Saints Survive After Falling In Early 35-0 Hole

By Chip Souza

Posted: November 29, 2009 at 4:50 a.m.

Andy Shupe
Shiloh Christian quarterback Kiehl Frazier is tackled by Nashville’s Alan Copeland, right, during the second quarter of Friday’s Class 4A state playoff game in Champions Stadium in Springdale.

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SPRINGDALE — Josh Floyd has been involved in a lot of wild games as both a player and a coach at Shiloh Christian.

But nothing prepared him for what transpired Friday night in Champions Stadium in the Saints’ 51-49 win against Nashville in the Class 4A playoffs.

With 8 minutes, 38 seconds remaining in the first half, the Saints were in a 35-0 hole and Nashville had the ball at the Saints’ 30-yard line ready to add another score.

How did the state’s top-ranked team get in such a bind?

• A 16-yard Shiloh punt gave the Scrappers a short field, and six plays later, Cole Moore hit Paul Morrow on a 10-yard pass and a 6-0 lead.

• Nashville executed an onside kick, and nine plays later, Trais Marshall raced 17 yards for a 13-0 lead.

• One play later, Nashville’s Alan Copeland intercepted a Kiehl Frazier pass and returned it 37 yards for a 20-0 lead.

• Nashville drove 57 yards to go up 27-0, then forced a Frazier fumble that Copeland scooped up and returned 49 yards for a touchdown. Copeland also caught the two-point conversion for a 35-0 lead.

A stunned Shiloh team was facing not only playoff elimination, but was literally being run off its field via the mercy rule. The Saints (11-1) were so stunned, they failed to cover the kickoff following Copeland’s second defensive score and it wasn’t even an onside kick. It was a simple sky-high kick that fell to the turf untouched and Nashville was back in business.

But the Saints survived and held Nashville (12-1) out of the end zone when Samuel Harvill and Jake Scott combined to sack Moore on fourth down.

“That was huge,” Floyd said.

The defensive stand kick-started the Saints, but it took a spectacular catch by Jon Hawes to do it. Hawes laid out to catch a 34-yard pass from Frazier on third down, then Frazier hit Scott on a 26-yard play and the Saints were finally on the scoreboard with 6:38 left in the half.

“When we finally scored, I think that got us over the hump,” Floyd said.

Shiloh scored twice more before the half. When Frazier scored on a 3-yard run with 33 seconds left in the half to close to within 35-21, the momentum had clearly shifted. And Shiloh got the ball to start the second half.

“We just knew we had to get the ball in the end zone because if we can’t score, they are going to beat us 60-0,” Frazier said. “We weren’t ready. They were blitzing so many people and we weren’t really getting them. We were running quick routes, but they were just getting there so fast.”

One adjustment the Saints made was using Harvill on the offensive line. The burly junior had played just sparingly there during the season. But with Nashville applying heat to Frazier, the Saints needed Harvill’s strength up front.

“I went up to coach and told him I wanted to go on the O-line because we needed to get some push,” said Harvill, who bench presses more than 500 pounds.

Shiloh outscored the Scrappers 30-7 to turn the game around. Frazier, who was bottled up in the first half, ran wild in the second half to finish the game with 106 yards on 31 carries on the ground.

Shiloh’s defense was also able to get more pressure on Moore, although it did give up a 61-yard run by Marshall out of Nashville’s single-wing formation.

One huge third-quarter weapon for the Saints was the leg of kicker Trevor Tumlinson, whose third-quarter kickoffs all resulted in touchbacks. And Frazier’s 57-yard punt to the Nashville 1 was also huge when Harvill sacked Moore in the end zone for a safety and a 44-42 lead.

Officials first ruled Moore fumbled and Shiloh recovered for a touchdown. Then the play was ruled an incomplete pass. Finally a safety was awarded when it was determined Moore was in the grasp of Harvill.

It was a call Nashville coach Billy Dawson did not agree with.

“You know, the safety was a huge call, among others,” Dawson said. “But that’s life on the road.”

Shiloh will host Bald Knob next week in the semifinals. But Floyd admitted it will be tough emotionally to get his team ready.

“The challenge for us is we’re going to have to get back up and get ready to play next week,” Floyd said. “It’s a state semifinal and that hopefully will be motivation enough.”

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