Mounties to present challenge
The Rogers Mountaineers will bring plenty of offensive and defensive weapons when they roll into Panther Stadium on Friday night.
The Mounties showed off some speed last week in a 21-14 win over Harrison in an Arkansas Activities Association benefit game.
It certainly caught the eye of Siloam Springs coaches.
“They’ve got some talented kids,” said Siloam Springs head coach Brandon Craig. “They’re very fast, a lot faster than the team we played last week. They’ve got some playmakers on offense. It will be a lot different type game than last week was.”
Siloam Springs rolled to a 42-0 win against Rogers Heritage last Friday, but the Mounties will be a different style of team.
“They’re going to play with a faster tempo and pace than what
we saw the other night,” Craig said.
Wide receiver Noah Goodshield caught the Panthers’ attention. Goodshield caught a 44-yard touchdown pass from Chris Francisco, who is in his first year at quarterback after the graduation of three-year starter Hunter Loyd. Francisco completed 11 of 14 passes for 205 yards.
Kade Seldomridge caught five passes for 69 yards for Rogers, while Gavin Pitts also caught a 52-yard touchdown for the Mounties, who went 2-9 last year.
A lot of the Mounties’ problems came on defense, which allowed 559 points in 11 games, an average of nearly 51 points per game.
The Mounties brought in coach Dave Wheeler from Bentonville West as co-defensive coordinator along with Kenny Evans.
“They’ve got a new philosphy on defense,” Craig said. “Their new defensive coordinator came from Bentonville West. They’re more in tune to lining up and playing gap sound, where as last year they were more blitz heavy.”
Craig said defensive lineman Jose Ruiz and middle linebacker Marion Slater stood out on field as well as Collin Chrisman who plays in the secondary.
Craig said special teams could be a factor.
“It’s going to come down to execution and not making mistakes,” he said. “I think special teams are a huge factor this week. We’ve spent a lot of time on special teams and emphasized them during fall camp. Both teams are pretty close even offensively and defensively.”