SPRINGDALE -- Shiloh Christian already had a 12-0 lead when its defense forced Mena to punt. The ball took a bad angle off of the punter's foot, which appeared to give the Saints great field position near the Bearcats 35.
Instead, a Mena player batted the ball and it ended up in the hands of an already-sprinting Jaiden Henry, who sped down the left sideline and scored his team's third touchdown.
The 41-yard special-teams score was just part of a big night for Henry, who racked up five touchdowns before halftime in his team's 59-7 victory over the Bearcats (8-4) in the Class 4A second round.
"He made plays in all three phases of the game ... very explosive," Saints Coach Jeff Conaway said. "When he had an opportunity to touch the ball and move the ball down the field, he certainly did that tonight."
For Shiloh (12-1), Henry takes the field in a variety of positions. He serves as junior Eli Reece's backup quarterback, and several of his passes come from fake reverses in which he splits wide as a receiver. The game's first offensive play was one of those, and it resulted in a 35-yard pass to senior receiver Blake Thomson that set up the Saints' first score.
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"We like to set the tone and keep the defense guessing," Conaway said. "Our guys love it, it's a part of our culture. Get out there and have fun, why not?"
Henry was 4-of-5 passing for 79 yards and 2 touchdowns, caught 1 pass for 15 yards that went for a score, and ran for 45 yards for another touchdown on his only run.
"We haven't really repped that [in practice] much this week, but it's one of our bread-and-butter plays, and I trusted coach when he called it," Henry said. "Obviously, he saw something that we didn't, and it ended up working."
But it was the punt return that stood out for the sophomore.
"I've just learned the game from my dad, and I've been growing up with it my whole life," Henry said. "Just knowing the game and the rules helped me score that [punt return] touchdown."
Senior running back Jaret Russ scored the Saints' first two touchdowns, the first on a 1-yard carry and the second on a 66-yard pass play. He finished with 6 carries for 53 yards and 3 receptions for 82.
"I think it's a statement of just how we prepare, how we play, and we just want to keep winning," Russ said.
Sports on 11/17/2018