Siloam Springs coach Bryan Ross knows injuries are a part of football, but there was a bit of confusion at first when starting quarterback Austin Van Poucke went down with an injury with 6:15 left in the first quarter Friday during the Panthers’ 70-21 loss to Rogers Heritage.
“I thought he got hit late because I was watching the front,” Ross said. “I didn’t see it.”
Turns out on the play he went down, Van Poucke didn’t get hit at all. He simply collapsed to the ground after throwing a screen pass into the ground. Van Poucke told trainer Brian Nitz he had been injured two plays before on a quarterback draw.
That Figures:
3 Rushing touchdowns for Brandon Gates and three touchdown receptions for Forrest Johnson.
2 TD runs for Scout Alexander, who ran for a season-high 184 yards on 18 carries
71 Chandler Gregory had a 71-yard punt Friday against Heritage
Sophomore Chris Lampton, who led the eighth and ninth grade teams to a combined 13 wins the last two seasons, played the rest of the way. Lampton completed 9 of 18 passes for 79 yards and rushed for a touchdown.
“That’s why you try to have people ready,” Ross said. “I probably need to get him more reps during the week, but it’s hard to do and still you feel like you’ve gotten your main guy adequately prepared.”
Play of the Night: Scout Alexander’s 80-yard touchdown run had the large crowd at Glenn W. Black Staidum on its feet in celebration. Alexander started right and weaved through the Heritage defense before breaking into the clear and out-running the War Eagles for the score. It was the longest run of the season for the Panthers and Alexander’s career.
Injury update: Three senior starters, senior Austin Van Poucke (back spasms), senior defensive end David Zamora and senior defensive tackle Luis Gutierrez (stinger) all left the game with injuries. Ross said at the very end of the game, senior defensive tackle Juan Peraza rolled an ankle.
Player of the Game: Alexander rushed 18 times for a season-high 184 yards and two touchdowns, including TD runs of 80 and 65 yards. Alexander, who came into the game with 100 yards on 40 carries (2.5 yards per carry), averaged 10.2 yards per carry on Friday against Heritage. He also caught two passes for 29 yards and had several long kickoff returns.
Notable: Junior Chandler Gregory filled in at punter for the Panthers with Van Poucke injured and did an admirable job. Gregory had seven punts for an average of 40.5 yards per kick, including a 71-yard punt.
The Lingo: “We hit that, and they came back and scored, and I was thinking it might be a shootout. They were the only ones that kept shooting.”
— Bryan Ross on Alexander’s 80-yard touchdown run and the aftermath.
Up Next: The Panthers travel to Bentonville (4-0), which beat Springdale Har-Ber 28-7 on Friday. Siloam Springs and Bentonville used to play in 1AAA Conference but haven’t done so since 1988.