Saints Advance Despite Big Hole

By Chip Souza

Posted: November 28, 2009 at 4:25 a.m.

Nashville senior receiver Paul Morrow, right, reaches to fend off Shiloh Christian junior defensive back Jon Hawes during the first quarter Friday in Champions Stadium in Springdale.

• Print item
• E-mail
• Share
• Tweet

SPRINGDALE — Houdini made an appearance in Champions Stadium on Friday. He was wearing a navy and gold uniform.

Shiloh Christian escaped a 35-0 deficit and defeated Nashville 51-49 in a third-round Class 4A playoff game.

The Saints (11-1) advanced to next week’s semifinals at home against Bald Knob (13-0). Nashville ended its season at 12-1 and saw its 35-game road winning streak end.

Trailing 35-0 with 8 minutes, 38 seconds left in the first half, Shiloh was not only facing playoff elimination, but possibly being crushed on its own turf.

“My first thought was when does the mercy rule clock start,” Floyd said. “I knew it wasn’t going to start until halftime. At that time we hadn’t even scored or even got many first downs, so I was just thinking let’s just keep it where maybe it’s not a mercy rule and we come back out in the second half and have a chance.”

The No. 1 Saints could have faced an even bigger defi cit. When Nashville’s Alan Copeland scored his second defensive touchdown of the half to put his team up 35-0, the Saints failed to cover the ensuing kickoff and Nashville recovered at the Saints 30.

But Shiloh’s Samuel Harvill and Jake Scott combined to sack Scrappers quarterback Paul Morrow on fourth down. The play lit a fire under the Saints. After Jon Hawes made a spectacular 34-yard catch for a first down, Shiloh quarterback Kiehl Frazier hit Scott on a 26-yard touchdown pass to close the score to 35-7.

From that point on, Shiloh was a different team. The Saints outgained No. 2 Nashville 110-(minus-19) after the Morrow sack. And the Saints scored two more times before the half, including a 32-yard interception return by Frazier and a 3-yard run by Frazier to close within 35-21 at the half.

Frazier, who gave up an interception return for a touchdown, called his return of Morrow’s pass “an eye for an eye.”

“I messed up on that interception I threw,” Frazier said. “(Copeland) faked a rush then stepped back. He made a great play.”

The Saints cut the deficit to 35-28 to start the second half, but Nashville responded when Trais Marshall (10 carries, 116 yards) went 61 yards out of single-wing formation and Morrow hit Erin Adams on a 12-yard scoring pass for a 42-28 lead.

It still wasn’t enough. The Saints scored the next 23 points as Frazier carried Shiloh to the win with two scoring passes and an 11-yard touchdown run. On the night Frazier ran for 106 yards on 31 carries and was 17 of 33 passing for 257 yards.

Nashville made it interesting at the end when Marshall returned a Shiloh punt 66 yards to pull the Scrappers within 51-49, but the Saints’ Cale White recovered Nashville’s onside kick attempt and the Saints were able to run out the clock.

“We talked before the game that it was going to be a roller-coaster,” Nashville coach Billy Dawson said. “The kids kind of went in the tank for a couple of series. Overall our kids played hard, played with some tenacity. They gave us a great chance at the end.”

Comments

To report abuse or misuse of this area please hit the "Suggest Removal" link in the comment to alert our online managers. Please read our comment policy.

Use the comment form below to begin a discussion about this content.