Elite coaches reunite as Farmington travels to Shiloh Christian

By Steve Andrews | Photo by Sadie Rucker 

Jeff Conaway and J.R. Eldridge first met on a football field as teammates at Quachita Baptist 22 years ago. They met again in 2018 as head coaches on opposing sidelines in the Class 4A state semifinals. 

That day, it was Eldridge’s Arkadelphia Badgers who defeated Conaway’s Shiloh Christian Saints 30-17, en route to winning the second of back-to-back state championships.

The two elite coaches are now slated to face off again – this time as members 5A-West – in a game that could have a strong bearing on the conference championship. But, instead of red and blue, Eldridge will be sporting red and white, now in his second season in charge of the Farmington program.

“I think we are two really good football teams and I feel like it’s going to be a great environment with a lot of people there,” Conaway said. “I think both teams are playing as good as they have played all season. I think both offenses are scoring a lot of points and creating a lot of explosive plays. And both defenses are playing very stingy right now.”

Since a 49-14 loss to Little Rock Christian in the Saints’ season opener, Shiloh (6-1, 4-0) has exploded for six straight wins, scoring over 55 points a game. They were at a disadvantage in the opener, as LRCA had already played a game the week prior.

“I think when you play a team like that and they get a week ahead of you and get to play a game before your first game, those things can happen,” Conaway said. “There is a lot of improvement to be made from Week 1 to Week 2. We got a few things worked out after that, going into Week 2, and have been playing much better since.”

Farmington (5-2, 3-1) also hit a few of early-season bumps, falling at 7A Rogers, who is ranked No. 9 in the SBLive Power Rankings, while losing junior all-state starting quarterback Cameron Vanzant to a foot injury in the process. The Cardinals then fell at Harrison, 21-14, the following week with senior Sam Wells moving over from starting safety to take his first-ever snaps as a varsity quarterback.

But now that Wells and the offense have adjusted to each other, Farmington has rolled off three straight impressive wins, putting up 57 points per game during that span.

“Not having Cam in there (who had started the previous 14 games) was a huge learning experience for our entire team,” Eldridge said. “Obviously, our entire offense had to get use to Sam being the quarterback. So, I think once we got a game under our belt, got practices in, we were able to kind of figure out what was best for our offense. We were just able to execute better.”

In Wells’ second game, he rushed for 104 yards and scored a pair of touchdowns in a 58-14 over previously unbeaten Alma. He followed that, going a perfect 11-of-11 through the air for 245 yards and two touchdowns in a 58-14 win over Dardanelle. Then last week, he tossed four TD passes and ran for another in a 70-14 victory over Clarksville.

“We are going to have to control and contain him,” Conaway said. “He is a very good athlete and does run the football well. And when we have an opportunity to get him on the ground, we’re going to have to do that individually, and swarm as a defense and tackle him in clusters. When I watch their film, I see a very fast, physical, well-coached football team, executing at a high level.”

The Saints offense has been just as explosive, with senior all-state quarterback Eli Wisdom running the controls. The three-year starter has completed 65 percent of his passes for 1,290 yards and 11 touchdowns.

Junior Bo Williams has been the workhorse on the ground, averaging 5.7 yards a carry for 453 yards and 13 touchdowns.

“We just like to take what the defense gives us -- it’s not a secret recipe,” Conaway said. “If they are going to let us throw it, we will probably throw for more than we rush. If they focus on taking away the pass, we’re probably going to rush a little more.”

Conaway is pleased with how his team has progressed since Week 1, crediting it to simply “getting back to the basics”.

“We’re blocking better, we’re protecting better, tackling better, getting to the football better and having fewer missed assignments,” he said. “We’re creating the positive plays.”

He sees Friday’s contest coming down to ball security and which defense better hold its ground.

“It always comes down to who takes care of the football, and who wins the explosive battle,” Conaway said. “If we can contain them and force them to punt the football to us, and we can create explosives offensively, and score, I feel like we will be in a great position. If we can’t do those things, then obviously they are going to be in a great position.”

Eldridge sees it much the same way.

“Shiloh’s a good football team, with good coaches, good players, and they execute well -- so, we’ve got to do a good job in all three phases of the game,” he said. “Matchups are so hard to predict in football, so we’ve just got to be ready to execute in all phases. They are going to try to keep us from executing, obviously, and we are going to try to do the same thing.

“First, we’ve got to do a good job of securing the football and making the most of our possessions, and then we have to do a good job of limiting the amount of snaps that they take. Again, they are a really good football team, but we look forward to the challenge.”

Vanzant is still listed as week-to-week, but Eldridge does expect him back before the playoffs begin.

“Cam’s a great football player and a great leader for us, and we would love for him to be out there,” he said. “That would also mean we would have our starting safety back on defense. It’s like one plus one equals three when they are both back out there. But we have grown as a football team, learning how to deal with injuries as setbacks.

“It’s all about the next guy stepping in, whether that’s on special teams, offense or defense. We’ve just got to find a way, so I think that the mindset has grown and will continue to grow.”