High School Football Championships: Saints march to title

LITTLE ROCK — The champion of Class 4A, and private schools, is Shiloh Christian.

Senior quarterback Kiehl Frazier accounted for seven touchdowns to lead top ranked Shiloh Christian to a 61-40 victory over No. 2 Pulaski Academy in the Class 4A state championship game Friday night at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock.

A crowd of 6,628 watched the Saints (14-1) claim their third consecutive state championship, fourth in five years, and seventh overall.

The Bruins (13-2) were bidding for their third state championship, but ran out of steam late in the highly anticipated meeting between the private school powers.

Frazier, who has orally committed to Auburn, was named the game’s MVP for the third consecutive year after completing 15 of 25 passes for 319 yards and 4 touchdowns and rushing 23 times for 52 yards and 3 touchdowns.

Frazier, playing safety, also had a critical interception late in the second quarter to protect Shiloh Christian’s 34-20 halftime lead.

“He’s the best player I’ve seen in high school football,” said Shiloh Christian Coach Josh Floyd, a record-setting quarterback on the school’s first state championship team in 1998. “I really don’t think it’s even close. I think he’s the best player this year and in a long, long time.”

Pulaski Academy was led by junior quarterback Fredi Knighten, who completed 24 of 46 passes for 307 yards and 5 touchdowns.

Knighten also rushed 21 times for 79 yards and 1 touchdown.

Knighten gained 141 yards, but the bulk of his 62 yards in losses resulted from eight sacks, including 4 1/2 by senior end Ryan Hyde.

Still, the first all-private school final in state history produced 994 yards of offense, one punt and for many stretches, pinball-type scoring (the longest touchdown drive was 3:17).

Shiloh Christian, which led 34-20 at halftime, finished with 523 total yards on 71 plays.

Senior running back Garrett Harper ran 21 times for 154 yards and 1 touchdown and caught 6 passes for 36 yards and 1 touchdown.

Senior wide receiver Zann Jones caught 4 passes for 202 yards and 3 touchdowns to set a state record for career touchdown receptions (57).

Pulaski Academy amassed 471 total yards on 86 plays.

Senior wide receiver Garrett Lamb caught 8 passes for 140 yards and 3 touchdowns.

Lamb had touchdown receptions of 20, 8 and 46 yards in the first half.

The Bruins, who recovered two onside kicks and didn’t punt in the game, scored on their first three possessions.

But so did Shiloh Christian,resulting in a 20-20 tie after a 42-minute first quarter.

The Bruins were still within 41-33 after Knighten ran 16 yards for a touchdown with 1:22 left in the third quarter.

But the Saints put the game out of reach with three consecutive touchdowns in the fourth quarter - a 56-yard pass from Frazier to Jones at 11:37, an 8-yard pass from Frazier to Harper at 7:23 and a 3-yard run by senior wide receiver Jon Hawes at 2:51 - for a 61-33 lead.

“I thought the second quarter we settled down and started playing well,” Floyd said. “Guys made some interceptions and we had some sacks. I don’t know, it seemed like they were on offense the whole stinking night. I don’t know how many plays they ran, but it was wearing me out.”

But after its early flurry, Pulaski Academy didn’t score again until the third quarter.

The Saints, meanwhile, zoomed to a 34-20 halftime lead behind two touchdown passes late in the second quarter from Frazier to Jones.

Shiloh Christian took the lead for good, 27-20, on a 41-yard touchdown pass from Frazier to Jones with 2:03 left in the first half.

It was the 55th career touchdown reception for Jones, tying him with Josh Bell of Greenwood and former Saints tight end Shane Williams for the most in state history.

Jones broke the record on Shiloh Christian’s next possession.

After holding Pulaski Academy on downs at midfield, Frazier avoided the rush and lofted a 50-yard touchdown pass to Jones, who made the reception near the goal line with 52 seconds left in the first half.

Freshman J.T. Hale’s kicked the extra point for 34-20 lead.

The Bruins missed a chance to make it a one-score game at halftime.

Junior Aum’Arie Wallace fielded the ensuing kickoff in the end zone, found a seam up the middle and had a chance to score before stumbling near the Shiloh Christian 30.

That allowed Harper to make the tackle at the 27.

But on the following play, Knighten threw into double coverage and Frazier made a leaping interception at the 3 with 36 seconds left in the first half.

Jones, at cornerback, had killed another scoring threat with an interception in the end zone with 11:26 left in the first half.

“They’re a fantastic football team, obviously,” Pulaski Academy Coach Kevin Kelley said. “They’ve got a lot of talent, got good coaching. You can’t make mistakes against teams like that. I put our kids in a position to make some mistakes. [Shiloh Christian] did a good job adjusting, and I didn’t do a great job adjusting in that second quarter.”SCORING SUMMARY Shiloh Christian ..20 14 7 20 - 61 Pulaski Academy 20 0 13 7 - 40

FIRST QUARTER

PA-Lamb 20 pass from Knighten (kick failed), 9:58.

SC-Harper 24 run (kick failed), 8:37.

PA-Lamb 8 pass from Knighten (Friedmann kick), 6:42.

SC-Frazier 3 run (Hale kick), 5:33.

PA-Lamb 46 pass from Knighten (Friedmann kick), 3:26.

SC-Frazier 3 run (Hale kick), 1:33.

SECOND QUARTER

SC-Jones 41 pass from Frazier (Hale kick), 2:03.

SC-Jones 50 pass from Frazier (Hale kick), :52.

THIRD QUARTER

PA-Henry 12 pass from Knighten (Friedmann kick), 8:58.

SC-Frazier 5 run (Hale kick), 4:43.

PA-Knighten 16 run (kick failed), 1:22.

FOURTH QUARTER

SC-Jones 56 pass from Frazier (Hale kick), 11:37.

SC-Harper 8 pass from Frazier (Hale kick), 7:23.

SC-Hawes 3 run (pass failed), 2:51.

PA-Reyna 13 pass from Knighten (Friedmann kick), :42.

ATTENDANCE 6,628