LITTLE ROCK — Siloam is still in title mix
Siloam Springs can throw the 5A-West Conference race into even more disarray with a victory Friday night at Alma.
That will be quite a challenge, considering Alma (6-2, 4-1) has beaten Siloam Springs (5-3, 3-2) by a combined 64-21 score the past two years. But Siloam Springs has defeated Greenwood and Greenbrier this season, and the Panthers are confident they can take down the Airedales.
Alma, Greenwood and Greenbrier are tied for first place in the league, while Siloam Springs and Vilonia are a game back.
“Alma is a tough place to play with their fans and all that tradition, but we’re excited about the opportunity,” Siloam Springs Coach Bryan Ross said. “It’s possible we could finish 5-2 in the league and earn a part of the conference championship, but we’re not thinking about that right now. We’re focused on Alma.”
Siloam Springs rolled up a season-high 549 yards last week in a 47-15 victory over Huntsville.
Junior quarterback Braden Pippin, who missed the first two games because of a concussion, threw for 310 yards and four touchdowns.
“Braden has had some growing pains, but he’s made remarkable progress for someone who hasn’t played a lot at quarterback,” Ross said. “He was our starting middle linebacker last year and played some at tight end and fullback, but he’s played really wellat quarterback the last two weeks.” - Rick Fires GENTRY
Looking to finish
Coach Brian Little’s Pioneers have a chance to make their mark Friday night at Prairie Grove.
Gentry (5-3, 3-2 1-4A) would clinch its first playoff berth in 12 years with a victory. Prairie Grove (4-4, 2-3), on the other hand, is trying to avoid missing the postseason for the first time in 15 years.
Little knows how elusive the playoffs can be. Losses to Huntsville in the final week of the regular season kept the Pioneers out of the playoffs each of the past two years.
Prairie Grove started slow last year before getting hot late in the season and sneaking into the playoffs.
The Tigers are trying to do the same thing this year after starting conference play 0-3.
“They are always a tough opponent,” Little said. “They’re very bluecollar. They certainly play very physically on both sides of the ball. They’re young and they play a lot of sophomores, so as a result they’re going to get better and better the next couple years.”
Gentry got touchdown runs of 65 and 40 yards from junior Tanner Coy in last week’s 28-7 victory at Berryville. Coy leads the Pioneers with 529 yards rushing, and senior Eathen Ramsey is close behind with 510 yards.
- Lane Kramer MENA Still on track
The Bearcats are coming off their first loss of the season, but as far as Coach Jeff Weaver is concerned, nothing has changed.
Pottsville surprised Mena 28-23 on Friday night in Mena, knocking the Bearcats (7-1, 4-1) out of a tie for first place in the 4-4A Conference with Booneville (8-0, 5-0).
Mena fell into a tie for second place with SubiacoAcademy (5-3, 4-1), which plays host to Mena on Friday night. Mena wraps up conference play next week when it plays host to Booneville.
If Mena and Booneville win this week, Mena could still earn a share of the conference title with a victory in the regular-season finale.
“We feel like everything is in our control,” Weaver said. “We feel like we’re right where we were a week ago. We control the conference championship.
That’s been our goal for many weeks, and that’s what we’re looking for.
“If we come out and play Bearcat football, we’ve got a great shot at achieving that goal.”
A key this week will be containing Subiaco quarterback Marquis Walters, one of the league’s top playmakers.
“We’ve got to get pressure on him,” Weaver said. “We can’t allow him to sit back there and find his receivers. Then, the fact that he runs so well, when we do get pressure we have to maintain leverage and not let him beat us with his feet.”
Weaver said he doesn’t anticipate a letdown following his team’s first loss.
“The players have watched the film and seen the mistakes,” he said. “The boys can’t wait to go outand relieve some of that frustration.” - Steve Goff CLARKSVILLE Grace saves victory
Junior linebacker Skylr Grace leads Clarksville in tackles this year, and he extended that advantage by a wide margin Friday night with 18 in the Panthers’ 30-28 victory against Dover.
Clarksville (3-5, 2-3) pulled into a tie with Dardanelle (3-5, 2-3) for fifth place in the 4-4A Conference standings as the teams contend for one of the conference’s five playoff spots. Clarksville plays at Pottsville on Friday night, while Dardanelle plays host to league leader Booneville.
Grace’s final tackle of the game was the most pivotal as he stopped the Pirates for a loss on a two-point conversion attempt with about 5:00 left. Clarksville quarterback Trey Schucker hit Andre Redman on thirdand-11 for a first down near the 3:00 mark, and the Panthers ran out the clock from there.
“They came off the ball and took it to us early,” Clarksville Coach Michael Banning said of the Pirates.
“In the second half, Skylr started playing forward and really started making plays behind the line. He started playing the way he needs to play.” - Lane Kramer
Sports, Pages 20 on 10/28/2010