Freshmen pound out win over Cardinals
Other than two hiccups covering punts, the Siloam Springs freshman football team put in a dominating performance Thursday night against Farmington.
The Panthers rolled up more than 200 yards of offense and did not give up a point defensively in a 27-16 victory over the Cardinals.
“The guys did a great job,” said ninth-grade head coach Jonathan Johnson. “They competed hard, other than a couple of breakdowns on the punt return. Love the guys up front. They pounded, pounded, pounded — made holes all over for our running backs. The big thing I was proud of was our running backs came in and they celebrated those linemen doing a great job.”
Siloam Springs (2-2) gave up a pair of 74-yard punt returns for touchdowns to Farmington’s Tate Pickens in the first half as Farmington led 16-13 at halftime.
“Not real happy with punt coverage right there,” Johnson said. “Obviously that’s something we’re going to address this coming week.”
Siloam Springs answered in the third quarter with a touchdown run from Hunter Talley to take a 20-16 lead in the third quarter and Zachary Hall added a touchdown run in the fourth.
Talley and Hall combined to rush 33 times for 160 yards and four touchdowns, with Talley carrying 16 times for 95 yards and 2 TDs and Hall 17 carries for 65 yards and 2 TDs.
Talley had a 52-yard touchdown run in the second quarter and Hall had a six-yard score later in the half as Siloam Springs pulled within 16-13.
Talley also completed 5 of 6 passes for 48 yards, with Christian Ledeker catching four passes for 24 yards and McHaney one catch for 24 yards.
Lashley and Jace Sutulovich each recovered fumbles for Siloam Springs, while Fain had an interception in the fourth quarter.
“It was a pretty complete game,” Johnson said. “Solid on offense. We had a couple of mistakes here and there, but that’s to be expected. I’m real proud of how they competed this week.”
The ninth-graders return to action this Thursday at home against Fayetteville White.
Eighth-grade Rogers Lingle 21, Siloam Springs 6
Siloam Springs led 6-0 and was driving at the end of the first half when a potential drive came up short on the 1-yard line at halftime.
Instead of being down by two touchdowns, Lingle responded in the second half and scored three touchdowns.
The Lions got the job done on the ground, rushing 17 times for 106 yards in the second half.
Lingle running back Tillman McNair rushed for 131 yards, while quarterback Carter Hensley threw a pair of touchdowns to Brian Torres.
The Panthers rushed for 141 yards in the first half, led by 87 yards by Hunter Jenkins. Andrew Pilcher scored the Panthers’ only touchdown on a 10-yard run with 9 seconds left in the first quarter.
The eighth-graders fell to 1-3 overall and host Fayetteville Woodland this Thursday.
Seventh-grade Siloam Springs 36, Rogers Lingle 26
The seventh-graders jumped out to a big lead and held on in the second half to remain undefeated.
Jed Derwin led the Panthers (3-0) with seven carries for 198 yards and scored four touchdowns. Through three games, Derwin has carried 24 times for 411 yards and seven touchdowns.
Devlin Huson added 10 carries for 93 yards and a touchdown.
Connor Mitchell rushed four times for 39 yards, while Hever Godinez had 12 yards on two carries.
The Panthers led 30-8 at halftime.
Siloam Springs is scheduled to host Fayetteville Woodland this Thursday.