Shiloh Christian sophomore has a short memory

Jerral Hobbs (left) of Rogers Heritage intercepts a pass intended for Shiloh Christian’s Reed Lowe on Friday during the Southwest Elite 7-on-7 Showcase in Springdale.
Jerral Hobbs (left) of Rogers Heritage intercepts a pass intended for Shiloh Christian’s Reed Lowe on Friday during the Southwest Elite 7-on-7 Showcase in Springdale.

SPRINGDALE -- Shiloh Christian's Connor Reece didn't let a pair of interceptions bother him.

Instead, the sophomore led the Saints down the field for the decisive score in a 22-13 victory over Class 7A Rogers Heritage on Friday in the Southwest Elite 7-on-7 Showcase hosted by Shiloh Christian.

Shiloh Christian Coach Jeff Conaway, who was hired to replace Josh Floyd less than three weeks ago, was pleased with the way his young quarterback responded after the interceptions.

"You have to play the next play," Conaway said. "Get in his mind that play's over. It's time to go score, and he did a very good job with that. When we needed to go down the field to score to separate against Heritage, we were able to do that."

Shiloh Christian finished pool play 5-2 with losses to Heritage Hall and Harrison. Heritage went 4-3, losing to Harrison and Aurora Christian out of Illinois, but the War Eagles finished the day with an impressive 25-13 victory over Heritage Hall of Oklahoma City.

Single-elimination bracket play begins at 10 a.m. today.

Reece responded after each interception with a touchdown drive. He connected with Adler Goode on a long post route for an 11-3 lead. He later added a short completion to Matthew Soloman for another score and a 22-6 lead.

Heritage Coach Perry Escalante is searching for a starting quarterback following the graduation of Josh Qualls, who passed for more than 6,000 during his career at Rogers Heritage before signing with Arkansas Tech University of Russellville.

Escalante used four different quarterbacks Friday, which he acknowledged made continuity difficult.

"We didn't do very well on offense against Shiloh, a lot of missed opportunities," Escalante said. "I know 7-on-7 is a different animal, but we've got to get the ball to them.

Junior Joel Brackett played quarterback for the War Eagles against Shiloh Christian and connected late with Joey Saucier for Heritage's lone touchdown to set the final margin.

Escalante said he was pleased with the way his defense played against the Saints and overall. Jerral Hobbs, who moved into the Heritage district during the summer from Stuttgart, and Tim Cole had interceptions to account for six points.

Hobbs finished with five interceptions on the day.

"Our defense is doing a lot of good things," Escalante said. "I'm really encouraged by the way our defense has played. The Hobbs kid played real well. Joe Britton played well, Damian Gonzalez. We had several stops and picks."

Sports on 07/12/2014

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