SPRINGDALE — Defense and Kiehl Frazier were enough to help Shiloh Christian overcome a host of blunders and advance to the state championship for a fourth consecutive year.
Frazier passed for two touchdowns and ran for two more to lead the No. 1 Saints to a 48-7 victory over Bald Knob on Friday in the semifinals of the Class 4A playoffs in Champions Stadium.
Shiloh (12-1) will meet Lonoke next Saturday in War Memorial Stadium for the state championship. Lonoke defeated Osceola 28-7 in the other semifinal.
The Saints, one week removed from their stunning 51-49 victory over Nashville in which they trailed 35-0, turned the ball over four times in the first quarter and committed 9 penalties for 95 yards.
“We’ve got to do a better job protecting the ball,” Shiloh Christian Coach Josh Floyd said. “We’ve been sloppy on offense two weeks in a row. We’ve got to get better if we want to win a championship next week.”
The Saints were able to overcome the mistakes because of the play of their defense, which held Bald Knob (13-1) to a minus-2 yards rushing and forced five turnovers.
Floyd said Friday night’s frigid weather was as much a factor in the team’s inability to get the offense going as anything.
“This weather ... it’s hard to pass the ball when it’s this cold,” Floyd said. “That’s no excuse, but the ball is hard to catch and throw in this stuff.”
The Saints grabbed a 6-0 lead early after an exchange of turnovers when Frazier scored on a 1-yard run following a Colt Thomas interception. Shiloh expanded its lead to 20-0 on another short run by Frazier and Wilson Huett’s 9-yard run.
Frazier’s first interception bounced off the chest of Zann Jones and into the arms of Gabe Gavin. The other two interceptions were underthrown.
“I wasn’t throwing it as far as I should have thrown it, and they were making good plays,” said Frazier, who finished 12 of 23 for 207 yards and ran for another 80 yards.
Bald Knob, which ended the best season in program history with its first trip to the semifinals, closed the gap to 20-7 when the Bulldogs marched 66 yards in seven plays. Quarterback Nick Glaze completed 4 of 5 passes on the drive, including a 20-yarder to Trey Gavin and a 23-yarder to Nathan Leonard.
Leonard capped the drive with a 5-yard touchdown run with 3 minutes, 18 seconds left before the half.
That left just enough time for Shiloh to score a late firsthalf touchdown on Frazier’s 16-yard strike to Jake Scott and a 27-7 lead at the half.
Shiloh’s defense dominated the second half and the offense, despite a lackluster performance, added three more scores.
“Just too many turnovers in the first quarter,” Bald Knob Coach Paul Johnston said. “Our defense stepped up and got some turnovers, but we just made too many mistakes and gave it back to them.
“You do that to a team like Shiloh and they’re going to capitalize on it. Our defense was on the field way too much.”
LONOKE 28, OSCEOLA 7
OSCEOLA - Senior quarterback Michael Nelson completed 20 of 41 passes for 348 yards and 4 touchdowns to lead No. 4 Lonoke past No. 3 Osceola.
Lonoke (11-3) will play for its first state championship since 1994.
Osceola (10-2-1) was eliminated in the semifinals for the second consecutive year.
The Jackrabbits led 7-0 at halftime on a 15-yard touchdown pass from Nelson to senior fullback Morgan Linton.
In the second half, Nelson threw touchdown passes of 13 yards to Todd Hopson, 11 yards to Brandon Smith and 77 yards to Darius Scott.
Osceola’s only touchdown came on a 75-yard kickoff return by senior Tony Dancy with 8:34 remaining in the game.
Sports, Pages 21 on 12/05/2009