SPRINGDALE — Two groups of players lined up, each placing one hand on the ground and awaiting the whistle. Then they raced from one end of the 100-yard space of green turf to the other.
It was back to work for the Shiloh Christian Saints on Monday, four days after one of the most improbable comebacks in Arkansas high school football history.
The stands in Champions Stadium were empty as the team went about the business of putting one of the school’s most memorable wins behind it and focus on this week’s opponent. Saints coach Josh Floyd admitted moving past last week’s 51-49 win over Nashville won’t be easy.
“It’s definitely a concern because there are just so many times you can get pumped up in a season,” Floyd said. “I think it starts with practice this week. We’re trying to have a great week of practice. We ran them pretty good today.”
The Saints (11-1) can’t afford to dwell on last week’s come-from-behind win over Nashville, a game in which they trailed 35-0 in the second quarter. Shiloh hosts Bald Knob (13-0) at 7:30 p.m. Friday and the winner will advance to the Class 4A state championship game the following Saturday in Little Rock.
Although there is no documentation to prove otherwise, it is widely believed that the 35-point comeback was the largest ever in a state playoff game.
Junior receiver Jon Hawes, whose fourth-down catch in the second quarter helped turn the game around, said the Saints have to put the Nashville game away and move forward.
“It was a great win,” Hawes said. “We just have to forget about it and don’t get too cocky. We just need to prepare like we did for Nashville and really focus on this week.”
That won’t be an easy task. Not only did the Saints come all the way back from a 35-point deficit, it took a huge fourth-down conversion late in the game after Nashville had returned a punt for a touchdown before the game was finally decided.
So emotions were high from before the kickoff to well after the game ended.
“Our guys were so pumped up before the game even started, then the way the game ended up playing out ... it was just an emotional roller-coaster,” Floyd said.
Bald Knob, which is making its first semifinals appearance, also rallied late to defeat Stuttgart 12-10 last week to remain undefeated.
For the Shiloh seniors, Friday’s game will be their final home game. A win would make it four straight seasons of playing for a state title, which Floyd said should be incentive enough.
Saints junior quarterback Kiehl Frazier, who accounted for seven touchdowns last week, said the team is focused on sending the seniors out on a positive note.
“It’s going to be fun, going to be exciting,” Frazier said. “It’s going to be a little sad for the seniors. But we don’t want the seniors to lose their last game at home.
“We just got to get ready to get back to The Rock. We can’t afford a letdown because Nashville was a really emotional game. We have to try and not let emotions take us to next week. We just have to play like we know we can.”