I was covering a basketball tournament at Farmington nearly 12 years ago when a buzz began to circulate in the stands that had nothing to do with what was happening on the court.
News was spreading Rison had just beaten Shiloh Christian 30-29 in overtime in the Class AA state championship game to end the Saints’ 44-game unbeaten streak. Shiloh Christian, which tied Springdale 7-7 in the second game of the year in 2000, hadn’t lost since a 56-30 defeat to Barton in the 1997 championship game.
I didn’t do a head count after Shiloh Christian lost to Rison, but I know the reaction was mostly supportive that a local team had lost to a team from southeast Arkansas.
In sports, we take great pleasure sometimes when the bully gets bullied. It’s why many fans enjoy it when traditional winners such as the New York Yankees, Los Angeles Lakers and Texas Longhorns begin to lose.
We take pleasure in their pain, even if it is unfair.
Some of that attitude is now being directed at Shiloh Christian, which has won seven state championships in three different classifications since 1998. But the Saints, once directed to prominence by current Arkansas State coach Gus Malzahn, are struggling in their first year in Class 5A.
Shiloh Christian is now 1-4 overall and 0-2 in the 5A-West following a 35-32 defeat to Vilonia at home Friday. The Saints lost two of three in nonconference play, including a 51-21 defeat to Greenwood when the score could’ve been worse had the Bulldogs not eased up on them.
That’s quite a comedown for a program that years ago replaced Barton as the best small-school power in Arkansas and earned its third consecutive state championship in 2010 after beating Pulaski Academy 61-40 in the final.
Shiloh Christian won’t get any sympathy from its former conference mates at Decatur, Greenland, Cedarville or Mountainburg. There surely won’t be any tears shed at Berryville, which accused the Saints of running up the score during a 65-0 defeat to the Saints in 2008.
Shiloh Christian knows it’s not the most-liked school because of accusations, although never proven, that the Saints recruit players to their private-school program. Like any fans, Shiloh Christian fans can be annoying, but I’ve dealt with coaches and administrators at Shiloh Christian several times over the years and they couldn’t have been more nicer or accommodating.
Remember, too, Shiloh Christian voluntarily moved up to Class 5A and joined a conference with schools that have a much larger enrollment. The school’s enrollment numbers actually are those in line with Class 2A schools, but using the Arkansas Activities Association’s multiplier, they would have played in Class 3A this season and next. Instead the school elected to move up two more classifications.
The Saints have always sought out tough competition, like in 2010 when they were trampled 80-26 in Texas by powerful Euless Trinity.
“You can’t see it right now, but our guys are getting a lot better,” said Josh Floyd, Saints coach, on Friday after the loss to Vilonia. “They are growing up some. Hopefully it will translate into some wins pretty quick.”
Shiloh Christian won’t win the 5A-West this season, but it would be a mistake to dismiss the Saints entirely. In 2005, Shiloh Christian started 2-3 before going on a seven-game winning streak that ended with a loss to Ashdown in the state quarterfinals.
The following year, Shiloh Christian went 14-0 and outscored its opponents by an average of 32 points while winning its first state championship since 2000.
If there was ever a need to regroup and disregard chatter from the outside, it is now for Shiloh Christian. The Saints have too much pride and a winning tradition to stay down for long.