Shiloh Christian breaks open fourth-quarter tie with Farmington with three straight TDs

By Steve Andrews | Photos by Sadie Rucker  

SPRINGDALE – It was the 5A-West slugfest that most expected until the fourth quarter Friday night. That’s when Shiloh Christian broke open a 30-30 tie game with three straight touchdowns in the final 10:07 to walk away with a 51-30 victory over a relentless Farmington squad.

“It was a dogfight tonight,” Shiloh head coach Jeff Conaway said. “We come away with a 21-point victory, so you can’t ask for something better than that.”

Shiloh senior quarterback Eli Wisdom ran for 221 yards and four touchdowns, including the final three scores to put the game away late. He also completed 18 of 31 passes for 230 yards and another TD. Junior running back Bo Williams added 188 yards on the ground with two touchdowns.

“Both of those guys are great football players, who are very explosive” Conway said. “They can both run and they are both physical, and I’m glad they are on our team.”

Farmington wasted little time silencing the home crowd temporarily, scoring on the first offensive play of the game. Quarterback Sam Wells threw a quick hitter over the middle to Jagger Gordon, who proceeded to dart past the Saint defenders for an 80-yard touchdown, just 10 seconds into the game.

Wells, who is also the Cardinals‘ starting safety, was again pulling double-duty, on offense and defense, continuing to replace injured all-state quarterback Cameron Vanzant for the fifth straight game. In addition to being a force on the defensive side throughout the game, the senior also ran for 95 yards and threw for 193 yards and two touchdowns.

“Sam is just an unbelievable competitor – a great football player, great human being, a great leader for our football team,” Farmington head coach J.R. Eldridge said. “So, I want him out there on offense and defense, and he did a great job.”

The Cardinals looked to continue the momentum, stopping Shiloh on fourth down. Wells hit Williams short of the marker at the Farmington 40.

Farmington quickly moved the ball into Saints’ territory, until Wells was intercepted by Dax Widger, giving Shiloh the ball back at its own 39.

The momentum went right back to the Saints and re-igniting the home crowd when Wisdom took the first snap of the drive and scatted 61 yards down the Saints’ sideline to tie the score at 7-7.

After forcing a Farmington punt, Shiloh was quick to take the lead, again scoring in one play, with Williams breaking through the middle and rambling 79 yards to give Shiloh a 14-7 advantage with 5:04 remaining in the first quarter.

“Out mindset is always ‘get stops and score points’,” Conaway said. “And when we needed to do that, we did it. That’s what was great, that we made plays in all three phases of our game when we needed to. When you’re explosive and can get those one, two, three-play drives for scores, I think that really puts pressure on the other team’s defense and offense. And our offense is explosive.”

After stopping the Saints on downs at their own 44 late in the first quarter, Farmington got a 29-yard field goal from Jorge Cervantes to make it 14-10.

The Cardinals once again took over on downs at their own 9 the following drive, but this time took full advantage of the opportunity. Sophomore Russell Hodge avoided a plethora of tacklers, staying on his feet for a 68-yard run into Shiloh territory. That set up a 22-yard scoring strike from Wells to Peyton Funk, who outjumped the defender in the end zone. The extra point was blocked, leaving Farmington with a 16-14 lead. Funk had four catches for 110 yards in the game.

Shiloh was able to regain the lead before the intermission, when Wisdom hit his favorite target, Bodie Neal for a 21-yard scored. Wisdom ran in the 2-point conversion to make it 22-16 at the break.

Neal finished the night with 10 catches for 176 yards.

“We didn’t play as clean as we wanted in the first half, but when we needed to in the second half, we did it,” Conaway said.

Farmington retook the lead midway through the third quarter on a 2-yard run by Hodge to make it 23-22.

Williams then scored for Shiloh, followed by a successful conversion from Wisdom to Widger. A 50-yard pass from Wells to Funk then set up another 2-yard run by Hodge to tie the score at 30-30 with 10:50 to play in the game.

A 61-yard kickoff return by Williams set up Wisdom’s next touchdown – a 31-yarder, then a bad punt snap by the Cardinals set the Saints up in great shape again. Wisdom ended that drive with a 26-yard run.

“We had two huge special team’s errors in a row, with a high snap on the punt, then giving up that big kickoff return,” Eldridge said. “That really was the big turning point in the game, and, man, I’d love to have those two plays back.”

Shiloh’s Seth Lowe then picked off another Cardinal pass with 4:28 remaining which seemed to ice it. But Wisdom added one more insurance score with an 89-yard run for the final points.

With two conference games still remaining, Conaway said it is still back to work for improvement as the playoffs gets closer.

“There are still a lot of things we didn’t do well out here, so there are a lot of corrections that we can still make and continue to improve.”

The Saints will travel to Prairie Grove next Friday, while Farmington hosts Pea Ridge.