiden Thrailkill for a first down, and a roughing the passer penalty moved the ball to the 25-yard line. Sheridan was flagged for pass interference to move it to the 10, setting up Gumm’s game-winning kick.

“Man, I’m proud of him. I love Luke Gumm,” Lampton said. “I mean he kicks them farther than that every single day, so that was really no sweat off him. That was really easy for him. I’m really proud of him stepping up as a junior and kicking a field goal like that to seal the deal.”

Gumm, who also received his state soccer championship ring on Friday, then knocked down the final Sheridan pass to end the game.

“It was a team win,” Gumm said. “I was just a small part.”

The Panthers finished with 290 yards of offense, including 239 rushing yards on 32 carries.

Sheridan rushed for 215 yards on 48 carries, led by McKinley Williams who had 29 carries for 158 yards a touchdown. Justin Pruitt scored twice on short touchdown runs for the Yellowjackets’ other scores.

“They made plays when they had to, so that’s why they won the ballgame,” said Sheridan head coach Louis Campbell. “We couldn’t sustain drives in the second half, made too many mistakes and didn’t get enough stops on defense, so they won and we didn’t.”