SPRINGDALE - Daniel Shimer took the snap and quick-kicked a punt that fluttered just 6 yards on Shiloh Christian’s first possession.
The short kick gave Harrison’s offense the ball at the Saints’ 33 early in the first quarter, but Shiloh Christian’s defense came up with a turnover to turn away the Goblins.
It was Shimer’s only mistake in the first half as his five combined rushing and passing touchdowns powered the Saints to a 70-35 victory on a rainy Friday night at Champions Stadium.
“That was huge,” Saints Coach Josh Floyd said. “Our defense was phenomenal tonight. We were worried to death. They’ve been scoring 40 points a game, and our guys held them to seven points inthe first half.”
Reed Lowe’s fourth-down interception stopped Harrison’s opening drive after the short punt, and the Saints (4-2-1, 3-1 5A-West) drove 81 yards behind Shimer, who scored onan 8-yard run with 7:21 left in the first quarter.
“We had an opportunity there in the first half to go score,” Goblins Coach Chad Harbison said. “We get a stop, which we’re not going to stop them very often. I mean, we know that. We’re not that good on defense, and we’re real good on offense. We have to take advantage of every stop we get, and offensively we’ve got to execute and we just didn’t play as well as what we’ve been playing.”
Shimer ran for four firsthalf touchdowns and passed for another as the Saints led Harrison (1-6, 0-4) 49-7 going into halftime. He finished with 160 yards on 20 carries and topped the 1,000-yard rushing mark for the season.
Harrison quarterback Brock Humphrey completed 16 of 40 passes for 242 yards and 3 touchdowns but also threw 3 interceptions, including one that was returned 46 yards for a touchdown by Shiloh Christian’s Chandler Smith in the fourth quarter
Smith rushed for 132 yards and 2 touchdowns on 14 carries ass the Saints finished with 372 rushing yards.
CLARKSVILLE 36, GREENBRIER 29
CLARKSVILLE - Clarksville (3-4, 2-2 5A-West) quarterback Brandon Lovell accounted for 187 yards of total offense and two touchdowns in a victory over Greenbrier (3-4, 2-2).
Clarksville running back Brian White ran for 101 yards and Steven Banyard rushed for 64 yards and two touchdowns.
ALMA 35, HUNTSVILLE 14
ALMA - Junior quarterback Evan Burris passed for two touchdowns and rushed for two more to lead Alma to a 5A-West victory over Huntsville.
Burris was 6 of 10 passing for 116 yards and had 8 carries for another 100 yards for the Airedales (5-2, 4-0).
He scored on a 27-yard run and a 1-yard run in the first quarter. In the second, Burris threw a 24-yard touchdown pass to sophomore Thomas Hall and a 25-yard scoring toss to Junior Edwards.
Huntsville (1-6, 0-4) got two fourth-quarter scores, including a 10-yard touchdown run from senior quarterback Jakota Evans and a 5-yard scoring run from junior Jeff Canion.
MORRILTON 42, VILONIA 0
MORRILTON - Senior quarterback Toney Hawkins completed 9 of 12 passes for 159 yards and 4 touchdowns to lead Morrilton (5-2, 3-1) past 5A-West rival Vilonia (2-5, 2-2).
Jalen Wright also threw a scoring pass and Jordan Ho rushed for another score for Morrilton.
Ho finished with 106 yards rushing. Junior Terrence Minor added 49 yards rushing for the Devil Dogs.
Sports, Pages 25 on 10/19/2013