SPRINGDALE — Shiloh Christian quarterback Kiehl Frazier often had happy feet in the pocket as a sophomore last season.
He’d take the snap in Shiloh’s spread shotg un formation, quickly scan the defense, then take off if the play was slow to develop. It was hard to fi nd fault with the 6-foot-3, 215-pounder since he amassed almost 1,000 yards on the ground and led the Saints to the Class 4A state title while earning Most Valuable Player honors in the championship game.
Frazier’s running and rifl e arm have made him one of the state’s top recruits and one of the nation’s top dual-threat quarterbacks with offers from a handful of Division-I colleges, including Arkansas, Auburn and Kansas State to name a few.
But this season Frazier is running less and passing more as his knowledge of the Saints offense has grown, Shiloh coach Josh Floyd said.
“The biggest difference in this year and last year is Kiehl’s comfort level with our offense,” Floyd said. “He’s doing a great job, trusting his receivers, and his accuracy has been really good all year long.”
Prior to the season, Frazier said his feel for the off ense was leaps and bounds ahead of where it was a year ago with a season under his belt. All he did in 2008 was pass for 1,434 yards and 17 touchdowns to go along with 990 rushing yards and 15 more scores.
“I just feel like I know what I’m doing now,” Frazier said. “Last year, I really didn’t always know what I was doing.”
While his running totals are down (65 carries, 313 yards), his passing totals have jumped through the roof (168 completions on 260 attempts for 2,857 yards and 39 touchdowns). He’s also protected the ball better, throwing just six interceptions.
“Most coaches would rather their quarterback not run the ball too much,” Floyd said as his team prepares to host De Queen in a secondround playoff game on Friday in Champions Stadium. “But in the playoff s we’ll do what we have to do. If that means he needs to run more, then that’s what we’ll do.”
Floyd said the Saints are “in a one-game season right now.”
“I know this is cliché, but in the playoffs it really is one game at a time,” Floyd said. “You can’t afford to look ahead. At 10 p.m. Friday we’ll know if we’re still playing or not.”
Defending their title is not where the Saints are focused, Floyd said.
“We’re just focused on De Queen,” Floyd said. “Fortunately we have a strong group of seniors ... guys who have been through this, and they have kept the rest of the team grounded.”
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