LITTLE ROCK — Shiloh Christian Coach Josh Floyd did not skimp on praise for senior quarterback Kiehl Frazier after the Saints’ 61-40 victory over Pulaski Academy in the Class 4A state championship game.
How could he?
Frazier accounted for seven touchdowns Friday night at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock, earning MVP honors for an unprecedented third consecutive year. He completed 15 of 25 passes for 319 yards and 4 touchdowns and rushed 23 times for 52 yards and 3 touchdowns.
“That’s an unbelievable accomplishment for him,” Floyd said. “He’s a great player. Great kid. The No. 1 thing about him is he’s a great competitor. I think you saw that tonight. He didn’t get rattled. He loves to win. He’s the best player I think this state has had in a long time.”
Frazier, who is committed to Auburn, completed 153 of243 passes for 2,975 yards and 42 touchdowns this season and rushed 164 times for 1,164 yards and 22 scores.
“This is definitely the pinnacle,” Frazier said. “We’ve been together for three years, through all the hard knocks.”
Shiloh Christian trailed20-13 with 3:26 left in the first quarter before scoring 21 consecutive to take a 34-20 lead at halftime. Frazier tied it at 20-20 with a 3-yard run. After the Saints’ defense stopped the Bruins on fourth down, Frazier connected with senior receiver Zann Jones for a go-ahead 41-yard touchdown with 2:03 left in the half for a 27-20 lead.
Frazier found Jones for a 50-yard touchdown with 1:02 left in the half as the Saints extended their lead to 34-20.
Frazier kept it up in the second half, passing for two touchdowns and running for another. His 5-yard run with4:43 left in the third quarter made it 41-27 and he threw scoring passes of 56 and 8 yards to Jones and senior running back Garrett Harper, respectively, in the fourth quarter to seal the school’s seventh state championship and fourth in five years.
It was business as usual for Frazier and the Saints, who also defeated Pine Bluff Dollarway in 2008 and Lonoke last season in Little Rock.
“We knew they were a good team,” Frazier said. “We knew we had to just keep going. It’s almost impossible to keep a team like PA from scoring at least 20 points. We really expected that. We knew we had to score, so we just had to get the job done.”
It wasn’t all about Frazier for the Saints. Jones caught 4 passes for 202 yards and 3 touchdowns, adding to his state-record total of 57 career scores. Harper rushed21 times for 162 yards and 1 touchdown and also caught a touchdown pass.
“They did awesome,” Frazier said. “Zann broke the state all-time record. That just shows what a great player he was. Garrett scored our first touchdown and really got us going. There’s so many great players on this team that I can’t take any of the credit for this win.”
Sports, Pages 23 on 12/11/2010