Saints Lock Down Playoff Berth

CLARKSVILLE — Shiloh Christian’s “Take Back Friday” motto has been the team’s motivation for more than a year.

After missing the playoffs last season, the Saints’ senior class adopted the slogan as a way to remind the team of the program’s rich tradition.

On Friday, Shiloh Christian won its fifth straight game in a 35-7 victory against Clarksville at Metheny Field. But more importantly for the Saints, it secured a playoff berth heading into next week’s season finale showdown at Alma.

“Next week we get to play for a conference championship,” said Saints coach Josh Floyd, who won his 99th career game Friday night. “It’s coming down to Shiloh, Alma and Morrilton. I think there are several scenarios where we could all finish up 1, 2, or 3.”

Shiloh Christian senior quarterback Dillon Sharp, who was thrust into the starting role when Daniel Shimer went down with a knee injury last week, was solid in his second start. Sharp was 17-of-24 for 237 yards and three touchdown passes to lead the Saints (6-2-1, 5-1 5A-West Conference) to a 35-0 lead before Clarksville (3-6, 2-4) added a late score.

“I feel really comfortable,” Sharp said. “Over the spring and summer I’ve been taking a ton of reps and me and Shimer were both fighting for the number one spot. But I feel really comfortable with the guys around me.”

Shiloh Christian’s running game again was dominant, led by senior Chris Cox, who scored two rushing and one receiving touchdowns. Cox also took a lot of snaps in the wildcat formation.

The loss of Shimer, who had rushed for more than 1,100 yards, has put more emphasis on the Saints’ running game, Cox said.

“We’re definitely running more wildcat,” he said. “We can’t spread it out as much as we did because, we don’t have Shimer. But we’ve rallied around Daniel’s injury. Daniel is encouraging us to all come together.”

The Saints led just 6-0 after one quarter, but seized control with three second quarter touchdowns to take a 27-0 lead at halftime.

EXTRA POINTS

• Clarksville quarterback Brandon Lovell was injured in the fourth quarter and was taken to a local hospital with a head injury. Clarksville coach Michael Banning said Lovell was knocked out on a pass attempt when his head hit the ground when he was tackled.

• Cox finished the night with 189 yards rushing on 21 carries and scored on runs of 18 and 2 yards, and added a 27-yard scoring pass from Sharp.

• Clarksville’s Hall Frost replaced Lovell and was 4-of-5 with a 65-yard touchdown pass to Jason White at the end of the game.

• Floyd said Shimer was expected to have his knee operated on this week after suffering a torn ACL in a noncontact drill in practice last week.

UP NEXT: Shiloh Christian travels to Alma for its final regular season game. Alma defeated Greenbrier 31-21 on Friday and is unbeaten in the 5A-West.

HOW THEY SCORED

Shiloh Christian 35

Clarksville 7

Shiloh Christian^6^21^8^0^—^35

Clarksville^0^0^0^7^—^7

First Quarter

Shiloh — Cox 18 run (run fails), 9:13.

Second Quarter

Shiloh — Cox 27 pass from Sharp (Hale kick), 10:43.

Shiloh — Cox 2 run (Hale kick), 5:59.

Shiloh — Goode 43 pass from Sharp (Hale kick), 1:29.

Third Quarter

Shiloh — Lowe 5 pass from Sharp (Sharp pass to Burke), 1:04.

Fourth Quarter

Clark — J. White 65 pass from Frost (Flores kick), :48.

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