Dress rehearsal : FHS, Shiloh Christian vie for last word before both squads begin regular season

Fayetteville coach Daryl Patton watches during practice Aug. 14 at Harmon Field. The Bulldogs travel to Springdale to take on Shiloh Christian in an exhibition game today at the Field of Champions.
Fayetteville coach Daryl Patton watches during practice Aug. 14 at Harmon Field. The Bulldogs travel to Springdale to take on Shiloh Christian in an exhibition game today at the Field of Champions.

— Fayetteville had its way with Class 4A Shiloh Christian in a preseason scrimmage in 2008. The Purple Dogs forced six turnovers (five in the first half ) and the first-teamers entered the break up 34-13. The second half featured a blend of reserves and then starters playing alternate positions en route to a 37-16 final.

But Shiloh recovered to finish 13-1 and won the Class 4A state championship, while Fayetteville stumbled into the playoffs and ended the year 5-6, the first losing season under PurpleDog coach Daryl Patton in six years.

Now the two school's will meet again today at 7 p.m., this time at Shiloh's Champions Stadium in Springdale. Despite the vast difference in classification, the two schools have developed a budding feud since that beat down at Fayetteville's Harmon Field.

"I know both teams want to play well but I wouldn't call this a rivalry," Patton said. "This doesn't go down on a win-loss record. I'd be lying to you if Itold you we didn't want to win but our primary goal is to see who can help us and who can elevate their level of play in a game-like atmosphere."

The tension between the two schools gained traction during the 7-on-7 season in which Fayetteville was thumped 37-16 by the Saints at the Southwest Select tournament, which was hosted by Shiloh.

Fayetteville exacted its revenge in the Vype Select Tournament by ousting Shiloh, 41-36, on a last-play touchdown pass from Brandon Allen to Michael Heintzman in the winner's brackets finals to advance to the championship game.

"In my opinion, none of that matters," Patton said. "We just want to get better."

Fayetteville will labor to upgrade its secondary, which was picked on last season, allowing 208 yards passing per game. The Purple Dogs have a new secondary coach and a new defensive coordinator, which could feature some growing pains early or could be an immediate boon to the defense's overall efficiency.

Tonight will help provide many of those answers. Shiloh isn't shy about testing the boundaries of an opponent's defense. The Saints used two quarterbacks, juniors David Matthews and Kiehl Frazier, to pick apart defenses last season.

Matthews threw for more than 1,500 yards and tossed 21 touchdown passes to just 1 interception. The Purple Dogs will have to pick their poison with Frazier, who rushed for 990 yards and 15 touchdowns on the ground and threw for 1,434 more yards and logged 17 touchdown passes in 2008.

"It's definitely going to be a test for our defense," Patton said. "Frazier can run or pass and they can do a lot of different things on offense. That will be good for our defense to see. We really haven't game planned much for Shiloh. We're really just working on rotating several different kids at different positions. We really will just benefit from being able to hit someone else."

In last season's scrimmage, Fayetteville held Shiloh's quarterbacking tandem of Frazier and Matthews to 7 of 18 with four picks in the first half. Frazier completed 2 of 7 for 49 yards, 1 touchdown and two interceptions. Matthews hit on 5 of 11 for 76 yards, 1 touchdown and two picks.

"We want to be sound in all phases and create some turnovers," Patton said. "Not just in the secondary but the defensive line play and linebacker play has to be sound and we can't give up the big play. We can't loaf and we have to give great effort. We're going to make mistakes but we've got to make the tackles and prevent the big play from happening."

Patton said he will utilize the scrimmage to audition several offensive starters in a defensive role. Receivers Josh Hale and Demetrius Dean will likely log snaps on the defensive line. Slot receiver Heintzman will spend time at safety.

"We're going to mix it upand see who can maybe help us at different positions," Patton said. "We want to work on the substitution patterns and rotations during the flow of the game."

Patton will also pinpoint his focus on how well his offensive line can plow holes for junior tailback Dylan Hale and fend off the Saints' pass rush.

"We're not the biggest and we'll have to give great effort," Patton said. "We want to see sharp execution, guys blocking their correct assignments and not making mistakes. Shiloh's got Sam Harvill, one of the best defensive linemen in the state, so we'll have our hands full with him because we're inexperienced at center and guard. We really just want to limit the mental mistakes and protect the football."

Patton said another key element his staff will focus on is how well the Purple Dogs cope with momentum shifts.

"If something good or bad happens, we want to see how well the kids step up and respond," Patton said. "That's what a scrimmage is supposed to be about. We want to learn how our kids handle adversity."

Patton said the first-team offense will spend the first half on the field. The third quarter will feature a rotation of starters and reserves. Patton will deploy mostly junior varsity players in the fourth quarter. Patton said Allen will be on the first for at least the first quarter and most of the second quarter.

"We also want to get our No. 2 quarterback Drew Gorton some snaps with the first-team offense," Patton said. "We'll just see how the scrimmage plays out and make a decision based on the flow of the game. But we're not going to leave a guy in there just to win a scrimmage. We've got too many tough games ahead."

The scrimmage will feature live point-after attempts and field goals. Each team will conduct punts and kickoffs. There will be no punt returns and kickoffs will be fielded but not returned, and each team will begin its possession at its own 30.

Sports, Pages 9, 10 on 08/24/2009

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