VIDEO: Football: Saints defense hammers Lincoln

SPRINGDALE -- Even with playing without one of their starting linebackers, the Shiloh Christian Saints' defense shined in its 55-6 win over the Lincoln Wolves on Friday night.

"They played really fast," Shiloh Christian coach Jeff Conaway said. "We tackled well, we were able to apply a lot of pressure and we defended the pass well enough."

Shiloh Christian 55, Lincoln 6

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Shiloh Christian^13^21^14^7^—^55

First Quarter

Shiloh – Brown 14 run (Pass failed), 10:10

Shiloh – Button 40 interception return (Carter kick), 1:12

Second Quarter

Shiloh – Russ 5 run (Carter kick), 7:35

Shiloh – Russ 83 run (Carter kick), 4:40

Shiloh – Carr 26 pass from Brown (Carter kick), 1:39

Linc – Brown 28 pass from Lloyd (Kick failed), 0:51

Third Quarter

Shiloh – Russ 37 run (Carter kick), 10:50

Shiloh – Raben 33 run (Carter kick), 0:55

Fourth Quarter

Shiloh – C. Carter 2 run (Williams kick), 5:29

Conaway said he kept senior linebacker Andrew Osborne out of the game because of an injury but hopes he will be ready next week against Gravette. In the meantime, Conaway found success with a three-man rotation of Logan Raben, Nathan Chojnowski and Josh Rhodes to fill Osborne's absence.

"All three of those young guys played really well tonight," Conaway said.

The Saints (6-2, 4-1 4A-1 Conference) gave up a little over 100 total yards to the Wolves in the first half and then surrendered 84 yards to Lincoln (3-5, 2-3) in the second half, when both teams had their backups in for most the time remaining.

Shiloh Christian linebacker Preston Hall came up big on defense, especially in the second quarter. The junior was instrumental in stopping Lincoln on back-to-back drives after he sacked Lincoln quarterback Caleb Lloyd on third down, twice.

"When Coach (Jacob) Gill lets him loose, he can definitely wreak a lot of havoc in the backfield," Conaway said.

Hall and the rest of the Saints' front seven defenders pressured Lloyd all night, forcing the first-year quarterback to hurry some throws, which led to takeaways for the Shiloh secondary.

Safety Micah Button took one of those interceptions 40 yards for a score in the first quarter after he jumped in front of a Lincoln receiver on a shallow cross route. Button's counterpart at safety, Caleb Carr, came away with the other pick in the second quarter.

"(Lincoln) did complete some passes on us, but every pass was contested. I felt like our DBs did an excellent job of matching routes and connecting to receivers, making it very difficult to throw and catch," Conaway said. "Credit to the guys on the back end covering those receivers but also to the guys up front putting pressure on the quarterback."

Shiloh Christian receiver Jaret Russ led the offense for the Saints, carrying the ball 11 times for 215 yards and 3 touchdowns and adding a catch for 13 yards on the night. The Lincoln defense struggled to bring down the shifty and quick junior all night.

Lincoln receiver Braden Umberson was a bright spot for the Wolves on offense. He provided a big target for Lloyd, who connected with him four times for 47 yards, including a 21-yard catch that Umberson had to battle through two Shiloh Christian defenders to get. He also added 46 yards on the ground.

Sports on 10/21/2017

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