Washington County Enterprise-Leader
Goodbye To An Old Foe SHILOH LEAVING
Lincoln joining 4A-1 Conference
FARMINGTON — With the end of the school year, gone are days of the Saints marching into town to take on the Cardinals, Tigers and Wolves.
Shiloh Christian moved up to Class 5A leaving a conference they’ve shared with Farmington and Prairie Grove, as well as Lincoln, which moves to 4A for 2012-13. Shiloh has been a tough opponent. The private school, based in Springdale, consistently fielded highly-competitive teams in all sports.
Brendon McBryde graduated from Shiloh and played against Lincoln in high school. Speaking at a baseball game this spring when he was working as the handler for Northwest Arkansas mascot, Strike, McBryde said he likes coming out to Lincoln.
“I enjoy it out here,” McBryde said, adding he thinks the seventh-grade transfer rule is hurting Shiloh.
The Non-Public Transfer Rule adopted by the Arkansas Activities Association stipulates students who enroll at a private school must enroll by July 1 prior to beginning the seventh grade, or the lowest grade offered by the private school they are transferring to if it is higher than seventh grade. Those, who enroll later, are deemed ineligible for athletic competition for a full year.
Prairie Grove first encountered Shiloh in football competition in 1989. The Tigers have held their own with an 8-9 record. Lincoln’s first football contest against Shiloh came in 1991. The Wolves haven’t won in 10 games. Farmington didn’t meet Shiloh on the gridiron until 1998 and has a 2-6 record against the Saints.
Shiloh was a member of the 1A-1 conference from 1989-97. The Saints then joined the 2A-1 conference from 1998-2001 before going into the 3A-1 from 2002-07 and then into the 4A1.
But now, there will be no more exposure to pregame hype on Shiloh’s big screen electronic scoreboard. Ironically, the last time a local team was exposed to footage of Shiloh football plays, it wasn’t at Springdale. The place was Heber Springs where audio highlights of the Panthers’ 48-35 first-round playoff win over the Saints were blasted
in the ears of the Cardinals as they warmed up.
Yet, the Farmington booster club provided an answer. When the Cardinal band played and cheerleaders and dance team performed, it helped offset some of the raucous noise piped into the stadium by Heber Springs.
“We’re blessed to have that situation at Farmington, the community supports you,” said Jana Harper, wife of Cardinal defensive coordinator, Jay Harper. “There was no way to get the cheerleaders there, but Darin Strange and the booster club donated money for charter buses. Our community did that.”
Hearing the Shiloh footage may have helped spark the undoing of the previously undefeated Panthers on their own field. The blaring audio soundtrack may have provided additional incentive to Farmington, with the Cardinals conquering in a 2812 upset.
After dominating the conference for years, Shiloh didn’t exactly exit with grace. Both the Cardinals and Tigers got the best of Shiloh in football this past season, as did Ozark (28-20), while Gravette (16-14) and Pea Ridge (38-34) came close before losing.
Prairie Grove celebrated homecoming Oct. 7 and fearlessly scheduled Shiloh. At the pep rally prior to the game, coach Danny Abshier was asked to speak, enthusiastically saying he would like to see the Tigers lay the smackdown on the Saints. Abshier’s exhortation turned out to be prophetic, because that’s what happened.
Prairie Grove rolled to a 34-14 win. The loss snapped Shiloh’s 42- game winning streak in the conference dating back to Sept. 30, 2005, when Prairie Grove beat Shiloh, 40-32.
In the last week of the regular season, Farmington jumped all over the Saints, in posting a 58-37 win. Coach Mike Adams pulled out all the stops with the Cardinals successfully recovering a pair of onside kicks and executing a halfback option with Jared Martin passing to Brandon Merrick for a touchdown, plus a successful 2-point conversion from the swinging-gate formation.
Sports fans tend to have selective memory at times. In years to come when Farmington and Prairie Grove fans recall their old foe, stories will be told and retold from the 2011 football season. For Cardinals and Tigers, their last memory of competing against Shiloh Christian on the football field was a good one.
“I wish Shiloh good luck in 5A,” Abshier said.