CLASS 4A STATE SEMIFINAL

Shiloh Christian special teams come up big in rout

Cam Wiedemann (center) of Shiloh Christian celebrates with teammates after scoring the Saints’ first touchdown in a 56-7 victory over Stuttgart in a Class 4A state semifinal on Friday at Champion Stadium in Springdale.
(Special to the NWA Democrat-Gazette/David Beach)
Cam Wiedemann (center) of Shiloh Christian celebrates with teammates after scoring the Saints’ first touchdown in a 56-7 victory over Stuttgart in a Class 4A state semifinal on Friday at Champion Stadium in Springdale. (Special to the NWA Democrat-Gazette/David Beach)

SPRINGDALE -- Shiloh Christian's special teams lived up to its name Friday night.

Junior Kaden Henley blocked Stuttgart's first two punts that led to two quick Shiloh Christian touchdowns and the Saints rolled to a 56-7 win in a Class 4A state semifinal blowout in Champions Stadium.

The victory sends Shiloh Christian (13-1) into next Saturday's Class 4A state championship at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock. The Saints, who will be making their second consecutive title game appearance, will play Rivercrest for the championship. Shiloh Christian has won seven state titles but none since a three-year sweep from 2008-10.

Henley's first block set up a Cam Wiedemann 6-yard touchdown run just 1 minute, 28 seconds into the game. The second Henley punt block was a direct touchdown as Noah DeJarnatt scooped up the loose ball and ran 7 yards for Shiloh Christian's second touchdown and a 14-0 lead less than a minute later.

"Our coaches schemed up something that we saw in their punt protection, and it worked well," Henley said of the two punt blocks. "I was lined up in the A gap and I went through the B gap. It was open. It was just one of those things where you're like, 'Oh shoot, I'm about to block this punt.'"

The Saints dominated in all three phases. In addition to the two scores off special teams plays, the Saints also got a 63-yard scoop and score fumble return by Braden Tutt that gave them a 56-0 lead at halftime.

"The momentum and just the way we wanted to start fast, those blocked punts really started things off well for us," said Shiloh Christian Coach Jeff Conaway, who notched his 100th career win Friday night. "When you've got that much momentum, it really is hard to slow it down. So, just very proud of our special teams. Our special teams coordinator Andrew Jordan has done a phenomenal job all season long. That's something that we've done consistently. We've scored touchdowns on special teams."

Stuttgart (12-1) came into the contest riding high after a remarkable season. Last year, the Ricebirds were 1-9 with the lone win on a forfeit. With an infusion of talented sophomores added to a high number of returnees, Stuttgart put together an incredible season.

The Ricebirds were no match for Shiloh Christian on this night, though.

Stuttgart was stuffed on its first two possessions as the Saints' defense continued its dominating postseason play. The two three-and-out drives forced the Ricebirds into punting situations, and Henley powered his way into the backfield both times to easily block the Rhett Bohanon punts.

"I was excited after I blocked it, and then I saw one of my teammates jump on it and kind of bobbled it," Henley said of the first punt block. "I was just looking at it and was like, 'Oh shoot, I need to get on it.' We've been very good special teams-wise this whole year. Special teams matter."

By comparison, Shiloh Christian's offense was fairly pedestrian. The Saints compiled 220 yards of offense in the first half and scored six offensive touchdowns. The starters did not play in the second half.

Wiedemann scored four first-half touchdowns and finished with 60 yards on just 10 carries. Quarterback Eli Wisdom broke off a 36-yard scoring run and added a 33-yard touchdown strike to Cooper Hutchinson, who laid out to make a diving catch in the end zone. Wisdom was 5-of-9 passing for 84 yards.

The first half was marred by penalties as Stuttgart was hit 9 times for 85 yards and had multiple players ejected. One sequence saw the Ricebirds penalized for 35 yards on three penalties after a pass was completed to offensive lineman Tyreq Avery, who was ruled to have fumbled after the catch. Once the play was sorted out, Shiloh Christian was awarded the ball at the Stuttgart 3 and Wiedemann scored his fourth touchdown three plays later.

Shiloh Christian sophomore defensive lineman Cooper Darr had two big back-to-back defensive plays in the first half. His strip-sack of Stuttgart quarterback Pate Kleinbeck forced the fumble that Tutt returned for the touchdown. Darr also had a 13-yard sack the play before.

"We were pretty hyped for this game," said Darr. "My teammates, we just love getting after it on the field. We were hyped. I loved it. On the strip-sack, I was on the ground and I didn't know we had it. I was just celebrating and I looked over and saw Tutt running with the ball. It was awesome. It felt really great."

Chip Souza can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @NWAChip.

Upcoming Events