SPRINGDALE — Shiloh Christian’s offense was just standing around doing nothing, watching as the game played out in front of them.
This is what happens when a defensive coordinator is left in charge.
All Tucker Barnard, Shiloh’s defensive coordinator, could do was smile as his defense scored two quick touchdowns to open Friday night’s Class 4A state semifinal matchup against Pulaski Robinson en route to a 56-12 win in Champions Stadium.
Barnard said the quick two-touchdown lead likely forced Robinson to alter its gameplan. A Wing-T team that primarily relied on pounding the ball, the Senators were suddenly facing a huge deficit.
“We hadn’t seen them throw the ball that much,” Barnard said. “They are tough and very difficult to defend.”
Robinson shook off the early mistakes and put together a nice drive built primarily on the ground, using toss sweeps to get to the edge. The scoring drive trimmed Shiloh’s lead to 14-6.
Barnard said the Saints did not make any adjustments following the Robinson scoring drive.
“We were in position to make those defensive plays, but we had some alignment issues that we corrected,” Barnard said. “But great teams and great athletes make you make mistakes.”
Shiloh’s high-powered offense did not take the field until less than eight minutes remained in the first quarter. An 8-play, 62-yard drive imcreased the lead to 21-6 and the game was effectively over at that point.
Barnard was thrust into the role of head coach this week when Saints coach Josh Floyd was suspended after being ejected from the previous week’s game against Nashville for drawing a pair of unsportsmanlike conduct penalties.
“It was a tough deal this week,” Barnard said. “We have a great staff. Coach Floyd is a great head coach and I hated this for him. That was really the most difficult thing, knowing how coach Floyd was feeling all week.”
The win over Robinson sets up what likely will be the biggest shootout in Class 4A state title game history next Friday in War Memorial Stadium when the Saints take on Pulaski Academy. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. in Little Rock.
The two teams have been on a collision course the entire season. Each team has just one loss to a higher classification team. In Shiloh’s case, the loss was to the nation’s No. 1 team Euless (Texas) Trinity on Labor Day.