It's been almost a decade since Shiloh Christian last played for a state football championship, but the Saints are back in The Rock.
Shiloh Christian (14-0) bused six hours across the state Friday night to complete a successful road trip, dominating Crossett 49-14 in the Class 4A state semifinals. The win moves the Saints into the state title game for the first time since 2010. Shiloh Christian will take on Joe T. Robinson at 7 p.m. next Friday in War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock.
Saints quarterback Eli Reece fired 4 touchdown passes to fuel the Shiloh Christian offense, but it was the play of the defense that secured the win and put the program in position to win its eighth state championship.
Shiloh Christian coach Jeff Conaway was an assistant coach under former Saints coach Josh Floyd in the mid-2000s when the program started a run of state titles.
"This championship run has been a special one," Conaway said. "I'm excited to go play in Little Rock for the first time as a head coach."
Shiloh Christian's defense forced six three-and-out drives by Crossett in the first half while building a 35-0 lead. The Eagles (9-4) did not get on the scoreboard until under a minute remained in the first half. Reece hit Truitt Tollett twice on scoring strikes and also connected with Beau Cason and Ben Baker for touchdown passes. Reece passed for 278 yards on the night.
The two touchdown catches by Tollett moves the senior within one touchdown of tying the state's single-season record of 30.
Logan Raban gave Shiloh Christian the early lead, capping the Saints' opening possession with a 4-yard touchdown on fourth down with 8:16 left in the first quarter. On the opening drive, Reece was 5-of-5 passing and the Saints were 4-of-4 on fourth-down conversions.
Crossett struggled all night against the Shiloh Christian defense, but the defining moment of the game came in the second quarter when Jaedon Williams intercepted a Reece pass and returned it to the Saints' 3. But the Shiloh Christian defense came up huge four straight plays to deny the Eagles a score.
The Saints gave up a touchdown late in the first half when Crossett quarterback Justin Stokes hit Dewayne Ashford on a 32-yard scoring pass with 12 seconds left in the second quarter, pulling the Eagles within 35-7 at halftime.
It took Shiloh Christian just one play in the third quarter to put the game away. Cam Wiedemann raced through the middle of the Crossett defense and outran two Eagles defenders the rest of the way on a 71-yard scoring run and a 42-7 lead. Wiedemann added another scoring run on the Saints' next possession, this one for 36 yards. Wiedeman finished the night with 168 yards rushing.
Crossett coach Sonny Nason, whose team was 2-7 a year ago, looked ahead to the future with a team loaded with underclassmen.
"This season meant a lot to our community with all that happened over the summer and some players having to move," Nason said. "I'm glad we were able to go this far for them. We are a very young team; we started eight sophomores, so hopefully, this is a step in the right direction."
Kasius Williamson contributed to this story.
Preps Sports on 12/07/2019